Visit to Eco parco archeologico di Pontecagnano Faiano
This morning visited the parco ecoarcheologico of Pontecagnano, the park that was depicted in Andrea D'Ambrosio's film on urban gardens I giorni della merla. I was met by Andrea and Carla at the Pontecagnano station, about ten minutes outside of Salerno, and from there we drove to the parco, where we met the director of Legambiente Michele Buonomo and his crew of volunteers and urban farmers. A wonderfully laid out multi-use park, that was once an archeological dig worked by the University of Naples archeology department, the park is now a series of urban gardens that has been made available to pensioners in order to give them not only "something to do" but also to rekindle their relationship to the land, something that for many of them is not a so distant reality of their immediate past. This reconnection has worked wonders for many, rescuing them from the boredom of retirement, putting them out into the fresh and the elements rather than living day in and day out in front of a television or in a local caffe' with others. Now, there aren't enough plots to privide for everyone and there is a long waiting list freed up at times by the tiredness that overtakes aging bodies or by death.
The parco also houses an education garden for children of local schools and a children's library where they can take out books to read during a day at the park. There is also a garden of the senses, full of mediterranean aromatic herbs and plants; and a coop farm that produces food that is then distributed house to house or at a small local market for very low prices.
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