Fai Days: here is the green itinerary

The FAI (Italian National Trust) has chosen a green itinerary to discover a lesser-known side of Naples for its upcoming weekend. Among the monumental and artistic sites open to visitors in the Campania capital, the Babuk Hypogeum Garden stands out. This green oasis off the busy Via Foria boasts lemon and banana trees, as well as other species, including a beech tree dating back to the 14th century. Commissioned by the Caracciolo del Sole family behind their 16th-century palace, the garden covers approximately 1000 square meters. It takes its name from the Babuk cat, who, like the many felines that still dominate the space today, lived among the dense vegetation. Beneath the garden lies the hypogeum, dating back to the mid-17th century, a natural cavity containing four rooms carved into the tuff rock and tunnels once used as a cistern to supply the palace with water. The cave lost its original function after 1884, when the cisterns were decommissioned due to a cholera epidemic, and during World War II it was used as an air raid shelter, as evidenced by a 1940s electrical system made with porcelain insulators. It is very difficult to reconstruct the uses of these underground passages over time: along the descent, in fact, crucifixes, fish, salamanders, and other esoteric and religious symbols are carved into the tuff, which still shroud the history of this place in mystery. Then there is Villa di Donato, in Piazza Sant'Eframo Vecchio, behind the Albergo dei Poveri and the Royal Botanical Garden, which in the 18th century was the hunting lodge of the Barons of Donato di Casteldonato. The well-preserved frescoes evoke scenes of hunting and country life and portray the house's former inhabitants, the artisans, and the architects who built the villa. The house, uninhabited for about thirty years, has only recently regained its character as a family residence. The owners themselves took on the challenge of conservative restoration.