The secrets of three symbolic places: the Fai tells the story of the Monte di Pietà, the Gabelli and the air-raid shelter

BELLUNO. Each city has places that tell its story. Joyful moments, such as those experienced in a school, or highly painful, if we think of the years of great conflicts of the last century. And again places that tell a company, its way of experiencing its evolution. Places that can be visited exclusively, on Saturday and Sunday 26 and 27 March, thanks to Fai, which returns with the “Spring Days”: an opportunity to discover the cultural and artistic heritage of our country.

The three places chosen by Fai Belluno for this edition are real gems. It will be possible to visit the Gabelli schools, undergoing restoration, the pawnshop in piazza delle Erbe, the air-raid shelters in via Lambioi. Never open to the public before. “A place, the latter, which has a tragic reference to the situation we are experiencing with the war in Ukraine”, said the head of delegation Fai from Belluno, Adriano Barcelloni Corte. The place had been chosen before the outbreak of the conflict, and in any case it will allow us to reflect on what a war is, on its consequences on the population.

The visit is reserved for Fai members only. Until tonight there will be a stand in Piazza dei Martiri to register for the association at a discounted price. It will also be possible to do this next Saturday and Sunday, directly at the entrance to the air-raid shelter. “It has never been open to the public,” explains the Fai Giovani delegate, Valentina Bortot. «The visit is not recommended for those suffering from claustrophobia or panic attacks, given the conformation of the spaces». Which are not illuminated: you will enter with torches. You will need suitable clothing, because there is no lack of water infiltrations and there could be slush on the ground. On Tuesday at 5.30 pm there will be a preparatory event at Palazzo Doglioni Dal Mas, headquarters of Confindustria: the architect Russotto will present his degree thesis on the Belluno air-raid shelters and an enhancement project.

A visit to the Gabelli schools is also a unique opportunity, which will soon return to host children in the classrooms. “They were a place in the heart of the Fai, which contributed to the renovation of the roof,” recalls Bortot. It will therefore be an opportunity to preview the recovery that has been made thanks to the urban regeneration funds. “The works are now completed, we are at the finishing touches,” adds the city planning councilor, Franco Frison. “It is a unique opportunity for citizens to visit the school, then it will no longer be possible to do so”. At the end of the visit it will also be possible to admire an exhibition set up by the Cittadini association for the recovery of the Gabelli.

Finally, the Monte di Pietà, where the students of the Tiziano, Renier and Lollino high schools will act as guides. “How many times do the people of Belluno pass in front of us?” Asks Giorgio Reolon, representative of Fai Belluno. “But the building is little known. It hosts the headquarters of the Angelini Foundation and Isbrec, it is a reality rich in artistic ideas and which tells a part of the history of the city ». The safe for goods, the bell for the auction, the counters to which the citizens turned: everything is preserved and can be admired during the visit.

For the Monte di Pietà and the Gabelli a voluntary contribution of three euros is required. To visit all three sites it is necessary to show the reinforced Green pass.

Pawnshop

The Palazzo del Monte di Pietà, owned by the Cariverona Foundation, is located in what was once called “Piazza del Foro”, now Piazza delle Erbe or del Mercato. It was the medieval center of business and commerce.

The Monte di Pietà was a financial institution created to economically support destitute and troubled people, providing them with limited loans in exchange for a pledge, in order to steal the loan activity from the usurers. It was established in 1501, following the preaching of the friar served Elia da Brescia. The final appearance of the building is the result of a sixteenth-century renovation of a previous medieval building and the amalgamation of other adjacent buildings between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The massive wooden entrance door is original, from the 16th century. The façade is decorated with the typical emblem of Christ in Pietà carved in stone, the original symbol of the Mount, a Venetian lion partially chiseled by the Jacobins in 1797, coats of arms of some podestà and captains of Belluno who favored the activity of the Mount and guaranteed administrative autonomy and management.

During the Fai Spring Days it will be possible to visit some internal areas of the building, where there were the rooms of the pawnshop. The visit also includes the church of the Beata Vergine della Salute, founded in 1627, annexed to the palace, where valuable works by Andrea Brustolon are preserved. The itinerary will continue in the former Civic Museum, where some artifacts and paintings from the Monte di Pietà are kept. The visits are scheduled on Saturday and Sunday from 9.30 to 12.30 and from 14.30 to 17.45, in shifts every 15 minutes. The groups will be composed of ten people and formed at the counter, based on the order of arrival. The students of the Tiziano, Renier and Lollino high schools will act as guides. Non-mandatory contribution of three euros.

The Gabelli school

The elementary school “Aristide Gabelli”, national pride of Italian school education, was built in the early 1930s and inaugurated in 1934. It was nationally renowned for the active experimental method applied by the didactic director Pierina Boranga (1891-1983), educator and writer who follows the method perfected by Giuseppina Pizzigoni at the Rinnovata school in Milan.

The building could accommodate almost a thousand students in the thirty spacious classrooms and included an educational museum, a library, conference and projection rooms, a swimming pool and a medical clinic. In 2009 the collapse of an attic led to the closure of the building. The Municipality has started the restoration thanks to the funds of the urban regeneration and soon the school will be inaugurated.

The Gabelli, the work of the brothers Agostino and Guglielmo Zadra with the constant contribution of Pierina Boranga, represents for the time a cutting-edge project in which the internal-external relationship is designed at the service of inclusive education in which the real protagonist is the child. , divided between lectures and observations of the truth through workshops and practical activities in the garden of the building.

During the visit it will be possible to preview the results of the restoration of the building, making a journey through time to learn about life inside the school. At the end of the itinerary, it is possible to visit an exhibition curated by the Cittadini per recovery association, with documents and photos of the time.

Visits scheduled on Saturday and Sunday from 9.30-12.30 and 14.30-17.30, at 20-minute intervals. The duration will be 45 minutes, groups of 15 people. The school is still a construction site, therefore adequate and sturdy clothing and footwear are required to move safely.

The air-raid shelter

The air-raid shelter in via Lambioi is part of a system of tunnels that branch off into the subsoil of the city, strategically placed so as to cover the nerve centers of the town. This refuge runs under the entire historic center, with entrance from via Lambioi and exit under the Duomo.

The project dates back to 1944, when Belluno was under the Nazi occupation. The war ended before some of the tunnels were completed, and the bombing of the city was fortunately reduced. In the following years the bunkers were used as deposits and then ended up forgotten.

The refuge in via Lambioi represents an exceptional example of military engineering, totally hidden and difficult to identify from the outside. Going through a first tunnel two and a half meters high by 1.80 wide, you are introduced into large galleries that branch off below the historic center, capable of accommodating up to 3,000 people. To accommodate the morphology and development of the upper urban center, the large underground rooms are divided by a staircase that follows the difference in height. The original writings of the time are preserved on the walls, with instructions on the behavior to be adopted inside the tunnels.

The visit is dedicated to Fai members only, with the possibility of registering on site. Places are limited, booking on https://faiprenotazioni.fondoambiente.it/evento/rifugi-antiaerei-del-centro-di-belluno-41442. Hours: Saturday and Sunday 9.30-12.30 and 14.30-18. Shifts every 60 minutes in groups of 20 people. The place is not suitable for those suffering from claustrophobia or panic attacks. The internal temperature is about 10 °. The lighting is done with flashlights, it is advisable to bring them with you. In some areas there are water infiltrations and there may be mud on the ground. Appropriate clothing and footwear required. The entrance is in a small courtyard which will be signposted.

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