IN THE SPRING OF 2000 WE CAME TO VIEW THE TŘEBEŠICE PROPERTY FOR SALE. WE WERE BOTH ITALIANS, ALBERTO AN ARCHITECT AND PROPERTY DEVELOPER, AND EUGENIO A VISUAL ARTIST, AND WE HAD BEEN LIVING AND WORKING IN PRAGUE SINCE 1995. OUR DREAM WAS TO FIND A LARGE PLACE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE WHERE TO START A CHALLENGING PROJECT WITH CONTEMPORARY ART. WE HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR YEARS AT DOZENS OF FARMS, FACTORIES, BREWERIES AND CASTLES.. WHEN WE ARRIVED TO TŘEBEŠICE, AND WENT THROUGH THE AMAZING COMPLEX OF OLD, WONDERFUL BUILDINGS, EACH DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS, WE WERE CHARMED BY THE QUIET LOCATION IN THE LANDSCAPE, WITH PLENTY OF WATER FROM THE STREAM AND THE POND, THE MANY OLD TREES SURROUNDING THE CASTLE AND THE CONVENIENT LOCATION, JUST AT THE EDGE OF A SMALL VILLAGE BUT TOTALLY QUIET, WITH GOOD ROAD AND RAILWAY CONNECTIONS TO PRAGUE, WE IMMEDIATELY REALIZED THAT WE HAD FOUND THE RIGHT PLACE:

- A FASCINANTING COMPLEX OF OLD LANDMARK BUILDINGS WHICH COULD BE RENOVATED, LITTLE BY LITTLE, WITH DEEP RESPECT FOR THE OLD WALLS AND THE GENIUS LOCI AND A BIT OF CONTEMPORARY TASTE.

- A NEVER ENDING SERIES OF SPACES, BOTH INDOORS AND OUTDOORS, WHERE YOUNG VISUAL ARTISTS COULD BE INVITED TO CREATE EXCITING, LASTING SITE SPECIFIC INSTALLATIONS, TO BRING NEW LIFE AND NEW MEANING TO THE OLD, UNUSED PLACES.

- AN IDEAL PLACE FOR THE CREATION OF A LARGE, COMPLEX COUNTRY GARDEN, FORMED BY MANY SMALLER GARDENS, EACH WITH ITS OWN CHARACTER AND FEEL, FULL OF FLOWERS AND PLANTS : A LIVING ORGANISM GROWING AND CHANGING ITS FACE IN EVERY SEASON AND EVERY YEAR.

OF COURSE WE WERE STILL YOUNG AND UNEXPERIENCED, AND WE DID NOT ENTIRELY REALIZE HOW MANY TROUBLES WE WERE GOING TO RUN INTO, BUYING A HUGE AND CRAMBLING COMPLEX OF RUINS.. BUT ON WE WENT AND IN A FEW DAYS THE PURCHASE CONTRACT HAD BEEN SIGNED.

---THE END---