Mountain houses, centuries-old paths, churches and castles perched on the peaks. But also historical pharmacies or hospitals born in the Renaissance and still fundamental in everyone's life. With two special prizes dedicated to the beauties of Italy above 600 meters and, in full Coronavirus emergency, to the historical places of health, the 10th edition of The places of the heart of Fai starts today, a census carried out by the Italian Environment Fund with Intesa Sanpaolo, under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic and with the sponsorship of Mibact, which until December 15 invites everyone, in Italy but also abroad, to vote for the Italian places they love most and would like to see "saved", protected and enhanced.
In these two months of quarantine - tells the executive vice president of Fai, Marco Magnifico who during the web conference announces the reopening of FAI assets at the end of the month - the Italians seem to have rediscovered how much Italy wants. The places of the heart embody this love, often parochial, a bit like us. "From 2003 to today, the countryside has become a sounding board in favor of small and large beauties not to be forgotten, with 119 projects promoted in 19 regions, more than 7 million votes received - 2.2 only in 2018 - more than 800 committees born and a unique and spontaneous mapping of over 37 thousand assets. Among the victories, recalls the project manager, Federica Armiraglio, "there is the recovery and opening of the Tomb of the shields in the Monterozzi Necropolis of Tarquinia ". Or the small mountain houses at the Giardino della Kolymbethra in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento." I noticed them in '99 when they asked us to save the Garden and they were already collapsing " Magnifico says, now the FAI, which skipped the Spring Days for Coronavirus but will reopen its assets at the end of the month, has bought them to restore them.
"It is the demonstration how the public-private partnership for the protection of our heritage can and should work - comments the undersecretary at Mibact, Anna Laura Orrico - The competition that this census launches among the beauties of the country always has a single winner: l Italy and the Italian people. This emergency is also teaching us how important it is to find places closer to us and rediscover those we have abandoned, such as the internal areas. We must learn to develop a new model of protection, enhancement and economics of culture ". "We must recreate our tourism, making it intelligent - presses the president of Fai, Andrea Carandini - A tourism that enriches the country without consuming it and together also enriches people, because it tells them of the Etruscans, the Romans, the art of the Renaissance, the history of national unity ". The two special rankings with which this year the census is enriched are dedicated to Italy above 600 meters, that is, to places that belong to the internal mountain areas of the country, of which the Foundation is also dealing with the Alpe Project and which cover alone 54% of the national territory; and the historical places of health built at least 70 years ago, which tell how much the well-being of body and mind has ancient roots from the Roman baths to the pavilions at the end of the 19th century (Info: www.iluoghidelcuore.it).
"In general, hospitals are places of the heart. When they have such a long life, it means that they are really lived by everyone", comments Mario Po, director of the cultural and museum pole Scuola Grande di San Marco, recalling the birth in December of Association of historic hospitals, also with the SS Giovanni e Paolo of Venice, which has become Covid center. The three most voted places will receive 50, 40 and 30 thousand euros of funding, 20 thousand to the winners of the special rankings, while the most popular on the web will be featured in a video by the Foundation.
