Palazzo di Varignana: The Beauty Of A Idyllic Setting Soulful Sanctuary
Luxury Italian resort Palazzo di Varignana adds to its guest experiences by launching health and wellness offering.
Remaining calm and finding serenity in our increasingly turbulent world can sometimes seem more challenging than ever. Financial pressures, pandemic hangovers, distressing daily news and the unavoidable clamour of screens can take a toll on body, mind and soul, and an escape is both healthy and welcome.
The luxurious Palazzo di Varignana resort near Bologna in Italy, with its graceful architecture and magnificent setting, provides just such a treasured and welcome escape, and its new health and wellness retreat packages offer its guests new experiences and new opportunities to rejuvenate the soul.
The three- or seven-night retreats are based on the scientific and transformational “Acquaviva Method” of treatment and wellness. The retreats are customized to individual guests and designed to be incorporated into the guests’ daily lives following their resort stays.
This captivating luxury retreat is nestled in the enchanting Bolognese hills. Palazzo Bentivoglio, a beautifully restored ancient country castle – its four traditional towers date back to 1705 – stands at the heart of the resort and blends harmoniously into the natural landscape, which spans 30 hectares. It is a visionary restoration project that has revitalized the surrounding area, converting six ancient farmhouses into six luxury villas.
Guests at Palazzo di Varignana can immerse themselves in the verdant countryside, stroll through ornamental gardens and surrounding parklands, relax in the 4,000-square-metre spa, savour farm-fresh products and marvel at various artistic works displayed throughout the property.
The resort stands amidst an agricultural estate of more than 500 hectares on land known for producing one of the most awarded and recognized extra-virgin olive oils in the world. In addition to the olive groves, there are also 57 hectares of vineyards, 3,000 square metres of vegetable gardens, a vast orchard and an original rare planting of saffron. Amid this natural Garden of Eden, five types of the finest extra-virgin olive oil (three monocultivar – that is, made from a single type of olive – and two blends), and four types of wines under the Palazzo di Varignana brand are produced here.
“Scientific research confirms the human body is an extremely fascinating mechanism that functions optimally only if all parts are in balance.”
The new health and wellness retreat packages have been created by Dr. Annamaria Acquaviva, a distinguished dietician, nutritionist and pharmacist who is the scientific director of Palazzo di Varignana and has established and developed the revolutionary Acquaviva Method, a holistic approach to well-being, sustainability and longevity.
The Acquaviva Method is a scientific journey to well-being founded on five pillars of health: nutrition, inner harmony, physical activity, sleep and rest and food and cosmetic supplementation, combining Western medicine with Eastern practices. Dr. Acquaviva has outlined these in her book, Health Revolution: The Five Pillars of Health, published in both English and Italian. She leads international wellness programs and serves as a health and life coach.
“Scientific research confirms that the human body is an extremely fascinating mechanism that functions optimally only if all parts are in balance with each other,” says Dr. Acquaviva. “Epigenetics, in fact, studies how environmental factors and lifestyle can influence the expression of genes, promoting health, disease or premature aging. Therefore, our destiny does not only depend on our genetic heritage, but above all on our lifestyle, how and what we eat, how much we sleep, how we manage stress, how we cultivate emotions and how much exercise we do.”
While transformative experiences such as detoxing, natural awakening, weight loss and deep sleep may seem intimidating on the surface, part of the curated guest experience at Palazzo di Varignana is that Dr. Acquaviva personally guides each guest through their own customized retreat, each designed to include restaurant menus, holistic activities, beauty treatments and transformational experiences that are selected based on the scientific evidence that demonstrates their effectiveness.
Participants benefit from a comprehensive longevity consultancy that includes bioimpedance measurement and personalized nutritional programs. The bespoke health and wellness program continues post-retreat as Dr. Acquaviva guides guests through their transformation by providing post-stay recall activities to ensure that they continue to benefit from the Acquaviva Method in daily life after their resort stay.
“I accompany people in a ‘transformation,’ the opportunity to express their potential, to rediscover psychophysical harmony and mental energy, to shine with a new form of beauty,” says Dr. Acquaviva. “Through the scientific method that I have formulated, based upon the five pillars of health, I will point to highly performing, science- based, integrated and customized protocols with a holistic approach.”
“A conscious lifestyle helps to control the running of the ‘clock hands’ dictated by unhealthy behaviours,” continues Dr. Acquaviva. “It is therefore possible to modulate our DNA through strategies to express our full psychophysical potential, create harmony between mind and body and promote healthy longevity.”
The search for calm, peace and tranquillity can sometimes be elusive, but at Palazzo di Varignana and through the strategies of their approach, you know you have found them.
