6th "Places I Love" Census

“Do you know the land where the lemon trees bloom?” Goethe wrote, enraptured by the beauty of Italy’s landscapes. This is only one of the many prestigious accounts of how Italy, with its thousand-year long history and its extraordinary cultural and artistic heritage, has always enchanted the soul of travellers: writers and artists who came from afar and loved our country through the centuries sharing the same passion of the millions of visitors of today.

This is why the 6th edition of the Census “The Places of the Heart”, promoted by FAI together with Intesa Sanpaolo, crosses the National borders and turns for the first time not only to Italians, but also to all of those who love Italy across the world.

From May 23 to October 31 2012, citizens of all nationalities will be able to recommend their “Italian place of the Heart”, that is, the special place to which they feel attached to, and which they would like to protect and safeguard forever.  

This is the first International campaign in FAI’s 37 years old history, and it asks the world a token of its love for our country, a token of trust towards Italian people, so to reaffirm Italy’s place as the cradle of Western beauty and culture. This is the true significance of the appeal launched by the 2012 Census, an appeal which has been made possible thanks to the cooperation of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Dante Alighieri Society, and many other prestigious institutions based abroad, such as Europa Nostra, Order Sons of Italy in America, which counts more than 600.000 members in the United States, the Italian Department at Yale University, and the Corriere Canadese.

This year it will be therefore even more important to take action and involve relatives, friends and acquaintances who share our same love for Italy, so to gather as many recommendations as possible, also overcoming National boundaries. The more people will spontaneously take action for a location, the more FAI will be able to concretely intervene with a follow up of the referrals by lobbying local and National institutions to put in place the necessary assets for its safeguard, or by directly intervening, when possible, in its restoration.

Don’t miss the opportunity to let everyone know the Italian place you most love! For beauty has no boundaries, and it is our duty to preserve it forever, and for all.