Il Tirreno Giornale (PISA, Italia, Sunday 16 December 2001)
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Envoys from all the world for a day awaited for almost twelve years
PISA. The mimicry is eloquent if not excessive: first it was the arms of a young Japanese man forming an angle of 45 degrees, then the forearm follows the profile of the leaning Tower. He clearly explains by gestures the rotation operation: his friend nods, then points out toward the top. A group of people moves up there, around the bell cell: an unusual show, at least for the last 12 years. The two ask a cameraman in English about the lights, one of the many television crews present; yes, today the Tower reopens to the public. The colleague of a Japanese internet crew completes the information, the two decide to have lunch in Pisa and wait for early afternoon. They will be among the first visitors to climb the spiral staircase to one of the most famous Italian monuments. And as the interest for this reopening - followed by the restitution of the monument to the city in June after 12 long years of work that has allowed the consolidation - is high, demonstrated by the presence of many envoys from all the world. They were in fact 59 journalists and 35 press-photographers accredited by the Pisan Work of the Primaziale. All to follow a ceremony in high style. It is said to honor the memory of the other fallen Towers, those twins across the ocean, but a certain something more from the point of view of the image could be fact. Apart from the total absence of representatives of the State (if obviuosly the prefect Paul Padoin is excluded) and of the Region, which we report in another column, the cold forenoon has seen the battalion of the journalists hedge in confusedly for more than an hour under a canopy beaten by the wind in the garden of the Work of the Primaziale, to follow the press conference that has seen the president of the Work of the Primaziale Pierfrancesco Pacini, the mayor Paolo Fontanelli, the president of the Province Gino Nunes, professor Michele Jamiolkowski, noted as the "curing physician" who has saved the sick Tower, when everybody gave it up for dead. A look to the past, represented by a unique metallic ring on which the sun is reflected, remains in a point structurally more delicate than the architecture, each ciphers - 54 billion spent for the intervention, 44 centimeters of recovered inclination, at least 200 years of "guarantee" for the stability of the Tower - a jump into the future, with the chute opened for 10 billion of financing for the restauration of the masonry materials, the awareness in part by all to have saved and returned a work that is not only of Pisa but of all humanity. And all humanity will see then, through the eyes of the tens of television cameras present, a solid Tower, but more still to polish up and to restore, without even a rag of a flag, neither Italian nor the city of Pisa, to wave on top, with a squad of chilled armed guards to carry the whole weight of a millennial history on their shoulders, and a group of the color guard as noted in folklore, the only ones to have raised a great standard for thanks from the Pisan Republica. The 4 bells are played in the cells aloft, and the people are enthusiastic around the basin that surrounds the Tower. The door opens, and two girls enter, the first of a group of ten people selected at random in the plaza for a free visit. Behind them, administrators, journalists, photographers, cameraman, all in file for the 295 steps, steep or nearly level depending on the side of the inclination. On the walls, quite a few writings still remain, loves and old sporting passions of more than 13 years. On top of the Tower, icy wind, and Pisa "in entirety" for a panorama full of emotion. But the feeling is that of a wasted occasion. Jamiolkowski said, caressing "his" creature with a look of restored health: "In our Country the victory is not known until the end" What is the reason this time? For the latest reservation information, please visit Leaning Tower Booking/Reservation Information Leaning Tower of Pisa Homepage Return to Leaning Tower of Pisa News Page  This Page maintained by: Gary Feuerstein |