Miami, Florida

Lights glittering like jewels enhance the beautiful evening skyline of Miami, Florida.

Skyline of Miami:  Seen over Miami Rive from Brickell Point.

Eight-hundred-year-old arched Cloister Walk in the Ancient Spanish Monastery near Miami, Florida.  Built in Spain in the year 1141, the entire Monastery, packed in 10,751 crates, was brought to America by William Randolph Hearst.

Vizcaya, one of the most magnificent estates in the world, may now be seen by the public in Miami, Florida.  Built by the late James Deering, it includes 30 acres of spectacular formal gardens and woodlands, with rare art treasures in the great house.  It is now operated by Dade County.  This section of the formal garden shows the Water Stairway and part of the central pool.

Vizcaya - Miami, Florida

This Fountain Garden, a large circular area crossed by canals fed by jets of water and having as its central feature an impressive Baroque fountain brought from an Italian town near Rome.

The great formal gardens are unique on this continent as a large scale creation in the Italian spirit.  They are conceived as architecture, a vast outdoor living room enclosed by hedges and walls, combining the green of trees and clipped shrubs with statues, stately urns and shady grottos.

Vizcaya - Miami, Florida

Aerial View Vizcaya - Dade County, Art Museum, Miami, Florida.

Vizcaya is a magnificent Italian palace in a superb tropical setting.  This view shows the harbor, which is protected by a breakwater in the form of a great stone barge.

Vizcaya's architecture re-creates the classical spirit of the Renaissance.  The vast building is severe and almost fortress-like in its exterior but built around an open central court planted with exotic palms and rare tropical plants.