Biodiversity Orchard

Livio Dalla Ragione Centre for Folk Traditions Villa Capelletti

The Garavelle Biodiversity Orchard is the first example of the Biodiversity Orchards created by the Foundation, made possible through collaboration with the Municipality of Città di Castello and with the support of the company L’Abbondanza. From San Lorenzo we move to another place of equal importance for the Foundation: the Livio Dalla Ragione Centre for Folk Traditions.

Founded 50 years ago as the first public museum dedicated to folk traditions and rural culture, it represents the ideal place for the creation of the biodiversity orchard with ancient local varieties that are part of our rural heritage. The orchard borders the section of Villa Capelletti facing the Tiber River and is arranged on two levels: the orchard and the herb garden.

THE FOUNDATION IN NUMBERS

Square metres
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Plants of ancient local varieties
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Aromatic and medicinal plants
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metres of stabilized Gravel path
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FRUTTETO DELLA BIODIVERSITÀ

There are 30 trees of ancient fruit varieties across almost one hectare of land, including: Conventina apple, Roggia apple, Castagno apple, Muso di Bue apple, Rosona apple, Fiorentina apple, Limoncella apple, Polsola apple, Volpina pear, Roggia pear, Curato pear, Briaca pear, Giugnina pear, Moscatella pear, Monteleone pear, Coscia pear, Scosciamonaca plum, green Regina Claudia plum, Verdino fig and Dottato fig, Amarena, Marasca and Visciola sour cherries, medlars and domestic service trees. We have also recovered and cared for existing plants: pomegranates, hazelnuts, myrobalans, elderberries and olive trees.

HERB GARDEN

The herb garden, rich in traditional aromatic and medicinal species, is a treasure chest of biodiversity and history. These plants, with their different properties and fragrances, are also very important for supporting pollinating insects such as solitary bees, honey bees and hoverflies. We learn to understand their history and their properties. The following species are cultivated here: Lavandula officinalis, Rosmarinus officinalis, Salvia officinalis, Echinacea spp., Achillea millefolium, Melissa officinalis, Hyssopus officinalis, Artemisia abrotanum, Saponaria officinalis, Origanum majorana, Satureja montana, Symphytum officinale, Ruta graveolens, Filipendula ulmaria, Artemisia dracunculus, Althaea officinalis, Lippia citriodora, Helichrysum italicum, Senecium cineraria, Nepeta cataria, Calendula officinalis.

ACCESSIBLE ORCHARD

Biodiversity is inherently inclusive, and for this reason we wanted to make the orchard accessible. We created a pathway to facilitate access for people with mobility difficulties by installing 80 linear metres of stabilized gravel, and we implemented an important service design system to improve accessibility for different needs. All information about the orchard is available on dedicated panels equipped with QR codes which, once scanned, allow users to access informational materials directly on their mobile phones, including audio content and enlarged text for easier reading.

COMMUNITY ORCHARD

This is the result of collaboration between a public institution — the Municipality of Città di Castello — open to co-design processes aimed at enhancing local realities; a historic third-sector organisation — the Archeologia Arborea Foundation — which for 40 years has been committed to safeguarding and promoting agrobiodiversity; and a company — L’Abbondanza Supermarkets Gala — long engaged in supporting the local territory in which it operates. From March to December, a series of events on different themes will be organised and shared with the community, also as part of the visitor experience. A civic economy project that brings together institutions, the third sector and businesses to create value for the community.