Italy, an extraordinary wonder. They come back this weekend, Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 May, the FAI Spring Days. To propose again this year, we are at appointment number 29, the great beauties of our country. Since their first edition, in 1993, the FAI Spring Days represent the largest event dedicated to cultural heritage that celebrates the art, history and nature of our peninsula. And every year there is really spoiled for choice to put together the most valuable sites to visit and promote, as well as to enhance. 600 places will be accessible in 300 cities and 19 regions, which can be visited exceptionally for this occasionAnd. Unmissable opportunity to access sites of great artistic and natural value open to the public again this year, despite the limitations and difficulties imposed by the pandemic.
"An irrepressible desire for Italy", this is how Fai, the Italian Environment Fund, explains the reasons that led, despite the difficulties, to the organization of this special weekend. "An inexhaustible trust in our country". The marathon that will lead Italians to discover historic villas and parks, royal residences and gardens, castles and monuments starts again this year (after the forced break of 2020). Sometimes little-known sites that, thanks to FAI, have the opportunity to reveal their surprising spaces. Known and less known places, archaeological areas, museums that are sometimes little known and in some cases unusual. But also open spaces such as botanical gardens, many nature trails and itineraries to discover characteristic villages. Where tradition and history are protected, where works of art and monuments are preserved, palaces of important historical and artistic value. A great and inexhaustible Italian universe.
Appointment on 15 and 16 May with 600 openings in 300 cities
Let's go hunting for places not to be missed, among the most interesting, curious, unusual proposed by the Spring Days. In Reggello, in the province of Florence, visit the Sammezzano castle, closed to the public for years. A triumph of eclectic orientalist style architecture. In Rome, the FAI proposes Villa Il Vascello which since 1985 is the seat of the Grand Orient of Italy, the oldest Masonic institution in the country. But it was also designed, a curious peculiarity, in the seventeenth century by the first female architect, Plautilla Bricci. In Bologna you can go to the discovery of the sixteenth century Palazzo Caprara, current seat of the Prefecture. Here it will also be possible to visit Napoleon's Chamber who bought it for his niece Josephine deLeuchtenberg, princess of Bologna and later queen of Sweden.
Stop in Mapello, in the province of Bergamo, to see the eighteenth century Villa Gromo. Usually not accessible because it is privately owned, this weekend showcases its sumptuous frescoes and park. Twenty thousand square meters of old trees. Unmissable, in Naples, the Pausilypon Archaeological Park. On the promontory overlooking the sea there are the monumental remains of the Roman villa of Vedio Pollione, then of Augustus. Coming to much more recent times, visit Taranto at the Co-Cathedral Great Mother of God. Designed by Gio Ponti, it was built between 1964 and 1970 in the Borgo Nuovo district. In Milan, possibility of access to the Theater Museum At the Scala, at the Palco Reale and at the Toscanini Ridotto.
Discovering the ancient rose garden on Colle del Persolino, where the oldest roses live
Among the paths in the nature and the outdoor itineraries, we remember the Acigreenway ad Acireale. A cycle / pedestrian path built on a section of the disused route of the old railway. TO Latronico, in the province of Potenza, you go to the discovery of thermal waterfalls. While in Offida, on the Piceno hills, a visit to the Romanesque church of Santa Maria della Rocca. And if we want to put together the environment and local products, in Santa Maria del Cedro, in the province of Caserta, to see the Laos Archaeological Park and the Cedar Museum. Here the story of this fruit is told, with many literary quotes and inevitable references to Jewish traditions. And how not to point out the ancient Rose garden on Colle del Persolino, a few kilometers from Faenza. Five hundred rose plants divided into a hundred different varieties, some of which are very old. Among these, the rosa mundi, probably dating back to the twelfth century.
To visit these and other of the 600 destinations proposed, you will need to book (on the website www.giornatefai.it) and pay a minimum contribution of three euros. It will serve to support the FAI Spring Days. A small Italian miracle after last year's appointment was canceled due to the pandemic. This is also a way, the FAI underlines, "to give citizens hope and confidence in the future by bringing them closer, after a long forced distance, to the historical, artistic and naturalistic heritage of our country". In the name of #ItalyMiPiaci, one of the watchwords of Fai.
