One of Rome's most important ancient monuments, the 1st century AD Villa dei Quintili on the Appian Way, has made an important contribution to conservation by planting a wood of very special trees in its vast surrounding park. The Garden of the Patriarchs of the Unity of Italy contains offshoots from some of Italy's most venerable old trees, called, in fact, Patriarchs.
The idea was born from the interest created in an exhibition on ancient fruit trees in Italian territory, held last year in Palazzo Valentini, Rome's provincial government office. Sergio Guidi, President of the Association of Patriarchs, points out that these trees, which are hundreds of years old, document the history of Italy. The choice of the Villa dei Quintili is particularly appropriate because the Quintili brothers, who were murdered on the orders of the Roman Emperor Commodus who coveted their property, had written a treatise on agriculture.
Among the examples reborn in the new garden are many of the centuries-old trees that grace the skyline of the Appia Antica and many of Rome's archaeological sites, the great pear tree of Brusson in Valle d'Aosta, the massive walnut of Poggiodomo in Umbria, the monumental olive from San Remo, Liguria, which has been a familiar landmark for seamen for hundreds of years, and many others, representing every Italian region.
Meantime, the Association of the Patriarchs has just completed a census of all the oldest trees in Rome, listing over six hundred monumental trees.
Info: www.patriarchinatura.it www.beniculturale.it/villadeiquintili
