European Day of the Righteous - Garden of the Righteous of Humanity at Villa Pamphilj

A garden of memory in Rome's largest park

In the heart of Villa Doria Pamphilj, the capital's most extensive public park, a unique place has existed since 2018: the Garden of the Righteous of Humanity in Rome. You can reach it from the entrance at Via della Nocetta 30, in the Monteverde district, within Municipality XII of the City of Rome, in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Lazio. Here, every year, on the occasion of the European Day of the Righteous—a commemoration established by the European Parliament and celebrated around March 6th—a public ceremony is held to dedicate new trees to figures recognized as Righteous of Humanity.

What is a Righteous person

The term originates from the tradition of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem, but over the years it has expanded to include anyone, in any genocide or totalitarian regime, who opposed injustice by defending human dignity, even at the cost of their own life or freedom. This is the interpretation proposed by the Gariwo Foundation, promoter of the international network of Gardens of the Righteous, which in Rome collaborates with Municipality XII, the City of Rome, and local associations.

The structure of the garden

The landscape design, created by architect Vitaliano Biondi, fits discreetly into the original agricultural landscape of the 17th-century villa. The trees are arranged in two semicircles of olive trees, accompanied by pomegranates and cypresses: plants that in the Mediterranean tradition evoke resistance, hope, and life. Next to each plant, a stone bears the name of the honoree, often donated by the foundations or associations that preserve their memory.

Among the names who have received an olive tree in the Roman garden since the first planting in 2018 are Salvo D'Acquisto, Irena Sendler, Armin Wegner, Etty Hillesum, and Mohamed Naceur Ben Abdesslem. In subsequent years, figures very different in era and geography—from witnesses of Italian anti-fascism to contemporary dissidents—have been added, marking the universal vocation of the site.

How the day unfolds

The ceremony has a well-established structure and generally takes place in the morning:

• Initial tribute, often at Largo Anna Politkovskaja, with readings of texts by the figures being remembered;
• Planting of the olive trees in the Garden of the Righteous, with greetings from municipal and city authorities and speeches by historians, witnesses, and family members;
• Public meeting for in-depth discussion, hosted at the Casale dei Cedrati within the villa, with Italian and international guests.

The audience consists of citizens, civil rights associations, diplomatic representatives, and above all students from Roman schools, who have been involved for years in educational programs that accompany the selection of the new Righteous.

Why it is worth attending

It is not a festival in the usual sense of the word: there are no stages or tickets. It is rather a civil rite, sober and participatory, which lasts a few hours but leaves a permanent mark on the city's landscape. Those who arrive at Villa Pamphilj on that March morning find a park in bloom, a small crowd gathered around two holes in the ground, and the precise feeling that memory, to remain alive, needs to be planted somewhere.

The Roman context

The celebration is part of a wider network of Gardens of the Righteous spread throughout Italy and Europe, from Milan to Rimini, from Pescara to Rho, up to the gardens born in Rwanda and other countries marked by mass violence. Rome, with its garden at Villa Pamphilj, is today one of the most visible nodes of this network, also thanks to its location in a park frequented every day by thousands of Romans: the olive trees remain there all year round, freely visitable during the villa's opening hours.