 The Moscow Times |
|
(Moscow, Russia, 1 April 2004) by Riccardo Dalle Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov presented startling plans Wednesday to restore the Italian city of Pisa after receiving what he called a heartfelt plea from its mayor. Giovanni di Simone, mayor of the northern Italian port, famous for its Leaning Tower of Pisa and an array of stunning medieval and renaissance buildings, asked for help after hosting Luzhkov on a visit in November. "We were impressed by the work that the mayor has done to help preserve Moscow's architectural history," di Simone said in a statement posted on Moscow's municipal web site. "He showed us a PowerPoint presentation of the successful work he and his wife have done in their city, including plans for the Manezh that sparked our enthusiasm. "Italian architects have done much to contribute to Russian cities, we hope your mayor can do much the same for us," he said. The city of Pisa is about 500 million euros ($608 million) in debt. "The Tower of Pisa is a wonder of medieval Roman architecture," said Luzhkov, in remarks conveyed through his spokesman, Sergei Tsoi, Interfax reported. "However, we have 800 years more experience than the original builders of Pisa and will reconstruct the city." Construction company Inteko, partly owned by Luzhkov's wife, Yelena Baturina, will be a major construction partner in the project, Interfax reported. The ambitious plan envisions underground parking garages being dug under the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the city's Duoma next to it, in an effort to ease moped jams in city streets. A series of skyscrapers will be erected around the town, and in return Pisa will provide a life-size copy of its famous tower, which will be erected at Poklonnaya Gora. Georgian artist Zurab Tsereteli has offered his help in replicating the tower. "The tower is very similar to mine at Tishinskaya Ploshchad," Tsereteli was quoted by Itar-Tass as saying, referring to his Georgian-Russian Friendship Tower. "Except mine is straight." Italian newspapers reported that Florence, Venice and Sienna were watching development closely and, if the project was a success, would consider cooperating with Moscow. Moscow will reduce costs by providing its own labor. Trains will begin transporting workers from Odessa, Dushanbe and Tashkent later this month. The project, however, has not been without its opponents. "Over my dead body," said Pisa resident Berta di Bernardo. Details of how the project will be financed are expected to be revealed Thursday morning.  Friday, Apr. 2, 2004. Page 4 By Kevin O'Flynn Press Plays April Fools' With Roman and Pisa Staff Writer April Fools' Day is a good day to see whom Russian papers view as the most comical, or most humorless, figures in the country. This year's spoof targets were the rich and the powerful, ranging from soccer mogul Roman Abramovich to Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov. ... It was left to The Moscow Times to inject a serious note into the day's proceedings, with a story about Luzhkov's bid to restore the ancient Italian city of Pisa with a combined attack of underground garages and skyscrapers. Unfortunately, the article gave the game away to medieval Italian architecture buffs, who would have spotted that the parting quote was from Berta di Bernardo, the woman who, when she died in the 12th century, left money for the building of a tower in the city of Pisa. |