The Churches of Torricella

Probably the prolonged drought of last summer (1993) was the principal cause of the serious collapse of the foundations of the Church of Sant'Agata di Colle Zingaro.

Built in the 1960’s its dry stone foundations served for downhill drainage: the first rains of autumn stagnated at the base of the dry, contracted clay foundation stones, causing their collapse. In fact during restoration work a considerable amount of water was found at the bottom of the foundations at the front of the building.

There were indications of lesions already in September. Then in October these cracks became 3 – 4 cm wide.

Justifiably alarmed, local inhabitants soon organised a committee, led by Claudio Antrilli, and in a little less than a month they had collected 15 million lire. They asked Engineer Piccirelli to direct the repair and restoration project and the firm Geo Tecno Sond from Rome (one of whose owners is a Torricellan) to carry out the repair works, with the use of sloping "micropoles" (micropali) so that the weight of the church will be transferred to drier more solid ground.

The work includes refurbishing the internal floor, putting the columns of the apse in order and repairing the lesions on the side walls. Claudio Antrilli says, "If everything goes well people will be able to use the church again by Easter, always provided that we can collect enough funds to carry out all the expected works."

Translation courtesy of Dr. Marion Apley Porreca