Urban Green Areas – their functions under a changing lifestyle of ...

2.1.1.7 Ancient Roman gardens
Those gardens featured fruit-trees (e.g., apple, orange and pear) and shade trees. The layout
of those gardens included three special features: (i) sites with fences made of shaped trees,
(ii) sites for decoration by shade trees and (iii) sites for fruit trees.
2.1.2 The middle period
This period marks great change in the historical development of UGAs. In the West it can
be divided into three phases, Pre-Medieval, Renaissance and Post- Medieval.
2.1.2.1 Pre-Medieval
In the 12 th century, the Arabs conquered Spain and built a new irrigation system for
gardens. As the result, plants in gardens became more diverse, which led to the
development of decorative gardens. These were again closed gardens with small yards
(about 100-150m 2 ). Flowers were planted in pots while trees were grown in straight lines
creating quiet places. The yard’s layout was simple: a lake or a pool is located in the centre
with seats around. In short, in the Pre-Medieval period, the gardens were limited behind the
ramparts. Typical example of this were small Spanish gardens.
In the early 15 th century, Spanish parks
and gardens were developed within the
military zones. They partly represented
the power of the royals. Often, shaped
gardens were located adjacent to houses,
usually constructed within stone-walls or
fences. Plants in those gardens were
planted neatly in rows or on the square
plots. Those small gardens (picture 2.1)
were popular at the time in Spain.
Picture 2.1: The Garden of the Alcoba’s
Arbour (in Seville, Spain).
(own picture, taken in 2010)
2.1.2.2 Renaissance
In the end of the 15th century, thanks to the discovery of America and the sea-route to
India, trade between Europe with other countries flourished and the bourgeoisie class was
shaped. This class, along with the aristocracy, invested a lot of money to build magnificent
gardens surrounding their villas. The Italian gardens are the main features in this period.
This type of garden developed specifically in Florence, Rome and some neighbour cities
(e.g. the garden in villas Lante built between 1570-1575) (COFFIN 1979). Those gardens
consisted of many elements, with different types of water nozzles, ladders and decorative
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