When the village of Cunziria of Vizzini, the hometown of Giovanni Verga, received the only “small villages” fund from the Pnrr in all of Sicily, the fight broke out in the Sicilian Parliament. In fact, 20 million euros were paid to the financing line created by Minister Dario Franceschini for Sicily (not much but not little if we consider that we are talking about culture) assigned to the village Verga “at the occasion of the centenary of the birth”. by Giovanni Verga, with an autonomous decision by councilor Alberto Samonà. Opposition regional MPs, such as Nuccio di Paola of the Five Star Movement, asked for clarification: “This is an unacceptable modus operandi that degrades meritocracy and healthy competitiveness,” he told the occasion of the approval of the resolution on January 20, 2022. During the entire year of Verga, not a leaf moved in Vizzini. But today, two years later, with the objective of closing everything by 2026, construction has begun. But local associations are not convinced of the choice.
What should happen to Vizzini
Cunziria's project is futuristic on paper: it proposes to transform the village in which Giovanni Verga located the duel of the Cavalleria rusticana, into a center combining repopulation, cultural activities and redevelopment of the structures of the old tannery which had fallen into disuse. , also opening a hotel, a conference center and a museum of realism. But even if the promised interventions are very substantial, the village is not completely abandoned. For several years, a cultural association of professional artists, Dreamworld Pictures, led by Lorenzo Muscoso, has been working on the redevelopment of the village: “Many points present in the funded project are based on what we presented to the Region in 2022. and activities that we already carry out, such as the shows in the village and the creation of an innovative cultural incubator for research on Verga and realism”, says Muscoso. The village “is not abandoned, that was the case when we We started to bring some cultural initiatives there but over the years we worked on its redevelopment, involving the US Marine base (which is based in Sigonella and therefore not far from Vizzini) and the Regional Forestry. Sicilian Corps”. Dreamworld Picturers also filed a complaint with the Court of Auditors claiming, among other things, that the ongoing demolitions in the village are damaging Cunziria without respecting a real criterion: “Several buildings have been demolished and the structure which brings water to the fountain, we fear that there will be damage to the historical heritage that dates back at least 400 years,” comments Muscoso.
The call to small villages
The credit line for Pnrr villages provides 420 million euros for small towns that are totally or partially depopulated. Some have defined it as a “lottery” because each Region chose the entities to finance with different criteria and often totally subjective choices. The small administrations chosen therefore often do not have the necessary staff to keep up with the progress of the work. And the 2026 deadline, which initially seemed distant, is now fast approaching.
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