Fantasizing: a bridge towards Santa Maria di Pulsano

Manfredonia (Fg), June 14, 2022 – In December of last year I felt the need to congratulate the engineer Michelangelo De Meo, favorably impressed by his countless design ideas, in particular for the Tremiti Islands, for the Gargano, for Manfredonia. Michelangelo De Meo clarifies that he obviously did not draw executive projects, but made available to anyone ideas, drawings, sketches …

Dozens and dozens of proposals posted on Facebook, with a wealth of images and details (the latest album published contains 133 new images), thoughts that would have deserved some particular attention especially for Manfredonia and Siponto. To hypothesize – in particular and all together – a collective commitment for the desirable overcoming of the pollution of the image of our city, following the commissioner of the Municipality of Manfredonia, in 2019, for mafia infiltrations.

I believe that many friends followed the initial fantastic project ‘visions’ for the Tremiti Islands – with the background of the poems-songs of Lucio Dalla (accompanied at the time by many services) -.

One idea, in particular, has always captured my attention: the Tibetan bridge towards the Abbey of Santa Maria di Pulsano, because I had already dealt with the problem, in particular with the hermitages, in the years 1999/2000, in my capacity as Chair of the District Rotarian Hospitality for the Jubilee Committee (1).

In fact, I like to recall that the Commission has attempted to create a twinning between Rotarian Clubs (from Puglia and Trentino) to “… evaluate the possibility of drawing up a project to connect the hermitages of the sanctuary of S. Maria di Pulsano, which open onto rocky ridges of the Gargano, inaccessible today, with rope ladders, bridges, wooden walkways and anything else technicians (Alpini) had suggested for the creation of a fantastic path in the mists of time, in the solitude of spirituality, in a scenario that does not has equals “.

Unfortunately, the proposal at the time was not followed up, so today I would like to resurrect that attempt, spreading my current considerations on what was suggested by engineer De Meo.

The speech cannot be focused on an idea born with the Jubilee, and today technically made pre-project by a talented professional, but the overall picture, the overall scenario, must be taken care of, to arouse amazement in residents and travelers. and enthusiasm. A mosaic, made up of many polychrome stones: culture, nature, via dell’Angelo, hermitages of Pulsano. As De Meo says: “I know that valley very well because I like to spend pleasant days in the middle of nature. I love the scents of the spontaneous vegetation, the colors, the breathtaking view and the Pulsano abbey rich in history. Every time I walk along those paths to go to the Abbey, I see an old abandoned road that was supposed to connect Pulsano with the lookout point of the provincial road n.57 that leads to the Montagna di Manfredonia hamlet. A wide, comfortable road, already unpaved and with the construction of the various supporting walls of the carriageway “. And again: “I am thinking of a full functional recovery of the abandoned road, continuing it with a cycle path suspended in the void up to the viewpoint of Manfredonia, transformation of the existing road into a natural, lively, socializing and relaxing place”.

I have always wondered why not to leverage, for the mountain road and for the one that connects our mountain itself to Pulsano, also on the interventions envisaged by the regulations to “support non-productive investments, connected to the fulfillment of agro-climatic objectives- environmental “in particular for the protection and recovery of dry stone artifacts (dry stone walls … macere!) to ensure the maintenance and conservation of biodiversity? (2)

In this scenario, on the Via dell’Angelo, on a suspended bridge between earth and sky (I obviously do not intend to spend a single word on the organizational and managerial planning difficulties of the designer and the lead organization …), Manfredonia would definitively become a pilot center, leader and reference point of and for the Sacred Mountain, in a varied and fantastic scenery, able to excite residents and tourists, satisfying any desire for experience, stimulating all the senses to listen, look, breathe and smell, savor, touch and live … To travel with the soul, a soul that would receive equal answers from the immense seascapes, from secret itineraries, from artistic, historical, religious, environmental itineraries, from the singing of the diomedee … ultimately from the itineraries of spirituality (where one is led to go beyond the things of time). All this would also answer the question of what the new traveler is looking for today, an emotional approach to the moment of their vacation, the discovery of a territory as a means to experience a destination with all the senses, thus transforming the vacation into an opportunity for a different experience. of life. (3)

Let’s not leave our talented professionals alone. We collect ideas, suggestions, proposals to enable them to design executive projects. To adequately address these significant commitments, we will all have to aim together, within the scope of their respective tasks and responsibilities, on the definitive enhancement of our heritage, for the leap from the culture of thought to the culture of action, helping to create work sites for the definitive passage, as mentioned, from a natural tourist value to a structural tourist value.

