Bonnanaro, Palazzo Passino Garden

Palazzo Passino garden. Photo by Irene Ollargiu, 2025, from Catalogo BBCC

Palazzo Passino is located in the highest part of the historic center of Bonnanaro. It was built at the end of the 19th century by engineer Achille Dettori on behalf of the owner Don Angelo Passino, who designed a model of stately residence, functional to a land company. The residence has square dimensions and is spread over three floors. The main facade in plastered stone, decorated with neoclassical elements, overlooks a double marble staircase on the front garden. The garden precedes the building and is configured as a green space of shrubs and trees. The difference in height of the east and south sides was solved by creating a small bastion with a wall. The area is characterized by the central presence of a circular basin, originally a small fountain with a gush, and some fruit trees and a tall palm tree. Later, the building was equipped with a large service court that overlooked the church of Santa Croce. The staircase of the main facade of the building, with a double marble ramp and a small circular roof, overlooks the garden, constituting a scenic backdrop for the green space. The small quadrangular garden must have probably had, from the original design, an orderly and schematic configuration, integrating harmoniously with the neoclassical façade of the building and enhancing its monumental nature. There is no trace left of this first structure, neither physical nor documentary. From the second half of the 19th century, different destinations of use of the area followed one another. First the garden and palace were rented to the Municipality of Bonnanaro, which arranged the local elementary school there, then to the Ministry of the Interior, which installed the local police station.

Interesting aspects
The stately architecture of the 19th century combines the functionality of a land company with a refined aesthetic, culminating in the beautiful double marble staircase that acts as a real backdrop against the surrounding greenery.