since 1921
“The year nineteen twenty-one on the twenty-fifth day of September …” so reads the “instrument” with which my great-grandfather Giovanni Spasari – here portrayed with his wife and his grandchildren – bought “for the price paid of thirty-five thousand lire two rustic funds called Pantano and Castellace in the countryside of Badolato ”.
This man – building contractor, but with a passion for the countryside – had thought of the farm as a quiet place to spend with his wife – Antonietta Ciciarelli, formerly a woman teacher in the elementary school of Badolato – their only daughter Franceschina – married to the elementary teacher Salvatore Cosenza – and the brood of grandchildren (no less than eight), the long and sunny days of the Calabrian summers away from the “bustle” and heat of the town.
In the six hectares of the estate, partly cultivated with olive groves, Giovanni planted the vine, fig and almond trees; the irrigation area – which benefited from a source of water – was dedicated to the cultivation of citrus fruits and peaches.
On the highest hill – with a splendid view of the blue sea of the Gulf of Squillace, the ancient village of Badolato and that of Santa Caterina – he built the large farmhouse, equipping it with a stable, sheepfold and millstone (for pressing grapes).
1921
the Rustic Funds
The building contractor Giovanni Spasari buys two rustic estates called Pantano and Castellace in the countryside of Badolato
1943
The Destruction
The ruin of the farmhouse is destroyed by a load of bombs dropped from a Luftwaffe plane
2015
Tenuta Pantano
Tenuta Pantano is founded, the agricultural company destined to revive the farm and to create a quality product
2017
The Secular Plants
In the 2017 oil campaign, the production of olives from centuries-old trees resumes
2019
The Turning Point
The young olive trees planted only four years earlier go into production, marking the turning point.
1921
the Rustic Funds
The building contractor Giovanni Spasari buys two rustic estates called Pantano and Castellace in the countryside of Badolato
1943
The Destruction
The ruin of the farmhouse is destroyed by a load of bombs dropped from a Luftwaffe plane
2015
Tenuta Pantano
Tenuta Pantano is founded, the agricultural company destined to revive the farm and to create a quality product
2017
The Secular Plants
In the 2017 oil campaign, the production of olives from centuries-old trees resumes
2019
The Turning Point
The young olive trees planted only four years earlier go into production, marking the turning point.
In front of the house, the large courtyard paved with terracotta bricks was used to dry wheat and other products of the earth, but more often it housed long tables of diners who, with the excuse of hunting, used to go to the “Pantano” to enjoy the cuisine of the Badolatese tradition and abundant libations.
For a long time, about 300 centuries-old olive trees – of the large cultivars of gerace and carolea – and the ruin of the farmhouse, destroyed together with the almond trees in 1943 by a load of bombs dropped from a Luftwaffe plane to testify to that passion for the land. escape the pursuit of allied fighters.
That passion never subsided relives in the desire to obtain superior quality extra virgin olive oil in Calabria – a land traditionally dedicated to olive growing and the second largest Italian producer of olives, but not equally recognized for the quality of its oil.
So in 2015, after a long period of abandonment of the olive grove and various ups and downs, I founded Tenuta Pantano, the agricultural company destined to revive the farm and to create a quality product in full compliance with the principles of environmental sustainability and the times of mother nature.