Places of the Heart, here are the results of the 10th Fai census: exploit of the Via delle Collegiate di Modica

It was May 6, 2020 when, in the midst of the Coronavirus emergency, the FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano kicked off with great civil passion the tenth edition of “The Places of the Heart”, promoted in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo. The invitation addressed to Italians, powerful and of considerable emotional impact, was to express the love for their country in a moment of such great difficulty, by voting for the places most dear to them, those they had strongly missed in the past days must have been closed at home and to whom they would have liked to ensure, thanks to this census, protection and enhancement. And the response to this exhortation was truly exceptional: the votes collected up to 15 December, the closing day of the initiative, were 2,353,932, the best result ever, with over 39,500 places reported in 6,504 Italian municipalities ( 82.3% of the total).

Italy is a cultural power, its heritage is made up of thousands and thousands of masterpieces. To report their favorite place with the highest number of votes, the Italians have given life to a wonderful and electrifying competition. The proverbial parochialism of the Bel Paese was unleashed, generating unpredictable reversals in the provisional rankings. It was a high-tension edition, not only due to a never predictable order of arrival, but above all because the committees and associations of citizens who took action to collect votes faced loyally with an unparalleled competitive spirit, worthy of the most important sports competitions, without ever interrupting their race towards the finish line since last spring. And we must not just think of city against city or village against village: the small and wonderful city of Modica has generated two candidacies that entered the top 10, in a few square kilometers.

Winning this edition of the FAI census were not only the most voted places, with their fascinating stories and their need for care, restoration and attention, but also the entire Italian cultural and environmental heritage, whose immense value for the community in terms of identity, memory, social ties, life experiences and future hopes clearly emerges by scrolling through the varied ranking of the “Places of the Heart” (available on the website www.iluoghidelcuore.it). An increasingly successful project, with over 9,630,000 votes collected in total from the first edition of 2003 to today, capable of amplifying in a simple and direct way the need to be heard of many citizens, well aware that living in urban centers, whether small or large, with a protected and enhanced fabric, it represents an element of well-being, as much as being surrounded by a well-preserved landscape and environment.

If it is true that from Lombardy, Sicily and Piedmont – the three most active regions with respectively 328,591, 301,826 and 241,727 votes collected – more than a third of the total reports arrived, the map of the beloved sites involves the whole national territory and amazes for its heterogeneity of types: from churches to natural areas, from castles to villages, from archaeological areas to urban gardens, from railways to bridges, also in this edition of the census a perfect representation of the inestimable cultural wealth of our country was staged. And, surprisingly, Molise was the region with the most votes in relation to the number of inhabitants in other editions, while Liguria ranks first in terms of its surface area.

And so 75,586 people expressed their preference for the Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nice railway, which ranks 1st in the national ranking, thanks also to the commitment of three committees – Friends of the Train of Wonders, Friends of the Cuneo Ventimiglia Nice Railway. and Amis du Train des Merveilles – who wish to upgrade the line and enhance it.

In 2nd place with 62,690 votes is the Sammezzano Castle in Reggello (FI), a building without equal in Italy and with few comparisons even at an international level for the re-enactment in 13 monumental rooms of architectural masterpieces of Indian and Moorish art, already winner of the eighth census “The Places of the Heart” (year 2016).

The 3rd place is instead occupied by the Castle of Brescia, reported by 43,469 people. A mighty fortress that reflects the history of the city in its stratifications, from its foundation in Roman times to the Visconti domination, from the government of the Serenissima to the Austrian era, which saw it as the protagonist of the city Risorgimento, hosts a museum itinerary and is a venue for events.

In 4th place is the Via delle Collegiate di Modica (Ragusa), thanks to the 40,521 votes collected. A path that ideally combines the Cathedral of San Giorgio and the churches of San Pietro and Santa Maria di Betlem, testimony of the history of the city over the centuries, from the late Gothic to the late Baroque. The Collegiate di Modica #culturacheunisce committee was set up for the census, to enhance and promote recovery interventions for the great heritage preserved here, which risks deteriorating.

Here are the votes to all Sicilian sites: