National Historic Houses Day on Sunday 24 May

A Sunday dedicated to historic residences. This year, the 16th edition of the National Day of Historic Dwellings will be celebrated on 24 May when hundreds of residences whose owners are members of the Italian Historic Dwellings Association (Adsi) will open their doors to thousands of visitors. The initiative aims to raise public awareness of the importance of protecting and preserving our private historical-architectural heritage, listed assets that are an expression of the deepest roots of Italian identity and culture, to be protected and handed down to new generations. This is a network of period properties, residences, castles and historic gardens that performs a fundamental public and social function and that, thanks to its widespread presence, represents a true infrastructure that crosses the entire country and generates value in the territories, particularly in smaller towns and inland areas. The theme of the next edition is 'Guardians of the future. A living heritage for a shared value', which recalls the responsibility of taking care of assets that are not only to be preserved, but to be valorised and made usable within the reference communities, so that they can continue to generate cultural, social and economic value.

"Adsi's National Day is by now an important and consolidated appointment in the calendar of cultural activities in Italia, which places a vast cultural heritage present in all our regions at the centre of our country's agenda: in 2025 alone, more than 500 residences took part in the event, welcoming more than 250,000 visitors," says Maria Pace Odescalchi, president of the Association of Historic Italian Residences. It is also a valuable opportunity to reflect on the need to foster the protection and maintenance of this cultural infrastructure of our country, ideally with support tools that enable proactive management and medium and long-term planning, to ensure that these widespread assets continue to be a resource for our country and for future generations".

The Association of Historical Italian Residences is the association that brings together the owners of historical residences throughout Italia. Founded in 1977, it currently has around 4,500 members and represents a significant component of our country's historical and artistic heritage. It promotes awareness-raising activities to foster the conservation, valorisation and management of historical residences, so that these properties, which are of historical-artistic value and of interest to the community, can be protected and handed down to future generations in the best possible conditions. This commitment is directed in three directions: towards the members themselves, who are the owners of the properties; towards the central and territorial institutions, which are responsible for the various aspects of conservation; towards public opinion, which is interested in the protection and enhancement of the country's cultural heritage.

For more information: https://www.associazionedimorestoricheitaliane.it/giornatanazionale2026/