Restoration of the park of the Donnafugata Castle

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

Italy’s Recovery and Resilience Plan provides for countering 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.

This project is part of this investment. The objective of the project is to carry out the 1st part of the restoration work of the Donnafugata Castle Park. The measures taken to achieve the objective were as follows: construction of borehole for water supply, supply and installation of prefabricated water tank made of concrete mix for gravity feeding of the park's cisterns, construction of new irrigation systems, restoration of existing furniture elements, arrangement of pathways, construction of wooden fences and parterre tiles, resurfacing of paving, functional rehabilitation works of the existing greenhouse, consolidation and securing of artificial caves, restoration of the circular limestone temple, placement of QR code holders near points of interest in the park, and implementation of information systems with blockchain technology. The amount of NRRP funds is 2,000,000.00 euros. The park is currently usable by visitors.

Additional Links:

• https://municipium-images-production.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3/5639/allegati/m1c3-inv-2-3-completamento-del-restauro-del-parco-del-castello-di-donnafugata_23magg24.pdf