BARI – The “Radio Museum” and the “Museum of lighthouses and coastal towers of Puglia” were inaugurated in the San Cataldo lighthouse, built in a portion of the ground floor of the lighthouse following a restoration and refunctionalization intervention. The works, for a total amount of 510,000 euros, were carried out as part of the «CoHeN – Coastal Heritage Network» project. The project, carried out in synergy with the Navy, promoted cross-border cooperation for the creation of a new Adriatic-Ionian itinerary involving lighthouses and coastal towers, allowing the creation of the first public network of maritime architecture, conceived as exhibition places.
Thanks to these interventions, the rooms identified on the ground floor have been allocated to a new exhibition itinerary on the themes of the coastal architecture of Puglia and radio communications, in memory of the first radiotelegraphic connection over the air with Montenegro, across the Adriatic Sea, created on 3 August 1904 by Guglielmo Marconi from the San Cataldo lighthouse.
Therefore, on the one hand the material and typological characteristics of a listed cultural asset such as the lighthouse have been preserved, on the other the original distribution aspects have been restored, revealed by the study of the historical documentation, which, due to subsequent maintenance interventions, were altered before the redevelopment site.
The enhancement works, which therefore made it possible to conserve and restore the original geometries and architecture of the structure, have given life to a multifunctional museum space which, through information panels and multimedia totems, integrates the story of the figure of Guglielmo Marconi and the first radio broadcasts with that of the architecture of the Bari lighthouse and the functions of the lighthouses and coastal towers, offering visitors the opportunity to extend their visit along the other places on the Apulian coast enhanced with the COHEN project.
In detail, there are five rooms redeveloped overall, one of which, the access room, is shared with the Navy, owner of the property, in order to allow access to other rooms located on the ground floor used by the lightman (in as the San Cataldo lighthouse is still in operation), both to the accommodation/guest quarters on the first floor and to the lighthouse tower for maintenance activities.
The visitor is welcomed by a video story of the lighthouses and towers of Puglia: a room is dedicated to the history of the radio, a room contains historical artefacts and memorabilia that come from the Radio Museum of Verona, owned by the Chiantera family (who administration thanks for the kind concession), and another is dedicated to the first radio broadcast, with a focus on the figure of Guglielmo Marconi.
The process of setting up the museum and the homage to Guglielmo Marconi were shared with Princess Elettra Marconi, Guglielmo’s daughter, with whom the administration cultivated direct dialogue and who was unable to participate in today’s event due to health problems.
The other rooms are dedicated to the history of the Bari lighthouse and its functioning and to the coastal itinerary of the lighthouses and towers of Puglia. An environment intended for laboratory teaching activities completes the museum.
Also on display is the old generator set – with the original electrical panel that powered the lighthouse when it was not yet served by electricity – an excellently preserved industrial piece of equipment which represents an authentic rarity. Finally, it will be possible to visit the lighthouse’s room, where the lighthouse keeper worked, responsible for the lighting and safety of passing boats.
Today’s inauguration was enriched by the musical intervention of the Presidio Fanfare, by the presence of an information stand of the Navy and by a speech by Nicolò Carnimeo, writer and professor of Navigation Law at the University of Bari, entitled “The progress of man in the name of science and the protection of life at sea”.
