Butterfly Arc (Casa delle Farfalle), Montegrotto Terme

The Butterfly Arc opened in 1988 at Montegrotto Terme, in one of the largest thermal areas of Italy, at the foot of the Euganean Hills. The official site presents it as the first Casa delle Farfalle built in the country, born from the dream and sacrifices of a young couple of naturalists, Enzo Moretto and Gabriella Tamino, now joined by their children. An Italian botanical-heritage portal credits the original idea to Enzo Moretto, a naturalist and entomologist, and adds that for a long time the house was the only one of its kind in Italy.

Its mission, according to the official site, is to make nature better known, above all the world of insects and other invertebrates, to support teaching and entomological research and to protect biodiversity. Its most important collaboration is with the Esapolis Living Insect Museum; it also works with universities, including Padua, and has advised on other projects, among them the butterfly houses of Milano Marittima and Collodi and zoos in Vienna and Moscow.

A fire destroyed part of one of the tropical gardens, where iguanas, parrots and a few exotic invertebrates were kept; the main building that houses the butterflies was saved, the animals were rescued and the damage was put at about 100,000 euros. A short circuit was first suspected, then three ignition points were found, which raised the possibility of arson. The Butterfly Arc reopened on 8 March, against pessimistic expectations.

The tourism site of the Colli Euganei defines the building as a glass greenhouse in which exotic plants recreate a tropical climate; the official site speaks of a tropical greenhouse whose route crosses recreated rainforests of the Amazon, Africa and Asia. A Montegrotto tourist portal describes an entrance after the video room, then a first Amazonian setting followed, 'with a simple step', by the Indo-Australian one. The botanical-heritage portal distinguishes three zones for its part, Amazonian, Afrotropical and Indo-Australian, and mentions a microclimate built for the purpose.

According to the tourist portal, the Giardino dell'Eden, in the first room of the house, lets visitors watch emergences. The area of the neighbouring park is over 1.72 acres (nearly 7,000 m²) according to the botanical-heritage portal.

The plants named by the Colli Euganei site are palms, banana plants, alocasias, orchids and passion flowers; the botanical-heritage portal speaks of a selection of organically grown plants. The butterflies, day and night species alike, number more than 400 according to that portal and belong to about a hundred species according to the local tourism site; every stage can be seen, from egg to adult. Visitors meet metallic-blue morphos, heliconians with their warning colours and swallowtails, whose host plants can be spotted in the Indo-Australian zone.

Other spaces complete the collection: a teaching room with caterpillars, beetles and millipedes, an aviary of giant tropical moths, and Aquatica, on the world of water. Visitor sites also mention bearded dragons, large tropical insects such as mantises, stick insects and beetles, colourful parakeets, a soft-shelled turtle and leafcutter ants.

The Butterfly Arc stands on via degli Scavi in Montegrotto Terme. The ticket covers the Casa delle Farfalle and the Bosco delle Fate; booking is not required for individual visitors. The greenhouse is warm and humid: a family blog advises dressing in layers.

The official 2026 calendar gives ordinary hours until 30 November, a Christmas opening from 4 December to 6 January and extraordinary openings; the Colli Euganei tourism site notes that activity is suspended during the coldest winter months. The Bosco delle Fate, a wooded park of over 1.72 acres (nearly 7,000 m²) according to the botanical-heritage portal, extends the visit; the site also has picnic areas.