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he Château de Brantes is an 18th-century manor house with a contemporary garden inspired by the gardens of Tuscany, located in the town of Sorgues. The gardens are classified by the French Ministry of Culture among the Remarkable Gardens of France.
The garden, 1.1 hectares in area, is enclosed by a wall of stones. It features a Magnolia grandiflora tree that is 200 years old, one of the oldest in Europe, Lagerstroemia trees a hundred years old, and a plantation of plane trees dating to 1816. Flowers include plantings of peony, rose, agapanthia and althea.
The house was built in 1700 by Pierre del Bianco, the marquis de Brantes, the paymaster for the soldiers of the papal state of Avignon. It was enlarged in 1816 by General de Cessac, a minister of Emperor Napoleon I, and by his wife Sibylle de Brantes, who created the park. The park was restored and the contemporary garden begun in 1956 by Louis and Madelaine de Brantes, the parents of the current owner of the chateau.
References:Manarola is a small town, a frazione of the comune of Riomaggiore. It is the second-smallest of the famous Cinque Terre towns frequented by tourists, with a population of 353.
Manarola may be the oldest of the towns in the Cinque Terre, with the cornerstone of the church, San Lorenzo, dating from 1338. The local dialect is Manarolese, which is marginally different from the dialects in the nearby area. The name 'Manarola' is probably a dialectical evolution of the Latin, 'magna rota'. In the Manarolese dialect this was changed to 'magna roea' which means 'large wheel', in reference to the mill wheel in the town.
Manarola's primary industries have traditionally been fishing and wine-making. The local wine, called Sciacchetrà, is especially renowned; references from Roman writings mention the high quality of the wine produced in the region.