Lecce's Masseria Tagliatelle to reopen as Stazione Ninfeo community hub

The historic Masseria Tagliatelle, a 16th-century villa within Lecce's Parco delle Cave, will reopen as Stazione Ninfeo, a community hub supported by a €500,000 grant from Fondazione Con il Sud. The building houses the Ninfeo delle Fate, a Renaissance thermal hypogeum, which will be accessible via guided tours. Over the next decade, the masseria will host young local third-sector associations coordinated by Tdf Mediterranea, offering a social hostel, co-working space, a food point managed by a partner hotel institute, cultural workshops, and artistic residencies. Services include neighborhood concierge, disability support, multimedia and braille paths for the visually impaired. The project aims to involve 3,000 young people under 35, ten schools in the province of Lecce, and 300 people with disabilities. Meanwhile, the broader Parco delle Cave redevelopment, designed by Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza, has faced delays despite €11 million in ministerial funding. A car bridge was completed in 2019, but finishing works stalled after an anti-mafia injunction against the contractor in 2020; construction resumed in summer 2021 under Agostinello. In May 2022, Tagghiate Urban Factory opened in the park, managed by Oikos for two years, offering social and cultural activities, an educational garden, a toy library, a bicycle workshop, and a refreshment point.