Today Pisa remembers the tragedy of the first WWII bombing of the city. It was on August 31, 1943.

Few people know that vast areas of the city have been rebuilt over the years. Pisa is a wounded city. It paid an enormous price during WWII: the area was bombed several times, 53 to be precise. The loss of human lives was incredible with 1753 people dead over the course of 2 years. 953 of these people died in the first bombing, which has become the symbol of the atrocity of all war and the day on which Pisans remember those tragic times. Over 200,000 houses destroyed. Factories razed to the ground. Three bridges bombed. The monumental cemetery burnt to the ground. Pisa was not bombed by the Nazis. It was bombed by the Allies.

On that Tuesday, August 31 1943, people heard the sirens as they had other times before, but the common opinion was that the bombings would not reach Pisa. The Allies would certainly not risk destroying such a wealth of historic and art treasures. They hadn’t heard what Eisenhower had said, which was something that went like this: “We are about to invade a country rich in history, art and culture, but if the destruction of a beautiful monument can save the life of even just one American soldier, then, destroy that monument”. For this reason, it was not until the 38 B-17 – or “Liberators” as these planes were called – reached the skies over the city that the local people really realized what was about to happen.

It was also a very unusual time of the day for a bombing: it was midday, when most families were at home having lunch.

There are some moving reports from that day. Unfortunately, none of them have been translated, but if you can read Italian, or you can try using an online translator, here is the narration of the bombing of the train station in Pisa (the date is wrong – it was 1943 and not 1944).

The narration of the witnesses are also incredible, unfortunately they are in Italian too, but if you can understand the language, it’s worth watching this video. And this is a fabulous documentary by Lorenzo Garzella called La Fontana della Memoria:

The “irony” of the whole situation is that only 3 days later, the Italian government signed an armistice with the Anglo-American Allies which might have prevented such a severe bombing of a city like Pisa, which was a very important transportation hub and industrial area.

We should not forget.

And the people who walk through some parts of Pisa thinking that they look “shabby”, as I read in a forum this morning, should remember that those might be the scars of a huge sacrifice that granted freedom to an entire country. And maybe to our present-day society as a whole.

Those badly restored buildings, the few ruins still scattered throughout the city center, the few ugly buildings that have replaced ancient palaces on the Lungarno after the War, well, they are our history.

They should always be our memory.

From the 12th century until 1749, Pisa had its own calendar, different from the Gregorian calendar. March 25th, the day of the Annunciation – the Catholic celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Mary that she would become the mother of Jesus – was New Year’s Day.

The new year officially begins when a sunbeam strikes a marble egg placed in the Cathedral, above the beautiful pulpit sculpted by Giovanni Pisano. The sunbeam enters the beautiful church from a small round window located in the chapel of San Ranieri: a very ingenious solar clock!

Each year, Pisa celebrates his history with a parade in period costume, with flag wavers, beautiful damsels, and crossbowmen! Plus soldiers, drums, trumpets and obviously the Anziani del Popolo, the wise men that ruled the Pisan Republic.

The whole celebration was really cool!  The parade started from the church of  S. Giorgio ai Tedeschi and entered Piazza dei Miracoli around 11:30. The flag wavers threw flags to the rhythm of the drums, the soldiers marched with their swords, the girls carried flowers.

Only a few people know about this event outside Pisa and, since it is not high season yet, most of the other people  in the square were actually locals: they took pictures of their friends in period costume and cheered them in a very festive way.

We followed the crowd inside the Cathedral (free entrance for the occasion!) and we got a really good spot by Galileo’s chandelier: perfect to see the sunbeam hit the marble egg. Of course to find the best spot, we followed the wives and girlfriends of the figuranti (the people in costume): nobody knows better than a real Pisano where to go stand to catch the first glimpse of the Capodanno Pisano!!!

There was a mass, and then, in the general excitement, while we were all with our heads up waiting for the bright spot of light to move over the marble egg, at midday sharp, the bishop officially announced the arrival of the new year gave the blessing while struggling to talk loudly enough to be heard as his words were drowned in applause.

After the mass the parade left the cathedral, and reached the Bishop’s Palace, where the flag waver paid their respects to the Anziani del Popolo. If you want to see the photos below in a larger size, you can click on the symbol to watch the slideshow full screen.

I’ll admit it. By that point I had fallen in love with one of the crossbowmen… and I had to ask my husband to take a picture of us… wouldn’t you have?! I am sure he was originally, authentically medieval!! He must be 800 years old!! He was just perfect for the role, so I had to go and ask for a photo!!!

A great morning!

And today, Pisa keeps celebrating its 2011 with exhibitions, conferences and live music!

Here is the video of the first part of the celebrations (90 seconds):

Here is the video of the final part of the celebrations (86 seconds):

Many more men.

On February 9, in Livorno, history will be rectified with the presentation of a dvd dedicated to “Il Risorgimento delle Donne“, “Women’s Resurgence”, created by Annalisa Costagli and Giacomo Verde, and sponsored by the Region (Regione Toscana).

Even if their names rarely made it into history books, many women fought so that Italy could become a unified country. Besides heroic Anita Garibaldi and the controversial Countess di Castiglione, Virginia Oldoini, many other women were involved in the Risorgimento. They were not necessarily noble women, but also women of the lower- and middle-classes. They were active members of the secret societies such as Carboneria, and supported Mazzini‘s ideas and in liberalism.

Some women contributed with simple but meaningful actions. Mrs. Sgarallino in Livorno used to secretly sew tricolour Italian flags, despite the ban imposed by the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Many cured the wounded left on the field after the battles, and it was maybe some of these women helping out after the Battle of Solferino who inspired Henry Dunant to start what today is the Red Cross. Others, like Rose Montmasson, Crispi’s wife, literally fought battles. Disguised in men clothes, she was the only woman to participate in the “Spedizione dei Mille“, (“the Thousand” or Redshirts),  the expedition led by Garibaldi. Other women were intellectuals who wrote in journals and debated in literary salons, like Angelica Palli Bartolommei in Livorno or Cristina Trivulzio Belgiojoso, publisher and journalist whose contribution to the Cinque Giornate di Milano (Five Days of Milan) was inestimable.

Here is a link to the video about the women who participated in the Risorgimento.