A green vacation amongst the « wonders of Italy »

Italy’s unique historical and natural heritage has enthralled people of culture in all ages, and in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the country became an important destination for the cultural education of aristocrats from all over the world – a journey known as the Grand Tour. For writers of the calibre of Stendhal, Goethe and Flaubert, crossing the Alps and descending into Italy was a compulsory journey towards the concept of « ideal beauty ». But of Italy’s many features of outstanding natural beauty, the highlight in terms of magnificence and environmental value is without question the Alps, the mountain range that encompasses the highest peaks in Central Europe. One of the most famous of these is Gran Paradiso, a mountain that lies entirely within the Gran Paradiso National Park and comprises stunning landscapes and oases of uncontaminated nature. At the centre of the municipality of the town of Cogne, set amongst thick forests at the foot of Gran Paradiso, stretches the large expanse of Prati di Sant’Orso (St. Ursus Meadow), protected since 1939 by a law aimed at preserving Italy’s natural heritage and in 2011 granted the status of « Meraviglia d’Italia », one of the « Wonders of Italy ». A small holiday home built in the 1950s as a place to enjoy unique views of the peaks of Gran Paradiso, the valley and the Prati di Sant’Orso soon became a major attraction for the entire region. In the 1970s the facility was expanded and converted into the hotel La Madonnina Del Gran Paradiso. Then in the 1980s it underwent a major refurbishment that involved raising it by a floor, modernising the rooms and converting the restaurant, reception and bar. In 2009 work began on the construction of a new 500 square metre wing connected to the main block and designed to accommodate 9 superior rooms, 3 suites, a breakfast room and a modern spa with splendid panoramic views. To create a link between the warm, welcoming colours of the furnishings and wood ceilings and the floors in the spa centre and in the common and connecting areas of the new wing, the designers used porcelain tiles from Ceramiche Keope’s In&Out collection in the colour Pietra di Coimbra and size 30×60 cm. By coordinating the heterogeneous mineral colours of stone with the forest tones of the furnishings and surface coverings, the designers succeeded in recreating the natural atmospheres of Alpine landscapes with their variegated rocky walls and unique biodiversity. The floor coverings in the new hotel combine exquisite aesthetics with the outstanding technical qualities of strength, resistance and safety. At the same time, the GreenThinking environmental project developed by Ceramiche Keope ensures that the tiles fully comply with the educational programme aimed at fostering respect for nature pursued by the Gran Paradiso national park authority. This is a particularly important issue as Gran Paradiso is the only Italian park registered on the Green List of Protected Areas drawn up by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.