Dear friends, here we are again! After more than a month we return to tell you about our experiences of accessible tourism, and this time we don't stray too far from Naples. In fact, it was enough for us to take a ferry and in just over an hour we arrived at the island of Ischia, the largest in the Gulf of Naples, where in a week we visited many accessible places, which we will give you an account of in this and other posts.
Introduction: to get around Ischia, in our opinion, the use of the Triride or other motors applied to the wheelchair is essential, because distances and slopes are considerable.
Let's start talking about what was perhaps the most evocative experience and which gave us the most satisfaction regarding overcoming architectural barriers. We are talking about the La Mortella Gardens (*), a splendid creation rich in plant species distributed with exceptional imagination and taste in a triumph of the best landscape architecture.
To best present it, we leave the word to the text found in the booklet distributed at the entrance:
La Mortella is a splendid exotic garden created by an extraordinary couple: Susana and William Walton. William was one of the leading English musicians of the twentieth century. Susana a refined botanical collector. The couple lived in Ischia, near Forio, from 1949. Their ashes are kept in the garden.
The garden was begun in 1956 and designed by the famous landscape architect Russel Page who designed a picturesque landscape among volcanic rocks, fountains, waterways and terraces. The garden is a botanical treasure of tropical, exotic and aquatic plants.
La Mortella is divided into two areas: The Valley, or lower garden, is cool and shady, ideal for tropical plants. The Hill, or upper garden, is sunny and breezy, full of Mediterranean plants and terraces from which you can enjoy splendid views of the bay of Forio.
And this map gives an idea of the size of the garden; the upper area is to the left of the image:
So let's start taking a look at the photos, starting from the upper area of the garden:
And this is the splendid view of Forio d'Ischia that can be enjoyed from the belvedere:
Let's now move on to the lower area, that of tropical plants:
Nice, right? A leaflet containing the Visit Itinerary is also provided at the ticket office, with detailed information on the plants and notable points of the garden.
At this point it is appropriate to give some logistical information dedicated to those who have our problems.
The upper area of the garden is equipped with a large car park with spaces for disabled people; it can be visited almost entirely in a wheelchair, but the connection to the lower area is not accessible for us, as it consists of a staircase.
Therefore, to reach the other area you must exit the upper car park and reach the lower entrance, which does not have a car park, and try to leave the car along the road; the distance between the two entrances is in fact quite significant.
See you next episode on Ischia!
(*) symbol indicating the presence of toilets equipped for disabled people
Comments