L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano I f you came to Italy in t h e p a s t t w e n t y y e a r s , y o u ' v e d e f i - nitely seen it, even if you've never been to T u r i n , b e c a u s e t h e M o l e A n t o n e l l i a n a i s o n t h e back of our 2-cent coins. If, b y a n y c h a n c e , y o u c o m e f r o m a P i e d m o n t e s e h e r - itage, you're probably way m o r e f a m i l i a r w i t h i t , because its unmistakable sil- houette is as traditional of Turin as gianduiotti choco- lates and F.C. Juventus. I Torinesi, or i Piemonte- si who spent time in their regional capital regularly, for work or for study, know an anecdote or two about it, I c a n a s s u r e y o u . F o r instance, every single stu- dent of the Università degli S t u d i k n o w s t h a t , i f y o u want to graduate, you are better not go up to the top, because legend says you'll never get your laurea if you do it. That, however, wasn't certainly true in the early 20th century, when Turin was the playing ground of one of Italy's most underrat- ed poets, Guido Gozzano who, in some of his writings, fondly reminisces about that time when, as a young man, he and a friend climbed all o f t h e M o l e 5 8 0 s t e p s t o enjoy the breathtaking and well-worth-the-effort view of the city from the top of its cupola. The building, located at the very heart of the city, in V i a M o n t e b e l l o , j u s t a s t o n e ' s t h r o w a w a y f r o m Piazza Vittorio, Via Po and Piazza Castello, has some i n t e r e s t i n g t h i n g s t o s a y about itself: from its origins and its difficult early years, to how it eventually became t h e s e e o f t h e M u s e o Nazionale del Cinema, all t h e w a y t o t h e b u z z a n d interest around those coins where it appears, and how s o m e o f t h e m c o u l d b e worth a fortune. Curiosity One: we must thank the Jewish communi- ty of Turin for it In 1848, the year when t h e K i n g d o m o f S a r d i n i a e n f o r c e d t h e S t a t u t o Albertino, its first constitu- tion, which was to become also the first constitutional document of unified Italy, freedom of religion became officially protected by law: finally, so, the Kingdom's J e w i s h c o m m u n i t y n o l o n g e r h a d t o l i v e in ghetti and could practice without fear. In 1862, the J e w s o f T u r i n c o m m i s - sioned the designing and construction of a synagogue t o v i s i o n a r y a r c h i t e c t Alessandro Antonelli: the Mole had been initially conceived to be a place of worship. The first project was for a 47 meters-high building, but for Antonelli the sky was the only limit and, change after change, he eventually settled for a t o w e r i n g b u i l d i n g o f 1 1 2 m e t e r s . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , m o n e y w a s n ' t e n o u g h t o complete Antonelli's ambi- tious project: construction was halted. For ten years, the mole lay abandoned, until the day the city of Turin bought it, dedicated it to the King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, and called Antonelli back – it was 1878 – to finally com- plete his masterpiece. C u r i o s i t y T w o : i t h a s s o m e t h i n g s i n c o m m o n with the Tour Eiffel The path towards com- p l e t i o n w a s s t i l l l o n g , t h o u g h . I n f a c t , i t w a s Alessandro Antonelli's son, C o s t a n z o , t o f i n i s h t h e building in 1897, almost 40 years after his father had begun the project! The Mole Antonelliana was, however, inaugurated some years ear- l i e r , o n t h e 1 0 t h o f A p r i l 1889, only ten days after the m o s t f a m o u s t o w e r i n Europe, Paris' Tour Eiffel, which opened its doors on t h e 3 1 s t o f M a r c h o f t h e same year. Curiosity Three: it was among the first buildings to b e f u l l y i l l u m i n a t e d i n E u r o p e … a n d o n e o f t h e tallest! Towards the end of the 19th century, the Mole was fully illuminated thanks to the city's gas illumination system: it was one of the f i r s t p u b l i c b u i l d i n g s i n Europe to receive light in its entirety. But the iconic Turi- n e s e b u i l d i n g a l s o h a s another record to boot: with its 167 meters, at the time of its completion the Mole was the highest masonry build- ing in the world! In fact, we are reminded of it every time we mention its name, Mole A n t o n e l l i a n a b e c a u s e t h e word mole in Italian stands f o r s o m e t h i n g o f g r e a t dimensions. Curiosity Four: its Museo del Cinema was conceived during World War Two During the last war Turin, like much of our northern cities, suffered greatly under allied bombing. However, t h e M o l e r e m a i n e d unscathed and a symbol of Turinese resilience. But you know, the Mole had a little wartime secret, too. Unbe- knownst to many, a precious c o l l e c t i o n g a t h e r e d b y archaeologist Maria Adri- ana Prolo was protected by t h e r a v a g i n g w a r i n the Mole's basement. Prolo had been gathering all she could find about the history of cinema, with the idea of creating, one day, a museum dedicated to the Seventh Art inside la Mole: through the years, she saved movie reels, screenplays, cameras, maga- zines, photos… In 1946, the whole collection moved to the Mole's second story, but t h e M u s e o N a z i o n a l e d e l Cinema was to open only in 2000. C u r i o s i t y F i v e : s o m e c o i n s w i t h i t s i m a g e a r e worth a small fortune! A s w e m e n t i o n e d , t h e Mole Antonelliana features on the back of Italy's 2-cent e u r o c o i n s . S o m e y e a r s b a c k , b y m i s t a k e , t h e n a t i o n a l m i n t c o i n e d a b a t c h o f 1 c e n t w i t h the Mole, which were imme- diately withdrawn. But – because there is always a "but!" – some 100 of them remained in circulation and a r e t o d a y w o r t h a r o u n d 2 . 0 0 0 e u r o ( s o m e 2 . 0 0 0 USD). But you may even get more than that. At a recent n u m i s m a t i c s a u c t i o n i n Turin, an Italian collector paid almost 7.000 euro to get his or her hands on one! A longer, very interest- ing article about the Mole A n t o n e l l i a n a w a s p u b - l i s h e d o n t h e J u n e - J u l y number of Italian history magazine Focus Storia. CHIARA D'ALESSIO The Mole Antonelliana, in Turin city center (Photo: Rosshelen/Dreamstime) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE Iconic but little known: five curious facts on Turin's Mole Antonelliana

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