The Long Arm of Totò Riina

Posted on May 16, 2019 by babbityjean

Investigators considered him the undisputed leader of Cosa Nostra—“U curtu,” the boss of massacres. When he died in November 2017 (see post, “The Long Shadow of ‘Totò’ Riina, December 14, 2017), Riina was serving 26 life sentences.  The first was for a crime committed in Corleone in the 1950s.  The most notorious were the attacks that cost the lives of the anti-mafia magistrates Falcone and Borsellino in 1992 (see 2 posts, “The Courage to be Heroes,” August 10 and 17, 2017).

Then came two announcements in January 2019.  First, the Italian government asked the family of Riina to pay 2 million euros (about $113 million) for expenses incurred while he was in a Parma prison. This amount is what it cost the State for his 24 years behind bars.  The tax collection agency in Sicily presented the accounting to Riina’s widow, Ninetta Bagarella. The family’s response: “To us it seems ridiculous because the law expressly excludes heirs of the condemned from reimbursing the government for the costs of his maintenance in prison.”  Both sides are studying the issue further.

Then, also in January, the youngest of Riina’s four children, Lucia, announced on Facebook that she had opened a restaurant in Paris the previous November.  Called “Corleone by Lucia Riina,” the restaurant promises “authentic Sicilian-Italian cuisine to be discovered in an elegant and welcoming environment.”  A stone’s throw from the Arc de Triomphe,the restaurant “Corleone” also displays Lucia’s paintings inside.

Lucia, 39, had moved to the French capital in August of 2018 with her husband, Vincenzo Bellomo, and her 2-year old daughter.  Ironically, Lucia’s father used the name “Vincenzo Bellomo” during his years on the lam. When he was finally arrested, he was in possession of an identity card that said Vincenzo Bellomo of Mazara del Vallo (a town in the province of Trapani in Sicily), accountant.  As a child, Lucia thought that her name was Lucia Bellomo.  She claims that she only discovered the true identity of her father on the day of his arrest in January of 1993.  Yet, Lucia uses the surname Riina not only for her restaurant but also as the signature on her paintings.

The news of the restaurant’s name and use of the coat of arms of the town of Corleone are not without controversy.  The mayor of the Sicilian town stated, “Over the years we have witnessed the abuse of the brand ‘Corleone,” which has served to promote goods of all kinds.  If used by companies in good standing and by respectable people to promote the name of our town, we cannot but be happy.  It is not permissible, however, to promote the name by people who mistreated our town—by people related to the mafia boss, in this case.  We will do everything we can to neutralize this initiative…and the use of the emblem of the town, the rampant lion with the heart.”

Less than a week after Lucia’s announcement of the restaurant and the publicity in the Italian newspapers, she announced to the French newspaper Le Parisien that she will remove the family name from the sign of the restaurant: “I did not try to provoke or offend anyone,” she explains, “I just wanted to enhance my identity as an artist-painter, and also highlight the Sicilian cuisine…. I announce that I have decided to withdraw my name from the sign of the restaurant and advertising, even if I regret that my identity as a painter and a woman is denied….I have a normal life now.  Today I am a painter and the mother of a child.  My father has his story, I have mine.”

I suspect that we haven’t heard the last of both of these stories—the request for payment from the government, and the name and emblem of the restaurant.  Who knows how sincere Lucia is, but we can be pretty sure that she is a good marketer.

Posted in Abitudini, Cucina italiana, English, Foto, Italia, Mafia, Sicilia, Storia | Leave a comment

La Torre e le sue inclinazioni

Posted on May 10, 2019 by babbityjean

La Torre Pendente di Pisa ha cominciato a inclinarsi fin quasi dalla sua nascita … circa 900 anni fa.  Iniziato nel 1173, il campanile fu completato in 200 anni circa.  Ma, ci furono ritardi lungo la costruzione dovuti a eventi naturali, così l’uomo è intervento più volte per salvarla dal crollo totale.   Poi recentemente un miracolo è avvenuto in Piazza dei Miracoli.

Partiamo dall’inizio.  La Torre ha cominciato a pendere durante la costruzione del secondo piano nel 1179, causata da una fondazione inadeguata in un terreno troppo morbido per sostenere la struttura.  La costruzione fu fermata in quell’anno, perché La Repubblica di Pisa fu quasi continuamente in battaglie con Genoa, Lucca e Firenze.

Quando la costruzione fu ripresa, quasi 100 anni dopo, il terreno sottostante si era assestato.  L’inclinazione era rimasta e gli ingegneri del tempo costruirono i piani superiori con un lato più alto dell’altro.  La costruzione fu interrotta di nuovo nel 1284 per un’altra battaglia.  Il settimo piano (quello finale) fu completato nel 1319 e la torre campanaria fu aggiunta nel 1372.

Almeno 4 forti terremoti scossero la zona a partire dal 1280. Ciò che i ricercatori capirono secoli dopo, era che l’altezza e la rigidità della Torre, insieme alla morbidezza del terreno di fondazione, avevano protetto la Torre dal movimento sismico. Lo stesso terreno soffice che aveva causato l’inclinazione e il quasi collasso della Torre, l’aveva allo stesso tempo aiutata a sopravvivere nel corso dei secoli. L’inclinazione è sempre aumentata col passare del tempo, ma verso il 1830 raggiunse il suo culmine.  Furono fatti molti sforzi per ripristinare l’orientamento verticale della Torre, ma la maggior parte senza successo.

Durante la seconda guerra mondiale, gli alleati sospettavano che i tedeschi usassero la Torre come postazione di osservazione. Un sergente dell’esercito degli Stati Uniti fu così inviato a indagare, ma di fronte al monumento rimase talmente impressionato dalla bellezza della cattedrale e del suo campanile che si astenne dall’ordinare un attacco di artiglieria, risparmiando così la Torre dalla distruzione.

