Restoration and enhancement of the historic garden of Villa Spada

Programs to enhance the identity of places: parks and historic gardens (Mission 1, Component 3, Investment 2.3)

Italy’s Recovery and Resilience Plan contributes to the countering of urban decline and restoring shared identities of places, creating new opportunities to revive local economies and mitigate the impact of the crisis and to enhance skills for the management and maintenance of historic parks and gardens.

The investment envisages a refurbishment of historic parks and gardens and puts in place extensive knowledge and rehabilitation of Italian historic parks and gardens with a view to their proper maintenance, management and public use.

Resources will be allocated for the regeneration of these sites and the training of local staff who may treat/preserve them over time. Beyond the cultural and historical value, gardens and historic parks contribute to enhancing environmental values and play an important role in preserving conservation, oxygen generation, reduction of environmental pollution and noise, and microclimate regulation.

The investment is financed by Italy’s Recovery and Resilience plan by EUR 300 million.

As part of this investment, the project “restoration and enhancement of the historic garden of Villa Spada” aims at enhancing the Villa Spada park, recently declared a UNESCO heritage site. The park extends over an area of 6.8 hectares in the foothills of Bologna in front of the long portico which leads to the Sanctuary of the Beata Vergine di San Luca.

The project aims to recover the green area, with particular attention to the Italian garden which represents the only example of this type of gardens in Bologna. The project aims at making the park more functional, improving accessibility for disabled people and guaranteeing safety (thanks to the care of green areas, the revision of the lighting system and the arrangement of pedestrian paths).

The project is financed by Italy’s Recovery and Resilience plan with EUR 2 million, and will completed in 2023, with testing expected in 2024.

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