Rione Sanità in Naples, the monumental araucaria over 150 years old destroyed

The monumental araucaria of Sanità in Naples was destroyed by drastic pruning, whose roots have sunk for more than 150 years in the garden of the monumental complex of Santa Maria de la Vitatoday the headquarters of the RSA Fontanelle, residence for the elderly with disabilities of the ASL Napoli 1. The complaint is from the GreenCare Aps Award Association, which reported the incident to the Gardening Service and the Department of Greenery and Health of the Municipality of Naples. , to the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Naples, to the Department of the Environment of the Campania Region.

The massive trunk, erected for about 30 meters, stands out among the buildings and domes of the Sanità, and is the object of pilgrimage for lovers of monumental trees. «Now that all of its ramifications have been amputated, its chances of survival are slim.. I spoke to some agronomists who were horrified by the lack of competition to deal with such an important tree in terms of size and history”, says Benedetta de Falco, president of the GreenCare Award.

The tree is enclosed within the perimeter of the walls of what was the ancient monastic complex of Santa Maria della Vita, built in 1577 on the basis of a persistent early Christian church: the complex was, over time, a porcelain factory with Giovanni Poulard – Prad and annexed candle factory (French decade – 1807), then with the return of the Bourbons, from 1836 the area was used as a hospital first for cholera patients and then, at the end of the epidemic, a hospital for women , called San Camilo Hospital. In 1990 the structure was closed and used, in the part next to the Church, as the headquarters of the La Tenda Drug Addiction Recovery Center, and in the part facing the Fontanelle Cemetery in RSA Fontanelle, residence for the disabled elderly of the ASL Naples.

“We hope that our report serves to shed light on what happened -explains de Falco- and that such massive and deadly attacks against trees of this value no longer have to be repeated.”

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in Il Mattino