The irresistible charm of Poseidon Gardens
Much more than a garden, it is a botanical and landscape oasis, animated by blue reflections of its pools, by the landscapes and microclimate corners unique and unrepeatable. A special place that has enchanted excellent visitors and continues to do so. The list is transformed into a gallery of honor, high-sounding famous names, beautiful and amazing as the colors, the lights, the warmth, and the nuances of habitat: belonging to Gianni Agnelli and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger; Carla Fracci and Mika Hakkinen, the Formula 1 champion; Italo-German storyteller myths of Boninsegna, Beckenbauer, Breitner and Vogts.
Between “sacred and profane”, in a succession of personality, in a spectacular game, featured sprouting Gina Lollobrigida, Raul Bova and unforgettable Mariangela Melato; and Antonello Venditti, Vincenzo Montella and Lina Sastri; Gianluca Zambrotta and Sabrina Ferilli, who is really habitual. What does it mean? Simple: the Poseidon are and will always be irresistible. The rest is the fascinating history of the place, crown of the crescent moon of Citara to justify its reputation, next to the symbol of the God Poseidon statue combined with the fiery sunset sun in millions of postcards sent in all languages to prove the traditional: “I have been here”. The gardens were created 56 years ago thanks to the intuition of a German genius, arrived in Ischia in the wake of the Grand Tour that continues to fascinate travelers across the Alps: humanist Gernot Walde. In addition, all have attributed a special vision for having created a revolutionary concept of spa. Some have written that Walde “from the nature of the places drew inspiration for a thermal garden”, which combines spa, health and nature. With great anticipation on recent theories of “wellness”, he thought to steal the spa care in a therapeutic concept solely in order to highlight ever since the ability to give comfort. A model so innovative to induce other entrepreneurs to follow the island”. Moreover, Walde realized before the Aphrodite-Apollon Gardens, overlooking the cliff, which is mirrored in the isthmus of Sant’Angelo; and, then, Baroness von Stohrer appointed him as a consultant for the birth of Castiglione, the area preferred by the Mycenaean Greeks thousands of years ago. In the seventies, the leadership changed, but not the philosophy of the Garden: it was industrial Bavarian Ludwig Kuttner to buy Poseidon, with a spirit and an unparalleled passion, committing much of his personal resources in the continuation of the project initiated by Walde members. With the help of architect Zollinger, the sites were redesigned, yet embellished and rearranged, by launching a global icon of the park. Later, in 1983, Anton Staudinger, head of a solid industrial holding company, he took over the Poseidon Gardens, launching a major campaign for investments to modernize. When, in 1998, Anton has disappeared and the reins passed to his wife Lucia Pilz and five children, nothing has changed, indeed. Since 2007, finally, was the third daughter, Lucia Maria Veronika Beringer, already well known as an architect, to embody the love of Poseidon: she left her job in Germany to devote herself to her jewel. With great attention to the environment, the results are exciting.