Address: via San Mamolo, Bologna
Villa Ghigi Park has an area of almost 28 hectares and extends over the first hills immediately outside Porta San Mamolo. It alternates between cultivated and natural areas and offers the possibility of peaceful walks and splendid views of the city at a short distance as the crow flies from the center.
Opened to the public in 1975 and managed by the Villa Ghigi Foundation since 2004, because of its variety and good naturalness it represents a representative sample of the hilly Bolognese landscape of which it allows us to capture, in a relatively limited space, very different aspects.
At the center of the park stands the villa, unfortunately abandoned and waiting for decades for restoration and an appropriate destination. It is a typical stately hillside residence of which there are records from the 1600s, although the construction period is probably older. The villa and park (which also includes some farmhouses and a building called “Palazzino” that houses the Foundation), have a long history: successively belonging to the Malvezzi, Cavalca and Dozza families, in 1874 they were purchased by the Ghigi family, which owned it until 1972. Alessandro Ghigi (1875-1970), an internationally renowned zoologist and naturalist and rector of the University of Bologna from 1930 to 1943, lived there all his life. In the late 1960s Ghigi donated part of the park to the Municipality of Bologna, and upon his death his heirs sold the rest of the property.
A characteristic feature of the park is the long cavedagne ( dirt access roads along the field heads) lined with fruit trees. Enlivening the meadows and cultivated areas are a few vineyards arranged along contour lines. From a naturalistic point of view, the whole park is of extreme interest: during springtime among the most common rich blooms, it is possible to come across specimens of woodland tulips, daffodils and wild orchids.
The park is not fenced off and is only passable on foot. A number of resting places have been equipped for visitors. The Villa Ghigi Foundation provides maps and illustrative materials and offers periodic guided tours related to the seasonal cycles of vegetation.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.fondazionevillaghigi.it/parco-villa-ghigi-bologna
