Presentation of the book "Gerace. Città Magno-Greca delle Cento Chiese” (Gerace. Magno-Greek City of a Hundred Churches) by Francesco Maria Spanò. Discussing the book in its third edition along with the author are Paola Severino, Luiss Vice President, and Giovanni Lo Storto, Luiss General Manager. Moderator Aldo Cazzullo, Columnist for Corriere della Sera.
The event will be streamed live on Luiss Social TV.
An excerpt from the book's preface by Luiss Professor Lorenzo De Sio
Gerace. Città Magno-Greca delle Cento Chiese is compelling and evocative for many reasons. At first, it seems to be a trip into a provincial town of Italy, in the region of Calabria, which is perceived as peripheral, but one soon discovers the unexpected human, social and cultural vitality, populated by active and aware “presences” and is taken on a journey that is both the author’s memory and Italy’s history. The history is seen through the accessible and “human-sized” lens of local events and stories in which one hears the echo of a period of great changes for Italy. All of this accompanied by stories from various people of Gerace, some of whom have become prominent cultural figures, often far from Gerace, and to whom the author wisely gives voice so that each one can tell an aspect of his city. This is how a kaleidoscope of glances and impressions is formed, whose progression - concluded by some familiar notes of the author - leads to an unexpected and paradoxical result: the gradual evaporation of Gerace's seemingly clear image. The image gradually evaporates due to the reader’s ever-increasing sense that the story could be that of any of the thousands of villages of Italy, and a retelling of our own personal memories.
Francesco Maria Spanò, a lawyer with a past as a publicist, takes the experiences of his youth in the golden world of Gerace and arrives in Rome where he acts as Director of Human Resources at Luiss Guido Carli University. In the footsteps of illustrious personalities who were fascinated by the artistic and cultural beauties of Gerace, such as King Gustav VI Adolfo of Sweden, and of simple men, such as Don Carmine Rodinò l’apparatore, Spanò, his wife Francesca and many other friends in Italy and beyond are among the promoters of Gerace's candidacy as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He also promoted the opening of the Five Martyrs of Gerace Museum in the former Bourbon prison, which will become one of the few Risorgimento museums in Southern Italy.