The Fondo Ambiente Italiano (FAI) is the National Trust of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The organisation was established in 1975 as the Fondo Ambiente Italiano, based on the model of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, &

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It is a private

non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

and has over 190,000 members as of 2018. Its purpose is to protect elements of Italy's physical heritage which might otherwise be lost.

History

The foundation goes back to the initiative of Elena Croce, the daughter of the Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce. Elena Croce wanted to apply the UK National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty model to Italy. Giulia Maria Mozzoni Crespi, Renato Bazzoni, Alberto Predieri and Franco Russoli sign the founding act of the FAI in 1975. Shortly after its founding, the FAI received its first important foundations and donations. The first donation was made in 1976 by the lawyer Piero de Blasi. He gave the FAI 1,000 m² of land on Panarea, one of the Aeolian islands off Sicily, thereby preventing much of the island from being built on and destroyed. In 1977 Emanuela Castelbarco, granddaughter of Arturo Toscanini, donated the medieval Castle of Avio in Trentino to the FAI. The FAI began an extensive restoration of the castle while allowing the Castelbarco family to continue to occupy parts of the castle. However, the FAI alone was responsible for the costs of the restoration, administration and later opening of the castle to the general public. The FAI thus established a new model of monument protection in Italy. Also in 1977, the FAI began restoration work at the Monastery of Torba, Castelseprio, in the northern Italian province of Varese. The monastery was initially purchased at her own expense by the founder of the foundation, Giulia Maria Mozzoni Crespi, and then donated to the FAI to save it from total decay. Today the monastery complex is one of the most important testimonies of the Lombards in Italy and thus a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Properties

As of early 2007 the organisation had twenty-two properties including castles, gardens, monastic buildings and other cultural assets. These are spread throughout Italy, but the majority are in the north of the country. *

Province of Agrigento The Province of Agrigento ( it, Provincia di Agrigento; scn, Pruvincia di Girgenti; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Agrigento'') is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy, situated on its south-western coast. Follo ...

** Giardino della Kolymbetra (

Valle dei Templi The Valle dei Templi (; scn, Vaddi di li Tempri), or Valley of the Temples, is an archaeological site in Agrigento (ancient Greek ''Akragas''), Sicily. It is one of the most outstanding examples of ancient Greek art and architecture, and is one ...

Agrigento Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one o ...

) * Province of Bergamo ** Mulino di Baresi (

Roncobello Roncobello (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about north of Bergamo. Roncobello borders the following municipalities: Ardesio, ...

) * Province of Como ** Villa del Balbianello (

Lenno Lenno ( lmo, Lenn) was a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northeast of Como. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,800 and an area of 9.6 km2 ...

, Lake Como) *

Province of Cuneo Cuneo (Italian), or Coni (Piedmontese), is a province in the southwest of the Piedmont region of Italy. To the west it borders on the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Haut ...

Castello della Manta 300px, Castello della Manta. frame, Detail of the fresco showing 4 of the female counterparts to the Nine Worthies Castello della Manta is a castle at Manta near Saluzzo, Province of Cuneo, region of Piedmont, in northern Italy. The original bui ...

(

Manta Manta or mantas may refer to: * Manta ray, large fish belonging to the genus ''Manta'' Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * Manta (comics), a character in American Marvel Comics publications * Manta (''Uridium''), a spaceship in the Br ...

) * Province of Genoa ** Casa Carbone (

Lavagna Lavagna is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, Italy. History and Culture The village, unlike nearby Chiavari which has pre- Roman evidence, seems to have developed in Roman times with the Latin name of ''Lavania''. ...

) **Historic barber's shop (

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

) ** San Fruttuoso abbey (

Camogli Camogli (; lij, label= Genoese, Camoggi ) is a fishing village and tourist resort located on the west side of the peninsula of Portofino, on the Golfo Paradiso in the Riviera di Levante, in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, Liguria, northern Italy ...

) ** Torre di Punta Pagana (

Rapallo Rapallo ( , , ) is a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, located in the Liguria region of northern Italy. As of 2017 it had 29,778 inhabitants. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, on the Tigullio Gulf, between Portofino and Chiav ...

