Crotone – From Pythagoras Square there has been a lot of talk about it, from its redevelopment to the call for ideas, even if the discussion has currently fallen asleep. Instead, the spotlight has turned on Piazza Umberto I, the wide one that overlooks the Liceo Classico Pitagora and several historic buildings of Crotone, and which sees a small garden with a blue fountain, dating back to the early 1960s.
The same square was excluded from the Superintendence’s request to start the procedure for the declaration of the constraint of cultural interest. Here, for example, all the areas of the center of Crotone affected by the restriction request are listed: Piazza Pitagora, Piazza Duomo, Corso Vittorio Emanuele, Piazza Immacolata, via Pietro Raimondi, via Silvio Messinetti, via Vittorio Veneto, via Napoli, via Tedeschi , via Silvio Paternostro, Piazza della Resistenza, via Torino, via Roma, via Firenze and via Venezia.
Free citizens and associations rose up, such as Linda Monte, Gak and Italia Nostra [LEGGI QUI E QUI]. They ask to place the constraint also in this square, a harbinger of history, which three times a year commemorates the fallen in war but essentially always does so with the war memorial. Let’s see four reasons of historical interest in the Square.
Piazza Umberto I welcomes Palazzo Suriano, one of the most important noble palaces of Crotone: in fact, it dates back to the 18th century. Formerly Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, the place where the Gesù Maria fair took place at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The building is very important from a historical point of view since in 1807, during the French occupation, General Reyner stayed there.
A monument in memory of the fallen of the Great War – “Cotrone cannot forget his sons who died on the battlefield, who constitute the blood contribution given by our city to the cause of the unification of the homeland and the triumph of freedom and justice for all“. This is stated in the document with which the Municipal Administration expressed its desire to perpetuate the memory of the young people from Crotone who died on the battlefield of the First World War, which took shape in the War Memorial located in Piazza Umberto I. Inaugurated in 1925 in the presence of His Maestà Vittorio Emanuele III, was created by the Roman company of Giuseppe Ciocchetti.
Pythagoras Gymnasium High School – Located on the longest side of the square, overlooked by two of the most important noble palaces in the city, Palazzo Suriano and Palazzo Berlingieri, the imposing mass was created in the early 1930s and designed by engineer Franco Lamanna.
Four years later the beautiful garden was added which still adorns the exterior today. Adorned with few decorations, it recalls the style of nineteenth-century buildings, harmonizing well with the buildings of the historic center that stand in its immediate vicinity, and with the architecture of the regime. It is characterized by large windows, rectangular windows on the lower floor and arched ones on the upper one, enriched by a keystone. The façade has a rectangular portal adorned with a frame, on which there is a balcony with a balustrade of columns supported by scrolled brackets. The crowning is adorned with pinnacles.
Votive shrine erected on the occasion of the Miracle of the Madonna of Capo Colonna – On 8 March 1832 a strong earthquake destroyed Calabria, but the Ionian city was preserved from the victims despite many buildings and constructions falling into ruin. This was attributed to a miracle through the intercession of the Madonna of Capo Colonna.
The faith of the people of Crotone was great, and a small devotional shrine was built in Largo Umberto I. Even in 1908 the city of Crotone was spared from the great earthquake, a phenomenon attributed to the intercession of the black Virgin.
The small newsstand located in Piazza Umberto I is still an object of devotion today: located next to the gate of the Liceo Classico Pitagora, there are many faithful who stop to pray or place flowers at the feet of the Madonna of Capo Colonna.
