In Cernobbio, along the Garrovo stream and a stone’s throw from Villa d’Este, a former illegal dump has become, since the 1980s, a botanical garden: the Giardino della Valle. You walk on a narrow path, among labelled plants, wooden footbridges and sculptures; entry is free.
History
Where the garden now stands there was the «Valle dei Rovi» (Bramble Valley), an area covered in brambles and rubbish. It was cleaned up by Ida Lonati Frati, known as Nonna Pupa, a woman from Cernobbio who asked the Comune to let her «adopt» the valley and with the help of grandchildren and friends turned it into a garden, in about thirty years of work according to Camminacittà. In 2000 the association that now looks after it with members and volunteers was born, at her initiative. In 2009 the Comune honoured her by entering her in its Albo d’Oro. Nonna Pupa died in November 2019, according to the Italian Botanical Heritage website. The story has also been told in the documentary «Il Giardino di Nonna Pupa» by her granddaughter Giulia Frati, awarded in Quebec in 2008, and in a 2018 book by Manuela Moretti (Wikipedia).
What to see
The path climbs from the stream among the main plants, marked by ceramic labels with common name, scientific name and area of origin. Camminacittà mentions a wooden footbridge over the Garrovo, benches for a rest, wooden animal sculptures by the local sculptor Giosuè Aramini, a pond with marsh plants and trees that the Comune dedicated to those born in each year, with poems. Wikipedia counts one hundred and thirty species and also mentions a bookcrossing library; in spring art exhibitions and concerts are held in support of the garden.
The route is on ground that is sometimes earth, sometimes paved, with many steps: not suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs (Camminacittà describes a narrow path with many steps).
Practical information
- Entrances: from via Adda, at the bottom of the little valley, and from via Monte Santo (Wikipedia and Camminacittà); the Gite in Lombardia site and another portal indicate via Plinio, so the sources disagree.
- Free entry, always open, all year round (FAI, Luoghi del Cuore).
- Camminacittà has visitors enter by the small iron gate at the end of via Adda and leave by the wooden gate on via Monte Santo, beside the tool shed.
- From the gate on via Monte Santo, Camminacittà climbs the cobbled street to the church of San Nicola a Casnedo. The garden is the third stop of the itinerary Cernobbio on foot.
- The garden lives on membership fees and donations: visitors can contribute.
