LOCAL HERO

Yes, I know this photograph does not resemble a hero and looks more like the remnants of a church built in 1677, which it is. The ruins are on Montecatino.

You will have to look here to see the: HERO I couldn't use his picture because it was taken yesterday. Today, he is off somewhere in the mountains.

His name is Mauro Sorbi. He was named Luccchese dell'anno 2009, Lucca citizen of the year, for his volunteer rescue work in the floods. In addition to that he has, all by himself, saved an ancient tower on top of Montecatino, just visible on the top of the mountain in the background of his photograph. This mountain top was an Etruscan site, then Roman, then Christian. It was used for signaling for many centuries, including by the Nazis in World War II. There is, in fact, a memorial to two partisans who were killed here in 1944. Partisan Memorial

From the top of this mountain you can see in all directions. We can even see our house from it, a tiny dot in the distance.

This is the tower Mauro has rescued. It was built in 1126 to increase the distances visible. It should be the Blip photo of the day but the picture is not good enough, but here it is: TOWER It has walls four feet thick. Soon it will be encased in scaffolding as restoration begins. Mauro has persuaded the local authority to provide funds for the project, also for cutting the scrub trees so that the views will be restored as well.

The local authority once put the site on the market and there was local panic at the thought of a Trump-like enterprise, an hotel or God-only-knows-what. They changed their minds.

Mauro is one of our dearest friends. Our house, when still a ruin, was owned by him, his sister, his nephew and the major part by his grandmother who was 96 at the time.
None of them ever lived here, it was always a tenant farmer's house. He is an eco warrior, an official fire watcher. He knows everybody and the history of the area. He ran interference for us when we might have been cheated, kept an eye on the house when we were away and is always ready to be helpful.

He has started the Associazione Montecatino of which I am proud member No. 37.

Finally, this is one of the many views from the top of Montecatino. To get there we drove up a rutted dirt road, parked and hiked up the last half km in mud.
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