Valley of the Temples: the sensorial garden accessible also to people with disabilities is born. Scarpinato: «We promote inclusion»

Valley of the Temples: the sensorial garden accessible also to people with disabilities is born. Scarpinato: «We promote inclusion».

Agrigento. Five senses to discover a little Eden inside the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento, a place of knowledge in contact with nature and art. This morning it was the sensorial garden was inaugurated just built in the area in front “Peace House”, a few steps from the Temple of Concordia, furnished with trees, shrubs and Mediterranean herbs after a important extraordinary maintenance intervention. The green furnishings, arranged along precise paths, allow visitors to enter into complete harmony with nature through the touch, hearing, sight, smell and even taste. Each route has been studied and created with visitors with disabilities in mind. Both the panel at the entrance and the information points of the garden feature images in relief, each text is in Italian, English and Braille. A hand strap "intelligent” and a tactile path help in the visit even visually impaired people.

The area has been equipped with three water points and a small water jump to allow the acoustic perception of the element and create the microenvironment necessary for ornithological biodiversity. Furthermore, an agora of the senses with 25 seats, always with displays in Braille, where you can discover the complete description of the hill and the various temples, via easily accessible panels. Furthermore, an educational laboratory was created aimed at schools for the care of the vegetable garden and the garden, several rest areas and a drinking water point.

«It is essential to promote accessibility to all types of public, families, school groups and people with disabilities – underlines the councilor for cultural heritage and Sicilian identity, Francesco Paolo Scarpinato - creating alternative routes that allow you to fully experience places and stories through easily accessible immersive structures. This promotes inclusion and amplifies the richness of the experience for all."

The project is part of a larger plan that concerns UNESCO sites in Sicily (in addition to the archaeological park of Agrigento, Villa del Casale, the Aeolian islands, Etna, Syracuse and the rock necropolises of Pantalica, the baroque area of ​​Val di Noto, the route of the Arab-Norman Palermo with the cathedrals of Cefalù and Monreale) and their promotion towards a young audience through a smart and immediate reading with captivating language but with a great attention to accessibility.

«The sensory garden represents the last stage of the “#SmartEducationUnescoSicilia – Five senses for seven sites” training project, thanks to which for the first time all seven Sicilian UNESCO sites have been put online for universally accessible use»Says Giada Cantamessa, art historian and curator of the project and the sensorial garden assisted by Guido Meli, technical manager.

The project "#SmartEducationUnescoSicily” of the Ministry of Culture, co-financed by the Sicilian Region, was born with the aim of creating, for the first time on the island, a synergy between the sites registered in the World heritage list, connecting tangible and intangible assets. As part of the initiative, all sites are explained through multisensory paths, connected to the territory, in relation to history, folklore and traditions.

All usable through a website (https://www.smarteducationunescosicilia.it/) and a smart app that you can download from Google Play