Giardino dei Principi reopens in Naples after restoration

The Giardino dei Principi, part of the Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples, has reopened after a year-long restoration funded by a €25 million PNRR grant. The garden, designed in 1840 by Friedrich Dehnhardt in Anglo-Chinese style, covers two hectares and features groves, lawns, and belvederes with views of Mount Vesuvius. Restoration focused on returning the garden to its original appearance, including the recovery of a belvedere renamed Belvedere dei Principi. The project is part of a larger redevelopment of the Real Bosco, which includes planting 10,047 trees, 7,616 shrubs, and 43,243 herbaceous plants. At the Giardino dei Principi, 62 trees (including holm oaks, lindens, maples, and English oaks), 2,450 shrubs, and 2,465 herbaceous plants were installed. The garden houses 70% of the exotic species in the Real Bosco, with rare specimens such as a camphor tree, Taxodium mucronatum, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, magnolias, yews, cypresses, pines, a Cedar of Lebanon, and a Melaleuca. Sustainable features include permeable tuff conglomerate paths, drainage trenches for water recovery, and low-irrigation grass seed mixes. The Real Bosco, originally a hunting reserve, was designed in 1734 by Ferdinando Sanfelice and expanded by Dehnhardt in 1833. It spans 134 hectares around the Royal Palace of Capodimonte, now a national museum, and contains over 400 plant species and six monumental trees.