The director of the Polo Museale Veneto: "The Stra incident should not overshadow the work done by volunteers."

The Polo Museale del Veneto has issued an official note explaining the accident that occurred Sunday (around 1:15 p.m.) at the Villa Pisani National Museum in Stra, where a tractor knocked down a column of the villa’s monumental entrance. The accident took place as part of a Civil Defense exercise during the entry of a vehicle through the Portale dei Trionfi: the director of the Pole, Daniele Ferrara, explains that the tractor hit the wrought-iron cyma of the gate, which, in the fall, also dragged with it the portal column, which tipped over onto the trailer causing the upper frieze and another ornamental frieze on the oval window of the surrounding wall to fall.

As we had already anticipated, there was no personal injury. Soon after the accident, the portal was secured and, Ferrara assures, as early as Monday restorers “set to work to recover the column parts, free the vehicle and above all work to restore the portal with the correct restoration actions.”

What happened, the director declares, is a very serious incident, but this, he stresses, “should not overshadow the work done at Villa Pisani by more than fifty volunteers from the Civil Defense, the National Alpine Association 3rd RGPT and other civilian volunteers during a week that saw the solidarity and valuable help offered by these men and women not only in the Villa but throughout Italy. Here in Stra, their contribution has been invaluable in starting the restoration of the historic park devastated by intense weather events that took place in July 2018 on the west side as well, after the restoration of the east side. The west side has remained closed to the public since then precisely because of the injuries to the heritage of tall trees, which concentrates right here the majority of the 1880 trees surveyed in this park.”

The Villa Pisani National Museum, Ferrara recalls, “is a living place, made first and foremost of people who strive every day to offer its visitors and all those who pass through, know and love it every day, a visiting experience that is not only to be included in the most beautiful memories but also to be lived in total safety for themselves and others. But like any other public building with a park, as a living place, Villa Pisani is exposed to the passage of time, which we face with continuous and constant investigations and restoration actions, and to the alternation of the seasons, and as such it is subject to happenings, mostly unpredictable, always faced with professionalism and great care, always conducted within the lines established by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and the Polo Museale del Veneto of which it is part. Professionalism and seriousness demonstrated by all the employees who lend their work but also by all those who lent their collaboration on this occasion and whom we thank.”

“The operation touched by this incident,” concludes the director of the Pole, “was preceded by numerous preparatory inspections and the Safety Coordination meeting, aware, however, that there is no zero risk in human actions. Negative and unforeseen events, as has already been done in other circumstances, are addressed with all the rigor and appropriate care required by the importance of the asset.” Finally, Daniele Ferrara reminded that the usability of the Villa Pisani National Museum will not be affected by the accident.

The director of the Polo Museale Veneto: "The Stra incident should not overshadow the work done by volunteers."

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