Pantelleria: a 3000-year history... the Pantelleria gardens

These are typical constructions of the island of Pantelleria, Pantelleria gardens were built to protect plants from the strong winds that blow on the island in every season. Dating back to the beginnings of the culture of the hot arid countries of the southern Mediterranean, these circular buildings, inside which a single citrus tree is kept, closed by a door, represent an ingenious self-sufficient agronomic system capable of defending the citrus tree from the two main threats to its survival on the island: the wind, whose intensity and frequency cause damage incompatible with the survival of the trees, and the scarcity of water, which can sometimes lead to 300 uninterrupted days of drought.
One of the few specimens of those still present on the island of Pantelleria in a good state of preservation is located in Contrada Khamma, and was generously donated to the FAI from the historic Sicilian winery Donnafugata. The Pantelleria garden, which is located in a natural amphitheatre made up of terraces planted with centuries-old Zibibbo vines, has been completely and skilfully restored. In terms of its size and construction characteristics, it represents the most widespread type on the island: its circular layout, diameter (11 metres outside and 8.4 inside), height (up to 4 m) and the lava stone used to dry the soil guarantee the best microclimatic conditions. Inside the garden, an extraordinary, centuries-old sweet orange tree "Portugal", an ancient variety rich in seeds but also in sugary juice, grows on several trunks until it occupies the entire available area.

Pantelleria gardens are rural architectural structures, almost always circular in shape, found on the island of Pantelleria. They are built with volcanic stones using the dry-stone technique, and have the prerogative of protecting a single citrus plant placed inside from the fury of the wind, which is always present on the island.
In addition, given the slopes of the hills, the Pantelleria garden was built close to the paths, so that rainwater, a very rare 'commodity', was channelled and channelled through a few bumps in the inlet holes and then ingeniously directed to the foot of the tree.
There are at least 350 of them on Pantelleria and they normally measure between 7 and 12 metres in diameter, with a height of around 3.70 metres and a variable width of between 80 and 150 centimetres. The garden is accessed through an arched door.
In most cases, the edge of the drywall is tilted inwards at the top to direct more light and heat onto the tree crown.