Botanical Garden of Pietra Corva

The Botanical Garden of Pietra Corva is located in the municipality of Romagnese, at 950 m above sea level on the slopes of Monte Pietra di Corvo, a suggestive and steep outcrop of dark volcanic rock.

Conceived and created starting in 1960 by Dr. Antonio Ridella, a talented veterinarian and dog lover, but also a naturalist and a great enthusiast and expert botanist, the garden was officially opened to the public in 1967. 
Dr. Ridella's exploration trips to the Alps, Andes and Pyrenees allowed him to admire the beauty and harmony of high altitude plants, in the multiplicity of their adaptations and left him with the desire to create a garden with a clear and valid purpose for that time: conserving and adapting high altitude plants coming from different mountain systems. The help of the gardener Cesare Soffritti was decisive, as he not only accompanied Dr. Ridella on the countless excursions in search of wild plants to introduce into the garden, but was above all the one who operationally set up the flowerbeds, rockeries and internal paths of the garden.

In the early 1970s, Antonio Ridella's passion and enthusiasm managed to infect a group of friends including Dr. Adriano Bernini, who helped him strengthen the structure of the garden, enhance its collections and publicize its importance. Upon the early death of Dr. Ridella in 1984, Dr. Bernini took over the management of the garden.
Currently the garden is managed by the Province of Pavia through an agreement with the municipality of Romagnese and the Comunità Montana Oltrepò Pavese.
As expected from the modern concept of management of botanical gardens, in particular the Botanical Garden of Pietra Corva performs multiple functions: didactic-educational, conservation and protection, research, tourism-economic.

The species currently present in the garden are around 1200, divided into the various sectors mainly according to geographical origin, the collection of important plants, the ecological and environmental characteristics of growth. The symbolic flower of the Garden is the Fritillary, belonging to the Liliaceae, which can be recognized by its purple bell-shaped flower with white-speckled petals.
The Garden is equipped with a visitor center which illustrates the different aspects of the territory and is completed by a series of educational panels displayed along the internal paths. The enclosures bordering these structures are also home to ungulates such as deer, fallow deer and mouflon.
A Northern Apennines Study Center has been created at the Alpine Garden of Pietra Corva, the aim of which is to encourage, develop and carry out research, education and information activities on the Apennine natural ecosystem as well as study activities on the biodiversity of the neighboring area.

The Pietra Corva Botanical Garden became a SIC in 2019 (Site of Community Interest) recognized by the European Union and is managed by the Province of Pavia through an agreement that links the provincial body, the Municipality of Romagnese and the Oltrepò Mountain Community Pavese. The Sassi Neri – Pietra Corva SIC extends for 667 hectares in the municipality of Romagnese, on the orographic right bank of the Tidone stream, from the course of the river up to over 1000 meters of the Pietra di Corvo, Pan Perduto and Sassi Neri mountains.
Between 2021 and 2022 the Botanical Garden of Pietra Corva underwent an important renovation thanks to funds obtained from the Lombardy Region which allowed an adaptation of both the internal structures and the experiential side with a completely new concept of visiting the site with the placement of tablets and information panels within the site.