Giardini Ravino of Ischia, Italy, Receive Formal Admission To The Council of Europe's Cultural Route
- laurabaciu21
- Dec 30, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 13
The Ravino Gardens of Ischia are officially admitted to the Cultural Route of the Council of Europe!
Ischia, Italy — We are proud to announce that, thanks to our support, the Ravino Gardens of Ischia have been formally admitted to the Cultural Route of the Council of Europe, a prestigious recognition that places the garden among the most important sites of cultural and landscape value in Europe.
This important milestone represents a fundamental step not only for the Ravino Gardens, but also for the entire island of Ischia, opening up new opportunities for international collaboration, greater visibility at European level, and possible access to European Union funding within the framework of the Cultural Routes Network.
The Giardini Ravino, with a history of development of over half a century, exemplifies the core values of the European Route of Historic Gardens: heritage preservation, sustainable management, educational engagement, and European cultural exchange. Its inclusion will strengthen the Route’s network and promote responsible tourism, making it a valuable asset to the Council of Europe’s cultural initiatives.
The Giardini Ravino is relevant for the European Historic Gardens due to the following reasons:
Outstanding example of historical Mediterranean garden with succulent plants: the garden displays an exceptional Mediterranean design style that was put into place to host exotic and endemic plants, which converge into the biggest collection of succulent plants - plants that retain water in specific tissues and are resistant to drought - from Europe, here there are approximately 5,000 plant specimens and 400 species, and around 200 Cycads, Palms, and Musaceae;
Multigenerational collection of common and rare species of cacti: cacti have been collected by Giuseppe D’Ambra and then by its offsprings, leading to a multigenerational efforts of bringing and seeding succulent plants in Europe; in addition, the garden has preserved some species and plant specimens that are on the verge of extinction in other places of the world;
Balance between tradition and modernity: this garden encompasses both traditional and modern techniques, converging from manual labor (such as planting manually the seeds, tree cutting, traditional soil preparation, preservation of the original vineyard) to utilizing modern tools (innovative fertilization processes based on analytics and tendencies over time);
Botanical and cultural routes that tie Europe and the Americas: the garden is born out of the passion of the Italian captain Giuseppe D’Ambra who went on multiple routes to the American continent in the 1960s and sought to bring cacti and other succulent plants to his native continent, portraying a California and dessert-like landscape in the heart of southern Europe; consequently, the formation of the plant collection inspired by the Americas, in particular South America, revealed new cultural identity in a mixed set-up of Latin and European designs and landscape formats;
Cultural diplomacy with Italian know-how at the forefront of the discussions: the garden hosts international visitors that lecture and conduct workshops on various topics related to the preservation of the garden and the natural heritage surrounding it, the valorisation of the local heritage, comparisons between similar sites in Europe and worldwide, conservation and fertilisation techniques, responsible tourism, social and cultural importance of private and public gardens, tourism trends, new perspective on public-private partnerships of garden management, etc., one of the most important workshops is part of the series “Cultivate the future” that emphasizes recent trends and evolution of the most prominent Italian and European gardens;
Sustainable tourism practices that promote eco-tourism as the future of tourism: the garden is an early promoter of sustainable and responsible tourism and continues to this day to deploy measures that increase the site sustainability and protect the environment like installation of solar panels in the 1980s, installation of photovoltaic panels that ensure electricity, recycling of the thermo-mineral water, encouraging visitors, tourists and guests to adopt an eco-responsible behavior when visiting the garden and staying in the local accommodation units, etc;
Continuous education and artistic initiatives for conservation and promotion: the Giardini Ravino develops educational and research activities (such as conferences and workshops) aimed at informing the general public, the experts from universities and botanical societies, and the visitors of the site about the cultural and natural importance of the garden, its development throughout the time, its adaptability in front of climate change challenges, biodiversity, the local heritage of Ischia, etc., in order to complement the educational aspects related to the garden, there is also an increasing emphasis on artistic initiatives and cooperation with artists which include photographic exhibitions, cultural and gastronomic events, displays of artworks made by artists, fashion and design shootings, etc.
The garden serves as both a heritage site and a living laboratory, promoting biodiversity conservation and sustainable garden management. Its historic past at the intersection of cultures, botanical collection, and cultural and artistic significance makes it an exemplary candidate for inclusion in the European Route of Historic Gardens.
Special thanks go to GreenerEU and Isabella Mavellia's team for their excellent technical support throughout the application process. Their expertise, precision, and dedication were instrumental to the success of the initiative.
Joining the European Cultural Route of Historic Gardens provides a solid foundation for future partnerships with institutions and gardens of international importance, promoting cultural exchange and supporting the internationalization process of the island of Ischia.
We look forward to future developments and active participation within the Council of Europe's Cultural Routes network.
Press contacts:
GreenerEU
Background: Historic gardens have shaped European culture and identity throughout time. They have always been related to places of great significance like royal estates, urban units or monasteries, nobility and bourgeois villas, that is, the residences and decision-making centres of historical figures. Transmitted from one region to another throughout Europe, shaping gardens and landscapes contributed to the development of professions around landscaping, engineering and gardening know-how and have also been inspirational sites for great artists and traditional events of society. The route brings together gardens that comply with the definition of “Historic Garden” as established in the 1981 Florence Charter, adopted by ICOMOS in 1982.
Year of certification from the Council of Europe: 2020.
Member countries of the European Route of Historic Gardens:
Belgium,
Georgia,
Germany,
Greece,
Hungary,
Italy,
Poland,
Portugal,
Spain,
Switzerland,
Ukraine.
Websites:
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