The Castle of Galeazza Pepoli
July 2003 – May 2012
Crevalcore, Bologna
"It was at the Castle of Galeazza that Clark's life as a gardener, writer,
artist, and much loved host took shape."
Ethne Clarke, from her introduction to Small Plots
The Castle
The oldest part of the castle is the tower, built in the late 14th century by Galeazzo Pepoli, a commander who led troops in the Battle of Marino in 1379. The castle is a masterpiece of medieval architecture, featuring iconic Ghibelline merlons and walls over a meter thick. Nearly all of the castle was rebuilt in the 19th Century in a neo-medieval style popular in the city of Bologna and all over the province.
The Garden
In February 2003, Clark & co. began restoring the castle's grounds. Spanning ten acres (four hectares), the area was transformed from an overgrown thicket and former illegal dump into a lush paradise. It took years.
The garden was divided into separate areas: a kitchen garden, a parterre of semi-circular flower beds, and a woodland. It became a space for all kinds of outdoor events from weddings and baptisms to concerts, yoga courses, picnics, and obstacle courses for pirate parties. For Halloween, the trail of terror in the haunted woods became famous in the area within a few years and now, after thirty, draws crowds from all over Italy and beyond.
Art and Events
In July of 2003, the castle was inaugurated with an exhibition of paintings by the Ukrainian artist, Juri Zurkan. The concert that night was presented by DAR Trio (Alexander Kalashkov - concertmaster of the Bolshoi Theater, Rustam Komachkov - cello, Dimitrij Klimov, piano) who performed works by Franz Schubert, Sviridov, Shostakovich, George Gershwin, and Astor Piazzolla.
For the next nine years, the Castle of Galeazza was home to many unforgettable concerts and cultural events. Clark would boast "These walls have heard the voices of Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri". Outside, he honed his skills as gardener, raconteur, writer, and daring (crazy!) set designer.
For the annual pirate party:"We're going to fill the entire entry of the castle with sand and recreate a shipwreck scene there, and the first two rooms of the barn we will flood with three feet of water!" And we did.
The Earthquakes of 2012
Our time at Galeazza came to a sudden and tragic end in May 2012, when a series of powerful earthquakes devastated the region. The castle's tower collapsed, and the entire complex was severely damaged and rendered uninhabitable. While the association had to move on to a new location in August of 2012, the spirit of Galeazza - including the art, the books, the shared meals, and the fun - remains the foundation of everything Reading Retreats still is today.