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The House of Butterflies,
Butterfly Arc, originates from an idea
developed by the naturalistic entomologist Enzo
Moretto already in the first half of the seventies.
The project was initially developed through a series
of experiences and temporary exhibitions. In a later
stage, thanks to the fundamental contribution given
by the naturalist Gabriella Tamino, the first
Italian House of Butterflies was founded and
was inaugurated in 1988 at Montegrotto Terme
in the province of Padova. At present the House of Butterflies
of Montegrotto Terme represents a most important living
museum center and is the site of initiatives spread
worldwide as well as the site for planning and creating
the most important Italian Houses of Butterflies, such
as that established at Milano Marittima in Emilia
Romagna, the large museum center of Bordano
in Friuli Venezia Giulia and the experience of Monteserra
in Sicily. Since its opening the House of Butterflies
of Montegrotto Terme (which was the only one existing
in Italy for a long period of time) obtained a broad
and convinced approval by the general public, the press
and the academic community. |
| Since its beginning
the House of Butterflies of Montegrotto Terme, which
has been the only one established in Italy for many
years, obtained a sincere and broad approval by the
public, the press and the academic community. Every
year the House of Butterflies is visited and appreciated
by a large number of people, some tens of a thousand
a year, a large fraction of visitors being represented
by schools, organized groups, and a number of scientists
and scholars. A similar situation obtains for virtual
visits via Internet at the site www.butterflyarc.it,
the first site in this field worldwide (created in the
early nineties). Moreover, each year thousands of students
and interested people take advantageof didactic experiences
with butterflies. The latter project established at
Butterfly Arc, as well as several other projects focused
on the education to the local environment , are promoted
by the association Amici della Terra/Friends of the
Earth, in the frame of the European campaign for the
preservation of butterflies and their environment “Ciao
Farfalla/Project Butterfly”. Nowadays
the House of Butterflies of Montegrotto is known worldwide.It
is appropriate to emphasize that the idea of the House
of Butterflies has obtained a greater appreciation in
the Anglo-Saxon world, especially in England, where
a multicentennial interest and attention for natural
sciences pushed the onset of the initial important projects
already at the beginning of the eighties. These initiatives
characterized the end of the past millennium for their
originality and innovation and can be compared for their
importance and reputation with the origin of the first
botanical gardens in the world which (perhaps not by
chance) occurred in Padova in the XVIth century. |
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