Varese, land of experiences

Taino Park

The Taino Park was built in 1991 on a project by the artist Giò Pomodoro, author of the sculpture "The place of the four cardinal points" located in the center of the park. The idea of the project was that of a public park intended as an urban area of compensation, reflection, rest and contemplation. The park is located in a large green space in the center of the town with a view towards Lake Maggiore and Monte Rosa.

The monument is a work made of white, gray and pink granite, water and iron, which celebrates the summer solstice. It has in the center the tall pillar-gnomon, which on June 21 at noon, captures the sun's rays through a slot cut inside and marked in black marble on the surface and projects them on the fallen pillar, in the point indicated on one notch. On that day the sun obscures the horizontal monolith with the pyramidal tip in bronze with the shadow of the latter, except for a portion carved into the notch which remains illuminated for a short time, signaling the summer solstice. The pillar-gnomon is dedicated to Apollo, the classical god of the sun, who had a large sanctuary in Delphi, Greece, and has the profile of a dolphin, an animal sacred to the god, engraved on one face.
The shadow of the pillar also indicates other astronomical references: the winter solstice, the equinoxes and the dates on which two stars of the first magnitude, Deneb and Capella, are found at midnight on the zenith of Taino.

This monument, rich in symbolic references, is regulated by the contrast of the opposition of light with shadow, fire and water, the masculine of the sun, represented by the gnomon, and the feminine of the moon, represented by the lunate basin: the moon, a symbol of cyclicality and water, a symbol of fertility, are references to the female world.

Dogs of all sizes allowed on a leash in compliance with the general rules concerning hygiene and the protection of public safety *