Public safety is at risk in one of the most evocative places in the city There is also the idea of a campsite on the table to complete the tourist offer
CALUSO. Degradation and the danger to public safety are advancing in the Castellazzo area, certainly one of the most evocative places in Caluso, which boasts the title of city of wine, testimony of its medieval history when in the fortress on top of the hill there was to the clash between Guelphs and Ghibellines.
Now there are ruins of that ancient stronghold which, however, if recovered, would allow the narration of a long historical period.
The project exists, and is linked to the recovery of the former convent of the minor Franciscans and to the land of Erbaluce. In fact, it provides for the enhancement of the connection path between the former convent and the ruins of the Castellazzo.
In the hilly area at the foot of the ruins, the architect Fabrizio Vaj, winner of the international design competition, has imagined a camping site to complete the tourist offer.
But it remains in the drawer pending a loan of 1 million and 700 thousand euros. Money that can hardly come from the funds of the Pnrr (National Recovery and Resilience Plan), which gives priority to digitization, energy saving and mobility.
For this reason, the minority group of United for a future Municipality sent a question to the mayor Maria Rosa Cena and to the councilor for the environment Gianni Tuninetti: “Despite the recent maintenance carried out by the municipal administration, – the councilors write – it is known to all the state of degradation of the Castellazzo area especially as regards the lack of hygiene and environmental damage due to the abandonment of waste. The risk of accidents is of particular concern as the site is not equipped with fall prevention devices. There is also a complete fence to avoid unauthorized intrusions ».
At the main entrance gate the padlock that kept it closed was taken away. «Without forgetting – underlines the group leader Davide Motto – the potential damage deriving from the doubtful static safety of the artifacts. Yet the safety of the Castellazzo site was included in a broader strategic project, proposed during the expression of interest in funding from the NRP. In our opinion, concrete and immediate actions are needed in order to limit and manage the problem ».
The discussion was postponed to the next city council. Meanwhile, the Castellazzo remains in its limbo, suspended between a glorious past and a dark future. The only concrete intervention carried out annually is a brief cleaning of the brambles, which in the absence of a definitive arrangement and enhancement of the fortress envelop the walls. Instead, the construction of a vineyard for educational and tourist purposes continues to be postponed in the area that should see a synergy between the municipality and the Ubertini di Caluso institute for agriculture and the environment. Nor have we seen the initiatives in the shadow of the fortress promised already ten years ago by the mayor. There was talk of planning a calendar of cultural initiatives with the collaboration ofassociations, to be held in the medieval setting, as it once was. Nothing has been done and the culture continues to be neglected in the city of wine. And to say that in the brochure of the civic list that nominated Maria Rosa Cena as mayor, Caluso to leave again, there is a beautiful image of the Castellazzo, a feudal fortress built by the Della Valle di Mazzè around the thirteenth century, testimony of the history of Caluso that in the 1300 was an important cornerstone of the Guelph party in Canavese. In the fortress, 200 soldiers were housed.Lydia Massia