Municipal Park
An inclusive playground
The equipped playground area features colorful sensory gardens with both individual and combined inclusive play equipment. The project aims to enhance the identity and history of the village—founded by the Arabs around 830—alongside its community, drawing inspiration from the possible origins of the name Sambuca: from the legendary emir Al Zabut, "the Splendid," who had the castle built, to the elderberry plant (sambuco), common in ancient times in the valley of Lake Arancio, to the sambýke—from the Greek Σαμβύκη—an ancient musical instrument similar to a harp, which resembles the plant of the historic center and is depicted in the town's coat of arms. Within the inclusive playground, references to these distinctive elements are visible in the stylized elderflower, reproduced in the winding paths connecting the sensory gardens and overlaying the existing network of avenues. The castle theme is represented in the Movement Garden, while the theme of music is featured in the Sound Garden.
The municipal Park
We are at the beginning of Corso Umberto I, the ancient rectilinear path of Strata Granni: a true narrative route that traverses history and recounts, through its stages, the development of the village and the lives of its inhabitants over time. Here, on a trapezoidal area of the residential fabric overlooking Lake Arancio, the Municipal Park was established in the 1950s. To its right is the "Elios" cinema and a building that housed a mechanical mill for several decades.
From Italian Gardens to “Happy Zabut”
The layout of the villa, with its geometric division of spaces, is inspired by Italian gardens. Based on the original design of the urban garden—a quadrilateral with eight radial pathways and, alongside it, another rhomboidal area with four perimeter paths, two orthogonal diagonals, and a fountain at the center surrounded by benches—in 2021, “Happy Zabut” was created, an inclusive community playground. This intergenerational space fosters meeting, exchange, socialization, relaxation, and play, open to everyone without limits or barriers, designed for children and adults with disabilities (physical and/or mental) as well as for all children and adults up to the elderly in the neighborhood.
The Garden of Colors
In this sensory garden, children can paint and attach collages of various colors to chalkboards and panels at heights suitable for young children and those with motor disabilities. Kaleidoscopes and binoculars aimed at Lake Arancio, an important natural and scenic element of the area, are intended to stimulate sight and an appreciation for the beauty of the landscape. Plants with different blooming colors, leaves, bark, and stems have been integrated into the play equipment to stimulate visual sensitivity and educate children about color differences—a metaphor for the diversity among all human beings—and thus also about the integration of those who are "different from me."
The Garden of Movement
At the heart of the Movement Garden is the inclusive play structure of the Castle, which alludes to the castle of Emir Al Zabut, evoking the history of Sambuca and its original Arab settlement for both young and old. Here, play panels facilitate logical-mathematical learning and memory exercises. The garden is enhanced by an inclusive swing, a wooden seesaw for two children aged 2 to 12, a gymnastic area, and several spring-based rides, including single pony rides and a four-seat clover ride.
The Garden of Touch
This sensory garden aims to stimulate touch through the perception of materials and surfaces with different grain sizes, roughness, and textures. To this end, it includes a play table, an inclusive sandbox, and a dual-purpose table for both laboratory and manipulation activities. The experience of tactile sensations during play is further enriched by the "Casetta Fiorellina", where children can touch the internal and external surfaces and engage in manipulation games.
The Garden of Sounds
In this sensory garden, a play-music island allows young children (0-3 years) to develop motor skills thanks to numerous movable objects, increase their understanding of environmental changes, and learn self-confidence. From here, a sound journey unfolds in stages, including the fairy tale tree with seating for grandparents and grandchildren, parents and children, engaged in a generational exchange of storytelling and listening to fairy tales, stories, and anecdotes from the past. The journey continues with a stop at the xylophone play area for logical-musical learning and the talking tubes play area. Here, educational activities can also focus on the sounds of insects and birds that stimulate the sense of hearing: the buzzing of a bee, the chirping or rustling of a bird, the noise of plant life in the wind, or the crunching sound of leaves underfoot at the end of the season. These sound images can also be transferred pictorially in the nearby Garden of Colors.
The Garden of Flavors
Edible fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices planted in a sensory garden offer visitors the opportunity to experience the generosity of nature while tantalizing their taste buds. Located on the northwestern side of the inclusive playground, the Garden of Flavors is equipped with play boxes for urban/social gardening where strawberries, eggplants, basil, mint, and parsley can be grown. It also features flower-shaped play seats among small fruit trees and a play kiosk with counters for kneading, preparing, and tasting fruit, honey, and simple, natural foods. Educators from various associations will conduct activities focused on animation, environmental education, and food education in the park.
The Garden of Scents
The sense of smell is extremely memorable: aboard the Little Train in the Landscape of Scents, medicinal herbs and highly aromatic plants evoke a wide range of emotions, offer ample opportunities for stimulation, and easily find a place in our memory banks. Schools are tasked with involving children in tagging the plants with Braille labels readable by those with visual impairments, including information about the plant's properties, care, and maintenance, to support and promote environmental education for all park visitors. In the Garden, among the play areas, there is also a wooden "Babbalùcia" (snail), a symbol of Sambuca.
A sensory garden as an opportunity
The project aims to promote social inclusion, education to diversity, the fostering of relationships, ensuring everyone’s right to play, environmental education, and sensory education. Through its sensory gardens, it offers numerous benefits and the potential, as researchers state, to help treat various conditions, including Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia. Within “Happy Zabut,” in the Municipal Park of Sambuca, it is possible to establish workshops to awaken the remaining abilities of patients, such as recognizing various essences, engaging in planting/harvesting, taking walks, performing small artistic works with flowers and plants, preparing identification labels for known species, taking photographs, and proposing readings. Meanwhile, younger children can rediscover their connection with nature, often neglected due to computers, video games, and TV. An important aspect of the park is the creation of intergenerational community areas: a “Garden of Generations,” where grandparents and grandchildren can meet or go together to find a space to play and have fun outdoors or engage in physical activities. For example, at the Story Tree, they can sit and tell or listen to stories, cultivate together in the Garden of Flavors, or draw together in the Garden of Colors.
