The Antonio Garcea Visitor Center, adjacent to Villaggio Mancuso, in the municipality of Taverna, is characterized by the prevalent presence of the laricio pine in pure formation. It is precisely from the immense wealth of this wood that its timber anthropization and exploitation originate.
Here, around the first twenty years of the twentieth century, the rustic complex of the State Forestry Corps of that time comes to life and from here directs a careful policy of stands use, of reforestation, of careful sawing, of environmental protection, of protection against fires. The Visitor Center Garcea has assumed the appearance of a modern multi-purpose complex after the 1980s, with a continuous use of creative resources. The Visitor Center is immersed in nature: nature wants to talk about nature, wants to evoke the memories of the pastoral agro-silvo culture, of nature and of culture linked to it, wants to silently propagate echoes.

The synergy between the Sila National Park Authority and the Carabinieri Department for the Biodiversity of Catanzaro guarantees the optimal use of the Visitor Centers aimed at an active conservation of the natural environment, oasis of biodiversity, for educational and scientific purposes for contemporary people and for future generations. The Visitor Center is located in the Municipality of Taverna, about 40 km from Catanzaro, within the "Poverella-Villaggio Mancuso" Biogenetic Nature Reserve.

The Center, which through its infrastructures is proposed as a Center of Excellence highly specialized in environmental education, is at the service of the promotional and cultural activities in the naturalistic field implemented by the Management Body of the Sila National park.

The Information Office guarantees the reception of visitors throughout the year.

Facilities and services present

Among the structures of particular importance there are:

The "Nature Center", with a conference room, a temporary exhibition hall and a thematic museum;

The "Study Center - Naturalistic, Environmental and Forestry Education", with a didactic room, a library, an educational workshop and an outdoor "green classroom".

The thematic museum "Forests of Sila", dedicated to the evolution and structure of Sila forest formations . (download the brochure)

"The Forests and the Man" thematic museum, which focuses on the relationship among human communitie, mountains and forests, considered as a cultural landscape in which the natural element has been modified by the millennial activity of man. (download the brochure)

The "Green Theater" with a capacity of about 500 seats.

The "Square Unicef" intended to host cultural and recreational events as well as educational environmental education.

Moreover a didactic path and a disables path can to be visited thanks to illustrative tables about flora and fauna present in Sila Piccola, a "Garden of sweet and therapeutic herbs " with several Patterns of plants, native or not of Sila Piccola, a "geologic path " , a "Path for blinds " provided of descriptive tables in Braille language, a "Path for Ipo-seeing", a "garden of forestry culture ", a "Nursery of biodiversity of Sila " and the "rural Village of ancient Sila ".

Some areas are destined as settling and spreading centers for roe deers and deers, with a didactic-demonstration center for fallow deers, with an educational and setting center for marvelous owls that are being reintroduced into Sila Piccola. Ultimately, the Visitor Center wants to guarantee a wide access to the protected natural area allowing all citizens the opportunity to enjoy their free time and the right to "do tourism", an important factor in socializing, leisure and fun for man.

Antonio Garcea Visitor Center
Taverna (CZ) loc. Monaco
tel. +39 0961 922 819
latitude: 39.02.1121
longitude: 16.578688
opening hours - Visitor Center: 8:00 to 13:00 / 15:00 to 19:00
Museums: 10: 30-13: 00/15: 00-19: 00

For more information:
The Carabinieri Department for the Biodiversity of Catanzaro
Tel .: +39 0961 725 624