Mattarella: 'Environmental protection is a duty for institutions'

The flood in Florence and the "extraordinary movement of solidarity" that followed, especially on the part of young people, "changed Italy": on 4 November 1966 the country "became aware of our vulnerability" and of the "necessary protection of the territories and the fragile balance of the environment". That day, with the city invaded by water, "the alarm manifested itself in all its urgency". This is why "a society founded on the primacy of the person cannot fail to consider the protection of the environment and the safety of communities in the face of disasters as a common commitment. A challenge, but also a duty for the institutions".

In a 16th century hall packed with 'mud angels' and representatives of the institutions, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella sends a clear message on the day of the 60th anniversary of the flood. In his speech the head of state remembered the victims, the weight of that tragedy and underlined how "Florence healed the wounds and returned to itself". "Alongside the Armed Forces, whose contribution was essential from the first hours of the disaster - he said -, there were young people who shoveled the mud, who cleared the streets of rubble, who saved the books of the National Library, who made the works of art safe.

Young people who mixed with the people of Florence, who formed chains to save from the ruin precious testimonies of a history that belongs to every human being. A story that has contributed so much to the very idea of Italy", "a lesson that we must not forget". For Mattarella "the rescue and restart of Florence left a profound mark in the history of our Republic. A sign of unity and brotherhood. Unity of the country in facing the emergency. Unity between generations".

Mayor Sara Funaro highlighted how "the 'Miracle of Florence' was also this: transforming emotion into a commitment capable of lasting over time. A city that has received such great recognition must ask itself every day how to live up to it. Sixty years ago Florence needed the world. Today being 'Florence for the world' means continuing to put culture, knowledge, the ability to bring people together and open spaces for dialogue and peace at its service". The flood in Florence, stated Eugenio Giani, president of the Tuscany Region, "awakened a feeling of emotional participation in Florence", "making us realize how much Florence is the universal heritage of humanity".

Before the ceremony, the mayor gave Mattarella a four-volume box set of 'The Splendida History of Florence' by Piero Bargellini, mayor at the time of the flood, and grandfather of Funaro herself. Then there is space for the testimonies of some mud angels and the reading of some letters that arrived in Bargellini after the flood. Also present were 81 children, holding the same number of flags from the countries that sent aid to Florence in those terrible days. This morning the initiatives for the commemoration began with a mass in Santa Croce presided over by Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, who in 1966 was curate of the Florentine parish of San Salvi: "The drama of the flood, as Saint Paul VI recalled, also had its positive implications - he said in the homily -, in the sense of the growth of mutual help and solidarity. Neither before nor after, has this great phenomenon been repeated". Then the traditional procession and the laying of the wreath of flowers in the Arno.