The route
You start from Parco Castelli, one of the largest and most popular parks in the northern part of the city. But from here, instead of heading straight back into town, you go in search of hidden gardens – the ones you don’t expect to find between one street and the next.
Step by step, the neighbourhood reveals itself for what it is: a lived-in space, crossed by children, runners, families, students.
You walk along quiet paths, through small local parks and under trees that cast shade without making a sound.
The route passes Parco di Via Bligny, the small gardens in Via Bordoni and the larger Croce Rossa – Nikolaiewka Park, a place that brings together remembrance and public greenery, history and community life.
It ends in Via Valle di Mompiano, almost before you realise you’ve arrived. A short route, but full of substance.
What to see
Land art in Valle di Mompiano – installations among trees, earth and silence.
An open-air workshop. Along the paths of Mompiano, contemporary art weaves itself into trees, grass and soil.
ArteValle is inspired by Arte Sella and dreams big: sculptures made of natural materials that speak of Mount Maddalena, the former powder magazine and the future. A place that invites you to think and to slow down.
ArteValle is more than a land art project: it’s an idea growing in the meadows, an open-air exhibition that changes with the seasons. Here nature is not just a backdrop: it is part of the artwork. Intertwined branches, stones, trunks, ephemeral forms that become symbols, messages, visions.
Where water calls, wings answer.
Near the Rifugio Gnari de Mompià, a small spring-fed trickle of water attracts life.
In the warm months, between light and shade, nymphalid butterflies arrive: Vanessa, Apatura, agile and light, flying high and then diving into the meadows.
Dancing with them are other colourful wonders too: the bright yellow of Colias crocea, the metallic blue of Polyommatus icarus, the vivid green of Callophrys rubi. A watering stop for them. A rare spectacle for you.
Useful information
Served by MetroBS Mompiano and Europa. Bus line 15 is useful for those who want to start or finish outside the loop.