Fifty years ago the rains came and the River Arno flooded streets, churches, museums and homes in Florence. Angelli del fango, or mud angels, arrived from all over the world with their particular expertise and open hearts to restore this beautiful city. Although art and manuscripts were destroyed, much was saved because people believed that treasures of the past give us life today, and are as reminders of the human sacred and soulful work.
What sad news to hear of the current earthquakes in central Italy. The little towns that have been devastated are not museums towns like Florence. But each proudly displays a medieval church in the town square where the past, present and future meet. Now that that future is gone. What a contrast between this devastation from natural causes and the razing to the ground of skyscrapers and towers when they don’t serve our greedy needs after fifty or so years.
What sad news to hear of the current earthquakes in central Italy. The little towns that have been devastated are not museums towns like Florence. But each proudly displays a medieval church in the town square where the past, present and future meet. Now that that future is gone. What a contrast between this devastation from natural causes and the razing to the ground of skyscrapers and towers when they don’t serve our greedy needs after fifty or so years.