San Martino Church, 2000 years of history
The presentation of the book was held on June 25th San Martino in Foglia Church written by the historian Ernesto Paleani published by his publishing house, in which he investigates theancient Pieve and the Roman archaeological area. The text contains the presentation of the Mayor of Tavullia Francesca Paolucciof the art critic Vittorio Sgarbi and the daughter of the owner of the Church, Michela Pacassoni. An event rich in culture that has put a fascinating place in the spotlight, coming from distant times. This is the Church of San Martino in Foglia located in the hamlet of Rio Salso of the municipality of Tavulliastill today still consecrated and legally declared as “Private ecclesiastical oratory“Which is not part of the Diocese or even the Public Administration. Two millennia of history which interest this incredible structure, whose single nave of the Church goes to coincide with the atrium of one Roman villa.
AT THE WISH OF A CHILD
The current owner of the place is a private individual: Oliviero Pacassoni, born in 1947, coming from a family that worked the land, went hunting and took care of agriculture. He has the merit of having managed to keep the current Church in question with his family. When he was just a childindeed, conditioned the family not to sell the farm. Today, Pacassoni, says: “My parents wanted to sell everything, while my grandfather was against it, so a diatribe arose. Despite this, my grandfather was about to give in and then agree to the sale, but when the time came, I stood up and yelled ‘Noo !!’ from sadness, then I ran away. When I got home, my grandfather bangs his fist on the table “and said,” he doesn’t even want that baby! ” And so he never signed the deed of sale again.
A spontaneous gesture of a determined child also proved decisive for the future of the Church. Today, in fact, Pacassoni and his family are doing everything to bring new life to a place that unfortunately in 2012, following the huge snowfall of that time and the earthquake, the church was declared unfit for use. “Already in 2007“, Explains Pacassoni,” I set up a committee by the notary for the Church of San Martino ”of which his daughter Michela is President. “We started from there and now we have a lot of members. This agrees to raise funds. We have opened a specific current account to dedicate to this cause ”, that is to the restoration and to enhancement of the Church for make it accessible also to the community. Since she became his after the inheritance, she has always dealt with it, “securing everything possible, including the SquareIaltar and other things”.
A GREAT HISTORICAL VALUE
From a historical point of view, the Church of San Martino and the adjoining Roman archaeological area “have enormous importance”, explains Paleani, “We are fortunate to have extensive archival sources on which it was possible to read up on “, which is not always possible when dealing with millennia of history. “I found the documents scattered in various archives, but I was able to view them and this comforted me. I found the first one at Ravenna and dates back to 1127“. Doctor Paleani managed to dare aidentity throughout the course: “Before that place was one Pievethen it became Churchthen in the 1700s it became private property of the Palma accountsthen passed a series of owners over the centuries, until it still exists today private oratory, but open to the public“. In his book, accompanied by documents, it is possible to discover the various changes of ownershipas well as the historythe curiosity and the discoveries of the place (archaeological, numismatic, artistic, cultural …)
THE FUNDS TO OBTAIN
On obtaining all the necessary funding, Paleani advised a path in order to overcome uncertainty and make it become concrete: “A municipal resolution is enough to declare the site antiquarium. So, if the Municipality, – in this case of Tavullia – had an ownership over this private property, but open to the public, it could also obtain funds. I have given ample willingness to intervene. It is as if the itinerary thus became a tourist-cultural-archaeological asset by the administration, but inserted in other communities “. Paleani points out that “there are funds in Europe and they must be finalized in a certain way because the mechanism for obtaining them exists. It should join the European itinerary of San Martino. Clearly, other administrations, other states and other administrations may also be involved private“. Paleani specifies that he is not just a problem political, that of funding dedicated to art and historical artifacts, but “above all cultural“.
IN CONCLUSION
The San Martino Church is a wonderful place where you can breathe culture, art And history. And it is the subject of one noble purpose, whose embryonic stage started with a child who took pains to avoid its sale. No one can know how this story would have ended if the farm including the religious structure had been sold to third parties. What is certain is that thanks to the Pacassoni family with the important contribution of the historian Ernesto Paleani, the right path was taken to obtain the funds for the restoration, to insert it in a process of enhancement and to allow the community to benefit from it. Pacassoni specifies that once the works are completed, “it can also go back to being used to hold mass”And then make it again an environment also for prayer and in addition a meeting point for the faithful.