Have you ever been up to the top of the Torre degli Asinelli, the taller of the two towers that, along with Piazza Maggiore and the buildings around it, is one of Bologna’s best-known symbols? Looking down from there, it’s easy to see that the heart of the city is unexpectedly dotted with numerous patches of nature that, added to the public gardens, streets and tree-lined streets, make the historic district of Bologna a much greener place than one might think when roaming the usual urban routes. And just beyond, like a backdrop, there are the hills, where green triumphs in the numerous public and private parks and gardens.
After all, Bologna is a city that developed where the plains encounter the slopes of the Apennines. It holds countless green treasures hidden in the very centre of town, in the foothills and dotting the valley. This is a wealth known only in part, jealously guarded in some cases, that since 2014 has emerged as a precious gift in the second-to-last weekend in May when greenery reaches the height of its splendour, astonishing the people of Bologna and tourists, bringing out the desire for beauty and harmony, attention to nature and the landscape, and the commitment for a city and territory that are increasingly attractive and attentively cared for.
Diverdeinverde is the key to discover this priceless legacy and to tour an uncommon and, in some cases, unknown Bologna with curiosity and emotion.
The eight past years of the event (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 , 2018, 2019) have been very popular and successful, and the ninth edition of Diverdeinverde will take place on May 27 and 28, 2023 (2020 edition has been postponed to 2021 because of Covid emergency). Quite a number of private gardens are opened each year, with several new gardens every year, to build an ever-richer programme of green spaces varying in type: from aristocratic parks in the foothills and plains to the precious gardens that adorn the palazzi in the centre of Bologna, and from the spaces designed by well-known landscape artists or cared for tastefully and with dedication by their owners on to the simplest green corners, characterized by cosy family atmospheres, and the enthralling patches of family gardens that evoke the sprawling cultivated areas – usually part of convents – that were inside the walls in past centuries.
In addition to gardens, Diverdeinverde offers prestigious events, such as concerts, readings, exhibitions, other concerts and encounters that enrich this two-day feast for the eyes.
Diverdeinverde comes from an idea and a project by Fondazione Villa Ghigi and Silvia Cuttin.