) *

Province of La Spezia A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

** Villa Rezzola ( Lerici) *

Province of Lucca The province of Lucca ( it, provincia di Lucca) is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lucca. It has an area of and a total population of about 390,000. There are 33 '' comuni'' (singular: ''comune'') in the pr ...

** Teatrino di Vetriano (also known as the Teatro Catalani) (Vetriano di

Pescaglia Pescaglia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lucca in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Lucca. Pescaglia borders the following municipalities: Borgo a Mozzano, Camaiore, Fabbri ...

) * Province of Mantua **A kiosk in the

Liberty style Liberty style ( it, Stile Liberty) was the Italian variant of Art Nouveau, which flourished between about 1890 and 1914. It was also sometimes known as ''stile floreale'', ''arte nuova'', or ''stile moderno''. It took its name from Arthur Lasenby ...

(

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

) *

Province of Messina Messina (, ) was a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. Its capital was the city of Messina. It was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Messina. Geography Territory It had an area of , which amounts to 12.6 percent ...

** Cala Junco (an area of

Panarea Panarea (; scn, Panarìa) is the smallest of the seven inhabited Aeolian Islands, a volcanic island chain in north of Sicily, southern Italy. It is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Lipari. There are currently about 280 residents living on t ...

, one of the Aeolian Islands) *

Province of Milan The Province of Milan ( it, Provincia di Milano) was a province in the Lombardy region, Italy. Its capital was the city of Milan. The area of the former province is highly urbanized, with more than 2,000 inhabitants/km2, the third highest populat ...

** Casa Necchi Campiglio

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

** Collezione Alighiero de' Micheli (Milan) *

Province of Naples The Province of Naples ( it, Provincia di Napoli; nap, Pruvincia 'e Nàpule) was a province in the Campania region of southern Italy. In 2014/2015, the reform of local authorities (Law 142/1990 and Law 56/2014), replaced the Province of Naples ...

** Bay of Ieranto (

Massa Lubrense Massa Lubrense ( nap, Màssë) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about southeast of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 13,404 and an area of 19.7 km2 ...

) *

Province of Padua The Province of Padua (''Provincia di Padova'') is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Padua. Geography It has an area of 2,142 km2, and a total population of 936,492 (2016) making it the most populated pr ...

** Villa dei Vescovi, Luvigliano, a frazione of Torreglia, in the Euganean Hills) * Province of Rome ** Park of the Villa Gregoriana ( Tivoli) *

Province of Sassari The province of Sassari ( it, provincia di Sassari, sc, provìntzia de Tàtari, sdc, prubìnzia di Sàssari, ca, província de Sàsser, french: province de Sassari, co, pruvincia di Sassari) is a province in the autonomous island region of Sa ...

**The Talmone Battery (Italian: '' Batterie Talmone'') a system of military defenses (

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the ...

) * Province of Sondrio ** Castel Grumello (

Montagna in Valtellina Montagna in Valtellina is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northeast of Sondrio. Montagna in Valtellina borders the following municipalities: Ca ...

) *

Trentino Trentino ( lld, Trentin), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento, is an autonomous province of Italy, in the country's far north. The Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, an autonomous region ...

** Castello di Avio (Sabbionara di

Avio Avio S.p.A. is an Italian company operating in the aerospace sector with its head office in Colleferro near Rome, Italy. Founded in 1908, it is present in Italy and abroad with different commercial offices and 10 production sites. Avio operate ...

) **The wildlife sanctuary of Maso Fratton-Valaia ( Spormaggiore) * Province of Turin ** Castello di Masino ( Caravino) * Province of Varese ** Torba Monastery ( Gornate-Olona) ** Torre di Velate (

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

) ** Villa Della Porta Bozzolo (

Casalzuigno Casalzuigno is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northwest of Milan and about northwest of Varese. Casalzuigno includes the Villa Della Porta Bozzolo, a 16th-century villa belon ...

) ** Villa Panza (Varese)

References

External links

Official website
1975 establishments in Italy Nature conservation in Italy

Tourism in Italy Cultural organisations based in Italy Environmental organisations based in Italy Organizations established in 1975 Historic sites in Italy {{Italy-org-stub