«A garrison of memory, documentation, public denunciation and hope». Thus we read, under the vault of the former railway handling shed which has become the Memorial of the collapse of the Morandi bridge, a new piece of the city born right at the height of the pylon of the old bridge which collapsed on 14 August 2018 into the bed of the Polcevera. And when the very young Cesare, the son of the Genoese dock worker Andrea Cerulli, one of the 43 victims of the disaster six years ago, is called upon to cut the tricolor ribbon to celebrate the opening, one fully understands the meaning of the declaration of intent that from today it will welcome visitors in the new structure. «It will be a place of active memory», tries to explain who wanted and thought of it, from the families of the victims of the collapse to the architect Stefano Boeri, who in recent years has led the group of studios and professionals who created it. «It doesn’t end here», is the meaning of everything, shared by most, among the many participants in the inauguration ceremony.

Genoa, with the architect Stefano Boeri in the new Morandi Bridge Memorial

«This place is an example of the fight against pain, against death, of resistance, love and pride and serves to ensure that the final word is never written, but the word continues», explains excited Egle Possetti, spokesperson of the families’ committee, obstinate in recent years to carry on its battle and to specify the role of a structure that «will carry forward the memory of what happened by updating itself day after day, and telling it to those who were not there, who do not know, who will not know». And if it is the governor Marco Bucci himself who speaks of a “point of departure, not of arrival”, it is also true that beyond the space of the Memorial – the architectural recovery of the building was very careful, the setting up was very careful, first of all the immersive room by Ett which allows you to relive the moment of the collapse – “everything remains up in the air” around the Morandi affair, we vent among the victims’ families.

The inauguration Here is the Memorial for the Morandi victims: “This is how History will tell what happened” by Matteo Macor photo by Andrea Leoni 15 December 2024

First of all, there is a process still underway «despite the fact that so much time has passed», this is the note of the same religious authorities called to bless the Memorial, Imam Salah Hussein and Archbishop Marco Tasca, «which we can only hope will succeed to give us a truth, the only antidote to a memory that can be disputed or worse removed”, is the thought of the acting mayor, Pietro Piciocchi.

There is politics that is managing to make the proposal made by the families of the victims of the disaster, the establishment of an assistance fund for all citizens affected by disasters linked to the neglect of public infrastructures, become law – «this is expected in the commission week, the last passage to the Chamber in January”, updates the deputy Ilaria Cavo, among the Ligurian parliamentarians of all the parties who have followed her from the beginning – but also the one who “forgot us”, there are those who denounce .

«We would have liked a more marked presence of the central institutions for this important day», is Possetti’s dig at the government, represented only by the “home” deputy minister, the Genoese Edoardo Rixi. What kind of policy is he talking about «a collapse which was the failure of the State», asking there no longer be «a political debate on the topic of infrastructures, but a single vision», pointing the finger at the «lack of courage» at the moment of the «rewriting of the rules of concessions”.

the interview A Memorial for Morandi, Possetti: “A place of remembrance, but this country has lost its war” by Matteo Macor 14 December 2024

There is also the big question mark of the neighborhood. Because if the exterior of the Memorial itself is still a construction site, gardens and related structures are still to be built, all the other redevelopment interventions of Certosa are in fact still at a standstill. So much so that Andrea Boschetti himself, the architect who most closely followed the project of the “Family House”, the area reserved for the families of the victims, reiterates «Let’s avoid making this Memorial a cathedral in the desert». While Piciocchi says «Work on the “Red Circle” will begin within six months, the cycle/pedestrian walkway which is the very icon of the redevelopment of the neighbourhood.

Many unknowns in the face of which, however, from now on, “this Memorial will only be able to give strength”, is a shared hope. “The example is given to us by the people who have lost their loved ones here: this is a place where their pain will be replicated, everyone’s commitment must be to finish what is not finished”, is Boeri’s message . «An antidote to oblivion that will tell a dark story and a great defeat of our country, – is the rediscovered hope of Possetti, on behalf of all the relatives of the 43 people killed by the rubble of the bridge six years ago – and we also hope for a future ransom, as a guardian of truth.” The judicial one is still missing, who knows if and when it will arrive, the historical one will be told on the Memorial of 14 August 2018.