200,000 visitors in love with Italy celebrate the 2021 FAI Autumn Days. A surprising turnout fills Italy’s squares.

The good weather over almost the whole of Italy, the desire and the energy to return to normality, and the curiosity of Italians for their country’s hidden treasures, have led 200,000 people to visit at least one of the 600 extraordinary, often inaccessible places in 300 cities that are open for the FAI Autumn Days this weekend.

Proof of this are the many places that sold out immediately after the 7 October press conference, such as Palazzo Chigi and Casino del Bel Respiro in Rome, and the Arsenale in Venice.

The most visited regions were Lombardy, Tuscany, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Sicily.

Among the 600 places opened, those with the highest number of visitors were Villa Levi in Reggio Emilia, the new Bocconi Campus in Milan, followed by the Domenico Picca Barracks in Bari, the Recoaro Terme spa (Vicenza) andthe Institute of Aeronautical Military Sciences in Florence.

The most visited FAI properties this weekend were Villa Gregoriana Park in Tivoli, Villa del Balbianello on the western shore of Lake Como and Palazzo e Giardini Moroni in Bergamo, where the main floor of the Palazzo has been open to the public for a few weeks as an exception.

Many people were also intrigued by the 42 Armed Forces sites, inaccessible by definition, that opened their doors on the occasion of the FAI Days as part of the celebrations for the centenary of the translation of the Unknown Soldier, which will culminate on 4 November at the Altare della Patria in Rome.

The 200,000 attendances of the 2021 FAI Autumn Days are a sign that Italy is back on the cultural map after 20 months, a street party celebrating the uniqueness of our country.

Many Italians in every corner of the peninsula celebrated beauty thanks to all the people who, with a great sense of civic duty, decided to support our mission, the promotion and care of Italy’s historical, artistic and landscape heritage: “Little, great heroes who burn with a quiet, but steadfast love for Italy and for Europe”, as FAI President Andrea Carandini declared, thanking all of our capillary territorial network of Delegations, Groups and, in particular, the Young FAI Members who organised the visits and welcomed thousands of visitors over a magical autumn weekend.

The tenth edition of the FAI Days that has just concluded is dedicated to Angelo Maramai, FAI’s former General Director, who passed away prematurely last May; we like to think of him as proud of this splendid achievement.