Il Giardino Segreto

Villa Santa Croce is a very old and small rural hamlet of scattered houses with a population of about 700 people, near Caiazzo and Piana di Monte Verna in the province of Caserta, and it is here that Angelo Mastroianni, owner of Il Giardino Segreto, has always lived.

Despite the gradual abandonment of the village during the war and in the years that followed, Angelo's grandparents and then his father continued to work the land and raise livestock with passion and tenacity, passing on to Angelo the knowledge of rural culture, made up of patience and respect for the place that has always welcomed them and offered them hospitality.

"I have learnt never to ask the land and the animals for more than they can spontaneously give. There is no need to force nature, it is enough to have the gift of patience and perseverance. It is a relationship of mutual respect."

In the garden he grows tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, potatoes, broad beans, pumpkins, green beans, garlic, onions, pulses such as lenzariello beans, chickpeas and Caiazzane olives, a Slow Food Presidium.