Era di Maggio 2024 at the Botanical Garden of Rome - 4th edition

Fourth edition for Era di Maggio, the spring festival that will animate the Botanical Garden of Rome on 4 and 5 May in the name of a timeless journey in the footsteps of Marco Polo and his extraordinary journey to the East along the Silk Road, 700 years after his death.

Situated in the heart of Rome, the Botanical Garden of Rome is a magical place where you can stroll among the extraordinary examples of the varieties of the plant world far from the chaos of the city and enjoy the spectacle of nature in bloom to experience the wonder that conquered the most famous traveller of all time.

Housed in the park of Villa Corsini, the former residence of Queen Christina of Sweden, this magnificent garden, one of the largest in Italy, hosts for two days the rich calendar of events linked to Era di Maggio, including unusual guided tours, art installations, live music and workshops for adults - discover the ancient arts of tea and spinning, of natural dyes, ecological prints, rice, mulberries and silk - and for children - silkworms, seeds, butterflies, mysterious eggs, oriental hats and a fun treasure hunt - accompanied by the musical suggestions of the young students of the Liceo Musicale Farnesina.

Garden, Art and Music

Music, installations, handicrafts and biodiversity in a unique journey, because spring also blossoms in art.

Guided tours

The journey in the footsteps of Marco Polo will see the guides refer to some of the passages from Il Milione dedicated to the essences in the Garden, such as the mulberry tree, nourishment for silkworms, which led Marco Polo to discover the manufacture and use of paper money, or the extremely rich collection of bamboo, tamarind, ginger, pepper and much more.

The House of Butterflies

And don't miss the OPEN DAY BUTTERFLY EDEN - The House of Butterflies open to everyone: under the expert guidance of biologists, naturalists and entomologists, you can have fun discovering curiosities and peculiarities about butterflies, their life cycles and biodiversity.

On the notes of the Liceo Musicale Farnesina

The students of the Liceo Musicale Farnesina will explore the sounds and harmonies of the instruments from Asia at the time of Marco Polo, which fascinated European musical culture and, first and foremost, Claude Debussy, who drew inspiration from them: new scales, rhythms and timbres of rare suggestion, vital and evocative, the expression of an original and fertile artistic association.

The Library of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and Corsiniana

In the rooms of the Biblioteca Corsiniana a 17th century text by the Jesuit astronomer Ferdinand Verbiest (1623 - 1688), a missionary in China, will be exhibited and explained. The Liber organicus astronomiae was printed 'In regia Pekinensi' in 1688. Through this splendid volume, on its extraordinary engraved plates, printed on rice paper and bound in silk, you can retrace the theme of the journey on the trail of the flora and fauna of the Chinese world explored by Marco Polo.

Discover the complete programme and how to participate at: www.senseventi.com