An archbishop with a wicked sense of humour, Markus Sittikus built the yellow-painted Schloss Hellbrunn in the 17th century as a pleasure palace and an escape vault from his functions at Residenz. The Italianate villa became a wild retreat for rulers of state who flocked here to eat, drink and generally be merry. It was a Garden of Eden to all who beheld its exotic fauna, citrus trees and trick fountains – designed to sober up quaffing clerics without dampening their spirits. Domenico Gisberti, poet to the court of Munich, once penned: ‘I see the epitome of Venice in these waters, Rome reduced to a brief outline.’