Curated by Vincenzo D’Onofrio

NOTE

(1) Let me open a parenthesis on what the District Rotarian Commission achieved at the time: the paths of faith and spirituality (Gargano and the province of Foggia); the documentary film by director Gino Cadeggianini (an Emilian living in Munich, with a degree in theology) which essentially concerned the religious aspect, made in 1999 for the first German network (BAYERISCHES FERNSEHEN); the culture of hospitality for the Holy Year; the preparation of promotional advertising material.

On that occasion, a particular multimedia work was also presented focusing on the importance of the Gargano in the history of the cult of San Michele and of the European pilgrimage, entitled “The Via dell’Angelo”, by the Zemrude of Pescara, in agreement with the Italian Social Tourism Center (Pilgrimage Center) of Foggia, which embraced the various aspects of the Michaelic cult, relying on the roots, on the manifestations and on the main settlements in Christian Europe.

On the occasion of these initiatives to celebrate the great unrepeatable event of 2000 (Holy Year), the Rotary Club of Manfredonia also asked UNESCO to recognize the Via dell’Angelo as a cultural heritage of Europe, approving a document drawn up by the Academico dei Lincei , prof. Cosimo Damiano Fonseca: “The Via dell’Angelo is a poetic name with which the Via Sacra dei Longobardi is indicated, one of the most important arteries of medieval pilgrimage, and still today an itinerary of faith and spiritual appeal for thousands of devotees”.

More time then had to pass before, as widely known, two sites were recognized as a World Heritage Site protected by UNESCO in Monte Sant’Angelo: the Lombard traces in the Sanctuary of San Michele Arcangelo (2011) and the ancient beech woods of the Umbra Forest (2017). The General Assembly of the European Association of the Vie Francigene (EAVF), moreover, in 2015 approved the extension of the Via Francigena towards the South, towards Puglia, the Mediterranean and Jerusalem, with the authoritative contribution and support of the Geographic Society Italiana, who prepared and formulated the candidacy dossier.

(2) These solicitations could re-evaluate our mountain hamlet, recalling that in my study “Materials for a tourist development plan”, entrusted to the press in 1993 by the Autonomous Tourist Board, I outlined the geographical values ​​of the area: 1 ) location in the center of a triangle whose vertices are the three most important demographic centers of the Gargano (Manfredonia, Monte Sant’Angelo, San Giovanni Rotondo); 2) proximity to the sea (less than 15 minutes by car); 3) proximity to the Pulsano Abbey. I also highlighted the geomorphological characteristics “which make this plateau an interesting area for its landscape aspects, with open horizons where the play of the breezes plays, in the warm months, a comfortable role, making the stay pleasant. While respecting the landscape values, that agritourism idea that is well connected to the Gargano Park could find the best expression “. I also stressed that “it is a question of enhancing the farms, so that new types of stay can be offered, and of designing structures regarding the” out of the hotel “: tennis courts, indoor swimming pools, bowling green, mini golf, riding stables, playgrounds, archery, etc … A new message to be addressed not only to tourists and guests, but also to families who reside in the neighboring cities, to redevelop together with agriculture a history and architecture of great importance that belong to us ” .

(3) THE 9 MOST BEAUTIFUL TIBETAN BRIDGES IN ITALY

• Cesana Claviere Tibetan bridge, Piedmont

• Ponte alla Luna, Basilicata

• Ponte nel Cielo, Lombardy

• Ponte del Sole, Lombardy Dossena (Bergamo)

• Tibetan bridge in the Murgia Materana Park, Basilicata

• Tibetan Bridge on the Ferrata Dibona, Veneto

• Ponte delle Ferriere, Tuscany

• Tibetan Bridge of Roccamandolfi, Molise

• Tibetan Bridge of the Val Sorda, Veneto

• Tibetan bridge of Laviano, Salerno

• Tibetan Bridge of the two Parks Castelsaraceno, Basilicata

The record-breaking bridge is located right in our country. The longest Tibetan Bridge in the world is located in Piedmont: it is the Cesana Claviere Tibetan Bridge which is located between the municipalities of Cesana Torinese and Claviere.

Fantasizing: a bridge towards Santa Maria di Pulsano