*4.3. Garden Restoration*

Garden reconstruction was based on the exploration of historical sources, the archaeological surveys, the use of preserved garden features, etc. Based on the preserved historic features and the available historical sources, it is possible to restore a part or the whole of the garden so that it will be greatly identical to the original design.

A good example in this category is represented by the restoration of the Upper Garden of the Royal Palace in Gödöll˝o, Hungary, which is one of the most valuable gems of Baroque in Hungary [32]. Construction of the Palace at Gödöll˝o was launched in 1735, under the direction of András Mayerhoffer. A unique feature of the Palace is the "inside out" nature of the layout, as the cour d'honneur does not serve as a reception area but looks towards the garden. Embracing the representative courtyard, the U-shaped building of the Palace provides a concave shape from the direction of the garden, which is ideal for a Baroque spatial composition.

The restoration strategy—following on from the above, and also with regard to the current and future functions of the garden—aimed at the restoration of the spatial composition and atmosphere that served for representation and recreation in the 19th century. Although the landscape garden has been reconstructed several times during its nearly 200-year history, the spatial layout and composition of the picturesque garden from the beginning of the 19th century has been preserved to a significant extent. Just as in the picturesque garden some significant features from the earlier Baroque have been retained, such as the pavilion on the Royal Mound, the horse chestnut alley, and the Shooting Gallery. In the last third of the century, promoted to a royal residence, Gödöll˝o became an exemplar of cultural and artistic representation of the age throughout the country. In the Romantic landscape garden established during this time, the naturalistic spatial layout and composition has been kept, while the use of plants was also moderate compared to the often rampant diversity of collector's gardens.

Regarding the planning, it was, therefore, necessary to go beyond the usual restoration clichés and concepts with an overwhelming priority of functional aspects. An artistic renovation based on the historical plant material and composition principles was the appropriate solution (Figure 14).

**Figure 14.** The restoration of visual links is related to a successful reconstruction of the spatial layout of the garden. The spatial layout is mainly determined by the vegetation, paths, and landforms. The restored path network (**b**) entirely corresponds to the one that existed in the Romantic landscape garden (**a**) in the 2nd half of the 19th century (layouts from 1867). Design by Fekete, A.; Jámbor, I.; Sárospataki, M.; Szilágyi, K.; Vajda, Sz. 2009–2010.

The restoration of the Upper Garden in Gödöll˝o was based on the pictorial and written sources available. A grass surfaced pleasure ground with an approximately 300-meter long visual axis provides an appropriate vista for the impressive building of the palace. Part of the garden near the palace is, thus, visually open since this is essential for the perception of the spatial layout and scales. Regarding other parts of the garden, the plan proposed the restoration of the historic network of paths. The romantic spatial composition with groves and confined spaces here and wide open views there, which was one characterised by the most refined English style, has been created with the use of vegetated boundaries and ornamental plantings [33,34] (Figure 15b,c).

**Figure 15.** (**a**) The restoration of the 400-m long horse chestnut alley, defining the baroque vista from the beginning of 18th century. 16. **b**, **c**. Colourful perennial boundaries, acting as space-defining elements and as visual focus points, too. Photos by Fekete, A, 2012 (**a**), 2016 (**b**,**c**).

Regarding internal visual links, determining a transverse visual axis, the Baroque pavilion on the Royal Mound is of outstanding importance. The full body seated bronze statue of Maria Theresa was placed on this axis as an eye-catcher.

The completely renovated, almost 400-m long horse chestnut alley of 120 trees is also of Baroque origin and determines a direction and vista parallel to the main axis, closed by the statue of Hercules with a cudgel in his hands. The alley starts from a flight of stairs made of monolith granite porphyry, flanked by short walls (Figure 15a).