In seguito, negli anni ’60, il governo italiano era sì, preoccupato per la stabilità della struttura, ma sapeva anche che l’inclinazione giocava un ruolo importante nell’industria del turismo. Nel 1987 l’UNESCO dichiarò la Torre, la cattedrale, il battistero e il cimitero patrimonio mondiale. Ma dopo tre anni, a causa anche del crollo della Torre Civica di Pavia (vicino a Milano), la Torre di Pisa fu chiusa al pubblico.

Tra il 1993 e il 2001, sono state intraprese varie strategie per stabilizzare la struttura. Le campane sono state rimosse per alleggerire il peso. Dei cavi sono stati fissati al terzo livello, ancorandoli a diverse centinaia di metri di distanza. Tonnellate di terreno sono state rimosse dall’estremità sollevata. Un sistema di contrappesi e micro tunnel sono stati costruiti sotto il prato, invertiti e sostituiti nel 2001 da una rete di sensori che forniscono letture orarie di molte misurazioni, tra cui: temperature esterne ed interne, velocità del vento, micro fessure nella pietra e movimenti del suolo.

I risultati sono stati impressionanti. La Torre è stata raddrizzata di 41 centimetri (circa 16 pollici) riportandola allo stato di 200 anni fa. La Torre è stata riaperta al pubblico nel 2001. Il numero di visitatori che scalano il campanile è limitato a circa 400.000 ogni anno e la Torre rimane “il monumento più monitorato al mondo”.

Come risultato di questi miglioramenti, la Torre Pendente di Pisa ha perso il suo status di edificio straordinario. Due chiese in Germania hanno una maggiore inclinazione; delle strutture ad Abu Dhabi e in Nuova Zelanda sono state costruite deliberatamente su pendenze molto più grandi.

Il miracolo a Pisa oggi è che, quasi venti anni dopo gli ingegneri hanno completato il lavoro, si è scoperto che la Torre si inclina anche un po’ meno (meno di 1,5 pollici). La Torre continua a raddrizzarsi e questo non era stato assolutamente previsto.  La ragione non è ancora nota. Ma ciò non significa che riusciremo a vedere la Torre di Pisa completamente verticale, perché se continuasse al ritmo attuale, ci vorrebbero almeno 4.000 anni.

 

Posted in Architecture, Arte, Foto, Italia, Italiano, Storia, Toscana | 3 Comments

The Tower and its Inclinations

Posted on May 10, 2019 by babbityjean

The Leaning Tower of Pisa starting leaning almost from the get-go … nearly 900 years ago.  Begun in 1173, the bell tower took nearly 200 years to complete.  It was, in fact, the delays along the way, as well as natural and man-made interventions, that saved it from totally collapsing throughout its long history. And then in the 21stcentury a miracle happened in the Piazza dei Miracoli.

Let’s start at the beginning.  The tower’s tilt began during construction of the second floor in 1179 and was caused by an inadequate foundation on soil that was too soft to properly support the structure.  But construction was halted that year because the Republic of Pisa was almost continually engaged in battles with Genoa, Lucca, and Florence.

When construction resumed nearly 100 years later, the underlying soil had settled.  The tilt remained, and the engineers of the time built the upper floors with one side taller than the other.  Construction was halted again in 1284 for another battle. The seventh and final floor was completed in 1319, and the bell-chamber was added in 1372.

At least four strong earthquakes shook the area since 1280.  What researchers understood centuries later was that the height and stiffness of the tower, together with the softness of the foundation soil, protected the tower from vibrating with earthquake ground motion.  The same soft soil that caused the tilt and near collapse of the tower helped it to survive over the centuries.

The tilting increased over time and seemed to be at its worse in the 1830s.  Numerous efforts were made to restore the tower’s vertical orientation, but most failed.  During World War II, the Allies suspected that Germans were using the tower as an observation post.  An army sergeant who was sent to investigate was so impressed by the beauty of the cathedral and its campanile that he refrained from ordering an artillery strike, thus sparing the tower from destruction.

Then by the 1960s, while the government of Italy was concerned for the structure’s stability, it also knew that the tilt played an important role in the tourism industry. In 1987 UNESCO declared the tower, cathedral, baptistery and cemetery a World Heritage Site.  But three years later, after the collapse of the Civic Tower of Pavia (near Milan), the Tower of Pisa was closed to the public.

Between 1993 and 2001, various methods were undertaken to stabilize the structure.  The bells were removed to relieve some weight.  Cables were cinched around the third level and anchored several hundred meters away.  Tons of soil were removed from the raised end.  A system of counterweights and micro tunnels were built under the lawn. These were reversed in 2001 and replaced by a network of sensors that today give hourly readings of many measurements, including external and internal temperatures, wind velocity, micro fissures in the stone, and soil movement.

The results were impressive. The tower was straightened by 41 centimeters (about 16 inches) bringing it back to its status of 200 years earlier. The tower reopened to the public in 2001.  The number of visitors who climb the bell tower is restricted to about 400,000 annually, and the tower remains “the most monitored monument in the world.”   But now the Leaning Tower of Pisa has lost its status as the world’s most off-kilter building.  Two churches in Germany have a greater tilt; and structures in Abu Dhabi and New Zealand were deliberately built at far greater slopes.

But the miracle in Pisa today is that nearly two decades after engineers completed consolidation work, it has been found that the tower tilts even less (by 1.5 inches).  The tower is continuing to straighten, which had not been foreseen.  And the reason is not entirely known.  It doesn’t mean that it would ever be completely upright—for at the current rate, that would take about 4,000 years.

 

Posted in Architecture, Arte, English, Foto, Italia, Storia, Toscana | 2 Comments