The tenth edition of the “Places of the Heart” census was truly extraordinary. Both for the difficult situation related to the pandemic we are experiencing and for the passion with which thousands of Italians have been committed to helping those they love.*
Never before has the FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano)° census gathered so many votes. Well over two million preferences (2,353,932) to choose which places in Italy to save, restore, renovate, and give a better future.
The Coni-Ventimiglia-Nice railway triumphed with 75,586 votes in the 2020 rankings. With this support, it is hoped that the line will be modernized and finally enhanced.
It is followed by the Sammezzano Castle and Park in Reggello, an extraordinary, colorful, and unique jewel of Italy, for which several committees have long fought for restoration and reopening. Finally, the third place on the podium goes to the Castle of Brescia.
This project, conceived by Cavour and consisting of 96 kilometers of tracks, 33 tunnels, 27 bridges and viaducts, and which touches 18 municipalities, was semi-destroyed by the Germans in 1943. Then reconstructed in the 1970s, it now requires significant renovation, maintenance, and enhancement plans. Its tourist potential is immense. A project which, as FAI reminds us, “was at risk of being dismantled in 2013 and unfortunately has been interrupted since last October due to the landslide of Colle di Tenda caused by the flood that isolated the Roya Valley.”
