Welcome to the Park
A succulent collection unique in Europe
THE PARK
A botanical park of cacti and succulents
Overlooking the sea and surrounded by the vineyards of Mount Epomeo, not far from the town centre of Forio, Giardini Ravino is a botanical park of acclimatisation, where the widest and most various European collection of succulents is spread on a surface of 6,500 sqm, built up by the sea captain Giuseppe D'Ambra in over sixty years of passion. Inspired by biodiversity, the garden offers an astonishing richness with its 5,000 plant specimens and 400 species, in addition to around 200 Cycads, Palms, and Musaceae.
ITS STORY
Over fifty years of collection
Giuseppe D’Ambra’s passion for succulents runs in the family: His father Antonio collected Crassulas and planted them inside shells hanging for the exterior decoration of his house in Forio. While navigating the routes of South America, Giuseppe D’Ambra regularly brought home seeds and root cuttings, longing for his own space where his collection could be set up and visited by the public. In 2000 as fate would have it, a vineyard in front of Villa Ravino was put on sale, on whose rooftop Giuseppe D'Ambra had gathered over around forty years more than 3,000 specimens of his beloved succulents.
After nearly five years of work, Giardini Ravino was inaugurated on September, 15th 2005, and its opening to the public took place on April, 1st 2006. When he began travelling the world in the 1960s, and collecting plants, Captain D’Ambra never thought he would succeed in showing a unique European collection. “Opening a botanical garden was a dream come true. When you live out your passion in life, you're rewarded!”.
LOUNGE BAR
A break at the restaurant in the park
On the Grusoni terrace inside the park is located the Cactus Lounge Café & Restaurant, where one can have breakfast with homemade cakes, as well as lunch and dinner with local mouthwatering specialities or sip the refreshing Cactus Cocktail, the official drink of Giardini Ravino, based on cactus seeds and fruits (always different according to each season), passionflower juice, four different kinds of mint, a pinch of pink pepper and chilli-pepper, and a scoop of tequila in its alcoholic version. In summer, Cactus Lounge Cafè & Restaurant is the impressive location for the Secret Aperitif with live music, an unmissable event under the stars. The whole area can also be rented for private events.
EVENTS
Art exhibitions, meetings, conferences
From April to November, at the Moby Dick Gallery a range of exhibitions by contemporary artists by Dr. Mariangela Catuogno, director of the cultural activities of Giardini Ravino takes place. From July to September on Sundays at 21:00 it is the turn of Il Cunto del Capitano, a wandering storytelling under the direction of Mariangela Catuogno, played by the director-actor Corrado Visone on the music of Maestro Restituta Rando. In October, framed in the context of Meristema: Summer School of Philosophy for students, graduate students and Doctors of Philosophy, by the scientific doctor Alessandro De Cesaris, assistant professor of Aesthetics and Art Philosophy at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. From November, 7th to 9th: Curare le Piante con Passione, a gardening class by the expert nursery gardener Nello Trapani.
