Pisa, no resources arrive for the Galilean Citadel. The alderman: ready to chain myself up

The Cittadella Galileiana, or the cultural center to be built in the area of Pisa’s former public slaughterhouses, would risk seeing its birth postponed due to the non-arrival of resources that can be used to finish it. This is stated by Pisa CityCouncilor for Culture Pierpaolo Magnani, who is asking the Region of Tuscany to let the city receive the resources from the sale of the Pisa Airport shares: it is 2 million and 500 thousand euros that, Magnani says, could be used to complete the Citadel.

The new cultural area, born from a project to redevelop the former public slaughterhouses, will house museums, a science park, a toy library, bars and gathering spaces. It has also been identified as the new home of the Domus Galilaeana of Pisa, or the institute founded in 1938 that aims to promote studies and research on the figure of Galileo Galilei and the history of science: a hypothesis, that of the relocation of headquarters, which has also been criticized in recent months, given that the Domus has historically been based in the Palazzo della Specola, where all its heritage is preserved, but now necessary given that the Domus Galilaeana Foundation, which manages it, will become extinct, after being placed under commissioner. The holdings of the Domus will flow into a new foundation, the Galileo Galilei Foundation, which will be managed by the University of Pisa and the City: the rich library will become part of the new museum dedicated to Galileo that will be built in the Cittadella Galileiana, while the scientific instruments of Enrico Fermi and Antonio Pacinotti will go to enrich the Museum of Computing Instruments of the University of Pisa.

The Citadel therefore will give a future to the Domus heritage, but Magnani says money is needed, which the region must transfer to the City of Pisa. Magnani, in a press conference, directly addressed the president of Tuscany, Eugenio Giani, the president of the regional council, Antonio Mazzeo, and the alderman for education and universities, Alessandra Nardini: “Giani must pay the 2 million and 500 thousand euros of the City of Pisa deriving from the airport transfer fees,” he says. “I have asked since the first week he took office for an appointment, and he still has not given it to me. We sent letters to President Rossi, to former chief of staff Ledo Gori, who received me last January and assured me that this money would arrive. We re-sent another letter, no response, we sent another letter to the attention of President Mazzeo and Alderman Nardini, no response. We talked about it in the city council, no response.”

“The 2.5 million,” Magnani reiterated, “is our money that could be used to finish the Cittadella Galileiana, but at a time like this it could also be used to give aid to Pisan culture. The Cittadella Galileiana is a strategic cost, because if it had been fully usable, it could also have been used as a space for initiatives in this year of Covid, because there is a chance there to spread the people well, to control access well, and anyway it is the main museum center of the city, the Domus Galilaeana will have to go there according to the agreement we made with the prefectural commissioner, but it takes these 2.5 million.”

Finally, Magnani also does not rule out striking gestures: “I am willing to go to Striscia la Notizia, to chain myself in front of the Region in Florence, but I want an answer from President Giani, from President Mazzeo, from Councilor Nardini.”

Image: a part of the Galilean Citadel

Pisa, no resources arrive for the Galilean Citadel. The alderman: ready to chain myself up

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