The Garden of the Righteous of the World

On 24 January 2003, at the suggestion of Gariwo President, Gabriele Nissim, the Garden of the Righteous of the World was inaugurated in Milan. It is located in the large green area of Monte Stella, on a hill formed by the accumulation of rubble caused by Allied bombing. The garden is the third of its kind in the world, after those in Jerusalem and Yerevan, and was the first of almost one hundred now existing in Italy.

In Milan, the first trees were dedicated to Moshe Bejski for the Righteous of the Shoah, Pietro Kuciukian in honour of the Righteous of the Armenians, and Svetlana Broz for the Righteous against ethnic cleansing in the Balkans. Since 13 November 2008, the management of the Garden has been entrusted to the Association for the Milan Garden of the Righteous founded by the Municipality of Milan, the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, and Gariwo. From the activity of this place, the Day of the Righteous, on 6 March, was born. This was introduced by the European Parliament in 2012 and became a civil solemnity in Italy in 2017.

In 2019, the Garden was renovated with a project by architects Stefano Valabrega and Giacomo Crepax. It now houses a true path among the Righteous. After discovering the stories of the exemplary figures honoured with a tree and a memorial stone, visitors can walk through the Viale del Bene (Avenue of Good), to the Albero della Memoria (Tree of Memory), where the plaques dedicated to the new Righteous begin. Continuing on, visitors reach the Spazio del Dialogo (Dialogue Space), a small space with a few seats where they can reflect, read, and converse. Continuing on their walk, visitors come to a particular work, the Albero delle Virtù (Tree of Virtues). The geometry recalls the map of the city of Milan, and the engraved words represent the values that guide the actions of the Righteous: solidarity, human rights, civil courage, memory, truth. Finally, at the end of the path, surrounded by trees, there is an Amphitheatre dedicated to Ulianova Radice, the director of Gariwo who passed away in 2018. There are currently 80 righteous people remembered. The garden is always open.