Battiato, “Villa Grazia” will be declared a cultural asset: process started

Milo (Catania) – The Superintendence of Cultural and Environmental Heritage of Catania has started the procedure of declaration of cultural interest for “Villa Grazia”, ​​the home of Franco Battiato in Milo. On the slopes of Etna, and with an eye to the Ionian coast, Villa Grazia was the place where the Sicilian artist had decided to return for several years now to live in an intimate and quiet atmosphere. Much more than a villa in the strict sense, but a small village surrounded by a park, with a studio where Franco Battiato used to compose his songs, and with different rooms dedicated to meditation, reading and research. The home where, surrounded by the affection of his family, he also spent the last few years. The procedure, initiated by the Superintendency, will end within 120 days with the affixing of the bond that will declare the villa as a cultural asset.

“Our function is to preserve and protect what has historical value, ethno-anthropological and cultural so that it remains in memory over time – specifies Donatella Aprile, superintendent of Catania -. The villa of Milo, in addition to being a beautiful example of a rural farmhouse, is today a symbolic place that testifies to the life of a Sicilian artist recognized all over the world for the peculiarity of his production; his house must be preserved so that it can bear witness to its life and become a place of reference, a Museum of Music that can keep its memory. “” Villa Grazia is a unique place – underlines the councilor for cultural heritage and Sicilian identity , Alberto Samonà – because it expresses that silence and that spirituality that Franco Battiato has given us with his art. The cultural bond is a gesture of love for the artist, but also of respect and attention for what was his home. A place that invites us to reflection, introspection and the search for truth: a microcosm on the slopes of the sacred mountain, which with this gesture we would like it to be further enhanced, in the name of this great, great artist “.

“The house of Franco Battiato – added Alfio Cosentino, mayor of Milo – represents an asset of enormous value in the Italian cultural world. In fact, it was the place where the artist composed his music, deepened his studies, created his paintings, collected the objects most dear to him. I therefore appreciate and welcome with great satisfaction the initiative of the Councilor for Cultural Heritage, Alberto Samonà and the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage of Catania, architect Donatella Aprile, who have shown great attention and sensitivity by placing the cultural constraint on Villa Grazia, Milo’s residence that Battiato had chosen as a place to live and from which to draw inspiration “.