OUR STORY!

Giardino Museo a Gisa has been slowly created through a united family's vision, first starting in 1992, when Antonio Scelfo and his wife Carmella decided to purchase a small plot of land at the foot of the Madonna dell'Alto Sanctuary in Petralia Sottana. The land was initially broken up into 16 different small plots of land, and little by little Antontonio and Carmella purchased all plots they liked best, finally owning 2 hectares of land that served as a place of family reunion. After a few years of owning the land and doing intensive work, there was finally the time and space to begin planting trees. Initially they started with olive trees, planting an entire grove that is still tended to today. Then they moved on to the fruit orchard, working with a small cooperative in the Petralia village, they planted many varieties of heirloom fruit trees that are regional to the area.

Throughout the years, the land of Giardino Museo served as a sanctuary for the family, where many memories and celebrations were created over the decades, the family watched the land grow, as the land simultaneously watched the family grow and expand. The three sons of Carmella and Antonino were a huge part in the cultivation of this land, however their youngest, Dario, had a bigger plan and vision for what it could become.

After this rejection, Dario decided it was time to move on, expand his experiences in the world, and he left to live in Berlin. He ending up spending many years abroad, traveling throughout Europe but despite all the time he spent in new locations and cities, his heart had never truly left Gisa and the sanctuary created by his family in the Madonie mountains. Though his travels brought distance between his family and the land he loved most, they also simultaneously influenced the vision that was brewing in his soul. Deep within he knew that one day he would return to continue building the legacy that his family had started in his youth.

One day in 2021, while Dario was living in Zurich, he received a call from his father who notified him that the neighbor who owned the land situated above Giardino Museo had decided to sell his 1.5 hectares. This land was directly connected to those 16 small plots mentioned earlier and thus his vision began to meet momentum. Dario immediately took the opportunity to purchase this land that had abandoned for over 70+ years, leaving his job as a chef in Zurich to put all his full focus on the land he had just purchased.

Now the real struggle began when he arrived and saw that the land was completely full of bramble, bushes, thorns and rocks. He was overwhelmed, thinking of what should be done first, and little by little he began to clear out the land, removing the bramble and thorns, and letting the land breathe to come back to life. At the same time, he began to open the doors to campers and travelers who were passing by the Madonie area to spend the night in a tent, or to enjoy a cooking class with him and his mother. From this point forward the joyful atmosphere of Giardino Museo was beginning to be shared with the outside world and not just his immediate family and friends.

After some time, Dario revisited his original idea of building natural structures on the land, and discovered an opportunity to present to PSR Sicilia a new plan that now incorporated Glamping Domes. The project was successfully approved and thus a new adventure begun, to realize his vision of building these structures on the land. Through months of extremely hard work, set-backs and beauticratic obstacles, the project was finally completed in the Summer of 2025, with two brand new Geodesic Domes built on the abandoned land purchased in 2021.

Now, when you visit the land it stands beautiful and inviting, where there were thorns and bramble before, you now see open air and a peaceful pathway taking you around the entire property, through the Glamping domes, chill zones, the Cassetta and the surrounding gardens. This is a dream that is still being created day by day, not only by Dario and his family who have helped and supported him through every step of the way, but also by all he guests that visit and walk through this land. We are so excited to share our story with you, and we hope you also feel the magic upon setting foot in Giardino Museo a Gisa.