HISTORY
The history of FAI is written in facts and carved in the dates of its most important acquisitions. Since its foundation, almost 30 years ago, FAI has come a long way.
1976 - just one year after its foundation - saw the first donation by lawyer Piero di Blasi: 1000 square metres at Panarea, in the Aeolian archipelago. A tiny plot of land and rock that nevertheless prevented speculative building development projects. The ownership of the estate sufficed to protect the entire "cala" (inlet).
In 1977, Emanuela Castelbarco, niece of Arturo Toscanini, donated Avio Castle, between Verona and Trento, to FAI. It was the first operation of major prestige, since the Castelbarco family has links with Avio going back over six centuries of history.
The acquisition of Avio Castle involved FAI in detailed restoration work that saved an asset of major historic and architectural value from progressive deterioration. Since then, moreover, a precedent and principle has been set whereby donors and their heirs are entitled to continue living in part of such ancient sites without any longer having to sustain expenses for taxation, restoration, maintenance and custody. FAI, inasmuch, offers owners who can no longer cope with the very high management costs involved in large historical estates a solution that far from breaking the links between families and their places of origin actually ensures historical continuity.
1977 saw another emblematic example: Torba Monastery. Already a military outpost during the late Roman Empire, and later occupied by the Goths and the Longobards, Torba became a Benedictine monastery until the site was left to total abandon. It was saved "in extremis" by Giulia Maria Mozzoni Crespi, who acquired the estate in order to donate it to FAI, that subsequently restored its poetry and beauty.
1983 saw a decisive turning point: the Doria Pamphili princes donated to FAI the hamlet of San Fruttuoso, with the Benedictine Abbey dating to the XIII century and 32 hectares of Mediterranean "maquis" on the southern edge of Monte di Portofino.
It was not only a monument in desperate need of restoration and a natural environment that had to be preserved but also a whole village with a small community needing new life and jobs.
Later, in 1984, Countess Elisabetta De Rege and her husband decided to donate Manta Castle, near Saluzzo, to FAI. An acquisition that stands out through the immense artistic value of the frescoes in the baronial hall of the castle. Dating back to the early decades of the 1400s - the peak period of "International Gothic" culture - these frescoes are some of the most important and fascinating of the entire epoch.
Other donations and acquisitions soon followed: in 1986, Italsider donated the Ieranto Bay , a natural "monument" of unique beauty standing on the tip of the "Sorrentina" peninsula; 1987 welcomed Castel Grumello, near Sondrio, and Casa Carbone, in Lavagna.
1988 and 1989 saw three extraordinary acquisitions: Masino Castle in the Canavese area - the residence for ten centuries of the Valperga Counts tracing more than one thousand years of history in Piedmont and Italy; Villa del Balbianello at Lenno, on Lake Como, the place of "delights" created by Cardinal Durini in the 1700s that was bequeathed to FAI by Guido Monzino on his death; Villa Della Porta Bozzolo at Casalzuigno, set amidst a superb Italian garden with scenographic Rococò frescoes inside.
Yet the more recent "minor" acquisitions are no less precious: an 1800s newspaper kiosk in Mantua, the tiny Art Déco barber's shop in Genoa, the paintings, furniture, ceramics and porcelain in the Alighiero de' Micheli Collection in Milan, Maso Fratton-Valaia, on the border of the Brenta Park, made famous as the home to the surviving Trentino brown bears, the tiny Catalani Theatre in Vetriano.
2000 saw the public opening of Villa Menafoglio Litta Panza in Varese, donated in 1996 by Count Panza di Biumo with his collection of contemporary American art.
The way in which the villa had to be presented to visitors, in view of the prestige and international relevance of the Panza collection, demanded extraordinary efforts: never in the history of FAI has a monument been so radically restored prior to its public inauguration. Nevertheless, these modifications also ensured continuity with the past, since Villa Panza is not a museum but a home and will continue to be such - because FAI is determined to save both "homes" and “atmospheres”.
At the end of 1999, another site joined those under the care of FAI. The marvellous Kolymbetra Garden, five hectares of land earth with orange and almond groves at the of the Valley of Temples near Agrigento granted under concession by the Sicily Region: an ideal occasion for emphasising the commitment of the Foundation in safeguarding the landscape but also an experience in collaboration between public and private sectors that may well become a new management model for the future.
In 2002, the State granted a concession to FAI for the "Gregorian Villa" Park in Tivoli, an 1800s example of how natural beauty and intelligent and creative Romantic can be wonderfully combined. After years of closure and abandon, intervention by FAI should see the Park be re-opened to the public in Spring 2005.
Lastly, Casa Necchi Campiglio will soon be re-opened - a splendid 1930s monument in the centre of Milan intended to become one of the most particular home-museums in Europe.
