Multi-sensory garden in the Park of the Rupicole in Torre Maura

Italy's first multisensory garden, created in 2012 by the Dipartimento Politiche Sociali (Department of Social Policy) in collaboration with the Università di Roma Tor Vergata and Sapienza: a concentration of tactile and olfactory experiences - and a new way of rehabilitation - for people with disabilities.

The park is an open-air laboratory of 3,700 square metres where visitors can try out Mediterranean aromas and scents of all kinds, spontaneous flowers, garden fragrances and exotic plant presences.

The space is designed for wellbeing, relaxation, and the active use of time, and the entire maintenance of the greenery is entrusted to groups of users who carry out rehabilitative activities here: in the hortus conclusus of the Rupicole you can do gardening, horticultural therapy, aromatherapy, and green workshops for children.

For the visually impaired, a sensory path that runs through part of the garden has been set up: it can be used independently thanks to the wooden handrail, three-dimensional tactile tiles, specially designed paving, and Braille panels explaining plants, flowers and animals. The path is interspersed with covered shelters, trees, benches with armrests and spaces to park wheelchairs and pushchairs.

The garden is regulated by a protocol signed by Roma Capitale with the Asl Rm2, which takes care of rehabilitation programmes for the disabled, and the University of Rome Tor Vergata (Botanical Garden - Biology Department), which is in charge of the scientific and operational management of the project.