Papyria: La Mortella – An Italian Garden Paradise: The Story of the Garden

On Wednesday, September 2, at 7:30 p.m., the first event of the Papyria project will be held at the Giardini Ravino. The project is promoted by the D’Ambra family and curated by Dr. Mariangela Catuogno. It aims to promote and disseminate a series of publications dedicated to botanists, landscape architects, and creators of botanical gardens, offering cultural insights to those who love nature, landscapes, and botanical gardens and wish to explore inspiring approaches to the care, understanding, and enhancement of green spaces.

The guest of the evening will be Dr. Alessandra Vinciguerra, President of the William Walton Foundation and the La Mortella Gardens, who will present the book La Mortella – An Italian Garden Paradise, written by Susana Gil Paso, Lady Walton, and dedicated to the history of the renowned garden on Ischia.

First published in 2002, the book tells the story of Lady Susana Walton’s passion for botanical species, which led to the creation of a garden on the promontory of Zaro, in Forio. Through anecdotes, the botanical rarities preserved at La Mortella, and the story of her collaboration with landscape architect Russell Page, readers can retrace the origins and development of a place that today represents a true “monument” to beauty and an invitation to “cultivate” a love of nature.

The Papyria project thus opens its programme with a tribute to a fundamental work for understanding the botanical heritage preserved on Ischia, in the very year that marks the centenary of Lady Susana Walton’s birth, celebrating her visionary spirit and her extraordinary ability to create beauty.