Vizcaya is high on the tourist-o-meter however however well worth a go to. Perched right on Biscayne Bay, on Miami's south aspect, the rambling Italianate mansion that once belonged to industrialist James Deering (of tractor fame) will take you lower back to a time whilst Miami become filled with bushes as opposed to traffic. The beautifully maintained 34-room mansion, constructed in the 1910s, is surrounded by way of acres of serene European-fashion gardens chockablock with fountains and statuary, some of which date back to antiquity. The pièce de résistance, but, is the ornamental breakwater that sits proper in the bay. Carved out of Florida limestone within the shape of an oversize Venetian barge, it's far studded with all varieties of decorative sculpture — and makes for one of the maximum elegant sundown image ops in Miami. The finest of snap shots can't deliver the serenity of Vizcaya’s ten acres of gardens. In many approaches, the Formal Gardens resemble the layout of France’s Versailles. Low, trimmed shrubs prepare walkways into enthralling, geometric styles. Thick columns, lush mazes and classical statues additionally lend to its European aesthetic; however Vizcaya uniquely embraces its tropical environment as nicely.