The Giardino Moncada, also known as Villa Moncada, is the main public park of Paternò, owned by the municipality and the largest in the town, at the entrance to the old centre. The land, a large citrus grove of more than twenty-six thousand square metres on the east side of town, was given to the municipality in 1912 by Cavaliere Carmelo Moncada, a local nobleman and landowner, to make a public garden; the design was entrusted to the engineer Vincenzo La Russa, but red tape held everything up, and in 1939 Moncada confirmed the gift.
What to see
During the Second World War the land became a field hospital, set up by the Capuchin friar Vincenzo Ravazzini, from Castellarano in Emilia: together with the Santissimo Salvatore hospital it took in wounded soldiers and civilians. The Allied bombing that struck Paternò from 14 July to 5 August 1943 killed hundreds of people and did not spare the field hospital either; Ravazzini himself died on 15 July, hit by a shell splinter while bringing water to the patients. In 1972 the town received the gold medal for civil valour, and on 14 July 1973, thirty years on, a stele in his memory was set up in the garden.
The garden partly opened in 1953 and was officially inaugurated on 8 July 1957, named after Cavaliere Moncada. Inside, a broad avenue leads to the round fountain, among flower beds and tall trees, palms and pines: for its wealth of plants it is called the «green lung» of Paternò. In 1967 RAI filmed footage here for its television Intervallo.
Visiting
The main entrance is on the small square on via Vittorio Emanuele, near the Circumetnea station; a second entrance is on via della Libertà. The sources report that in recent years the garden has suffered from poor upkeep and vandalism, which also destroyed the marble busts: it is worth asking about its current state.
Our editors' tip
Since 1976 the garden has hosted the Fiera di Settembre, a fair devoted to farming, local crafts and typical produce, with shows.
