Barbattavio Park – Angelo Guarino

The Barbattavio Park, now renamed Angelo Guarino Park and owned by the municipality, covers about 9 hectares, at an altitude of 750-800 m above sea level. It is an ideal place for physical activity, given the excellent climatic conditions here and thanks to the sports facilities it houses (football field, tennis court, volleyball court and bocce bowls court), but above all it is an area of considerable environmental value where, between the common Black Hornbeam (Ostrya carpinfolia) and the Oak (Quercus pubescens), you can also find rare plant species such as: the Wild Cherry (Prunus avium), the Hybrid Apple (Malus florentina) - with its small fruits with a good scented taste, but only after their color becomes brown and the texture soft -, the Orchid of Provence (Orchis provincialis) - whose inflorescence groups together from 5 to 30 flowers of a colour varying from the creamy white to the pale yellow -, the Elleborine (Epipactis helleborine), the Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederyfolium), the Pungitopo (Ruscus aculeantus) - evergreen shrub used not only as ornament, but also in folk medicine - the Sanguinella (Cornus sanguinea) - with its white and fragrant flowers - and also some Bullet Thistle (Echinops siculus) - with its metallic blue inflorescence, formed by numerous small flowers gathered to form a spherical structure that can reach 5-6 cm in diameter and the Hypericum, commonly called St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) - evergreen medicinal plant known in ancient times especially for its antidepressant properties.