Legambiente Volontariato Verona was given charge of the Bastion of San Bernardino in 1995. By that time, the entire structure was nearly destroyed due to the force of time and nature. The defensive ditch was nearly covered with trash and the walls were filled with wild vegetation that was slowly destroying it. Almost no visible traces were left of the Bastion, which was disappearing under the constant growing vegetation.
The first stage of the Bastion’s restoration ran from 1995 until 1999. During these years, Legambiente Verona, the Municipality and a social cooperative, leading groups of Italian volunteers were able to remove the trash and clean most of the vegetation.
From 2000 to 2005, with the help of the Municipality and with some financing from other entities, the volunteers of Legambiente cleaned the walls from the growing ivy and the grass, built barriers and opened the posterns. By 2001, the restoration of the Bastion of Santo Spirito started, focusing first on the defensive ditch and its steep slope.
The final phase occurred in 2005 and 2006, when the volunteers finally finished the restoration work in these two Bastions. During these years, in the Bastion of Santo Spirito, the top was cleaned and finished with the help of the Municipality.
After this, the volunteers were able to start guided visits to these historical monuments, organize initiatives in what were now two beautiful parks in the heart of Verona.
From the spring of 2006, Legambiente Volontariato Verona started experimenting with traditional means of maintain the grass of the Bastions. To do this, it uses sheep and goats. This is an ecological method that saves gasoline and noise from machinery, which had been used before in other Italian and European cities.
The sheep also belong to an autochthon race which even the European Parliament is trying to save. The Brogna sheep is typical from the Lessinia area and it was known in the ancient times as the sheep of Cangrande, since it have the fine wool for which Verona was famous. The only inconvenience of the project is that Legambiente had to fence some areas of the bastion for safety reasons. The sheep’s barn has been created inside the right postern.
Nowadays, Legambiente's work in the Bastions is strictly maintenance, ensuring that it is a well-kept place that the inhabitants and visitors of Verona can enjoy. It is now a beautiful park with clean green areas, surrounded by monuments that are filled with Veronese history and memories. All of the volunteers that work with Legambiente help maintaining the Bastions and the Park of the Walls the beautiful place it is today.
Part of this text was adapted from Stocker, Mirjiam; Pierre, Elodie; et. al. (eds). Guida Al Parco Delle Mura e Dei Forti di Verona – Un Parco da Vivere. Legambiente Volontariato Verona. 2010.
