Mid-September 2008 News
Antonio Piccoli di maone
The Town on Vacation Yes!! In the middle of September, Torricella went on vacation. Marziale D’Ulisse closed his Penna Nera Bar, the Teti butcher shop closed (family nickname Colandundere), the bakery closed, and even the mayor went on vacation – everyone seemed to be on vacation from the first to the fifteenth of September. Now that August has ended, no one mulls around the town square. Add to that the fact that some businesses are closed, and you feel like you are entering into another dimension. In any case, the townspeople are still around. Torricella is simply like all other small towns and vacation spots: from one day to the next, the vacationers leave and the place seems empty. Yet, life continues as clockwork with the same rhythm and same familiar faces. Everything gets put back together and returns to a size proper for this small town and its people. Things calm down, and you can take in the smells, the sounds, the tolling bells, the morning light and the afternoon sun; you can stop, and enjoy the heat, the drizzle and the evening fog. There is something particularly fascinating about all of this, something that harks back to times gone by.
Church of San Giacomo Apostolo (St. James the Apostle) In the meanwhile work on the reconstruction of the church’s roof continues. The first task involved uncovering the roof to get an idea of what needed to be done. They discovered that the beams are all in bad condition and need to be replaced along with the roof tiles, trusses and all else. They substituted the wood beams with iron ones, and at this point a good part of the roof has been completed. “Weather permitting, we might get the roof done by the middle of October”, I was told by parish priest, Giuseppe Di Pietrantonio (Father Peppino). “Then, when will the church be reopened?” This is the question on everyone’s mind in Torricella. “When can we get back into the church?” The answer is short and simple: “We don’t know”. All the inside work needs to be completed, including repairs to the cracks in the pilasters and walls inside the façade; then, things need to be painted and the heating system needs to be reworked. Only then will the Department of Monuments and Fine Arts give its approval for us to use the church again. In any case, to prevent water from seeping in and to maintain the stability of the church, this work needs to get done. What does the budget look like? “Very bad” was the answer of Father Peppino. Each year Italians donate 0.8% of their income taxes to a religious denomination of their choice or back to a state welfare fund. Work on the church has been able to go forward because the Italian Episcopal Conference, an assembly of Italian Catholic bishops, set aside some of these taxpayer donations for the roof (80,000 euros). That is when the Taddeo Construction, the company that had previously repaired the roof over the church’s left nave, began the project. “Yet, we won’t get any money until we present a detailed account of the work completed”. So, at least 3 or 4 months will go by before any money arrives. Three years ago a complete reconstruction plan was presented with a total price tag of 360,000 euros. We can take away from this sum 70,000 euros plus some additional money that were used to fix the roof on the left side and do some other repairs. Now another 80,000 are being used to do the roof on the right side. So, to finish the work completely, another 150,000 euros are needed. The Abruzzo Regional Government had earmarked 100,000 euros for the project. The funding seemed to be a sure thing, but as we all know now, it has gone up in smoke. The hope is that after the next elections something positive will happen. Bah! It’s an illusion when considering the dire economic status of the public sector and of all of Italy. Who will give any funds at this point? How will things get done? Well, it will certainly not be easy. Most likely we will have to do as we have done in the past and count on the support of Torricellans in the town and throughout the world. One thing remains certain: this 16th century church will not reopen for a long time.
A Few More Inhabitants A considerable number of people are purchasing houses in Torricella to refurbish as vacation homes or as weekend and winter getaways. In addition, a young Romanian couple rented and is refurbishing an old house on Corso Umberto (main street) left empty for about 30 years. They moved from Gessopalena to Torricella because their son is attending the culinary school in Villa Santa Maria, and the bus that goes to Villa Santa Maria passes through Torricella, not Gessopalena. Though the number of residents only increased by three, it is a noteworthy event because it interrupts a 50-year trend of depopulation. Some days ago I read about a small town in Calabria, decimated by emigration, which gives incentives and abandoned houses to immigrants who come to live in their town. It is a novel idea. Traditions and heritage are lost, but life in a town is somewhat restored.
English translation courtesy of Dan Aspromonte
Photos courtesy of Antonio Piccoli di maone
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