The ones that follow one another hour after another in Emilia-Romagna are small tremors, a sort of continuous shiver that passes from the earth to men and things, creating discomfort and concern, often aggravating the balance of damages. In the last 24 hours, 40 events have been recorded by the Ingv geologists, only one - they write - had a magnitude greater than 3.0, exactly 3.2 at 3.47 in the morning of 7 June. Those who live in areas close to the epicenter are now always on the alert, feel the shock, "feel" it with an empty stomach, dizziness. Human beings suffer and things suffer. Emilia is an area rich in towers (573) and bell towers, which number at least 3000, as many parishes. The controversy over the bell tower of Poggio Renatico is of recent days, which was blown up because it was too compromised and artistically irrelevant. And together with the sacred places, many civil buildings of a historic nature are struggling to stand up and their future is uncertain, the only choice could be to demolish them permanently. In short, Don Camillo and Peppone cry together on this occasion.
In Bologna these days the controversy over the Mulino Parisio is taking center stage. It is an old chimney, one of the mills moved by the Savena, the last of 5 historic mills which stopped working in 1983, but which had begun to grind in the 600s. The chimney, which survived wars and bombings, is a sort of large brick cigarette, a remnant of industrial archeology that does not enjoy any artistic protection, but which the Bolognese are fond of. She is a lifelong friend who characterizes the beautiful Via Toscana and who perhaps will have to disappear, because after the latest tremors she has become unsafe and endangers a busy artery and the adjacent condominium.
And the same fate could end up with the Pinacoteca di Cento, burdened by through cracks, greater than 2 centimeters, historic home of the works of Guercino, the genius of Baroque painting originally from the town at the time part of the Duchy of Ferrara. Today the numerous paintings by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri are placed on the ground, in the few rooms left open for use, together with others rescued from the churches. But how long will it last? In short, the work to be done is enormous and not everything will be saved: only after the shock of the 20th did the Superintendency receive 599 reports, out of 1159 protected properties in the region. The latest collapse was on Sunday and it was the Clock Tower of Novi di Modena. And until the earth stops the work of restoring, rebuilding and restoring cannot truly begin.
