A real historical day not only for the Cassanese community But for the whole region and the whole world: The caves of Sant’Angelo finally return accessible and accessible to the general publicreturning to the community an invaluable good historical, archaeological and naturalistic value.
The mayor of Cassano alla Ionio, Giovanni Papasso, the commissioner with delegation to the historic center, Sara Russo, the president of the Regional Center of Speleology “Enzo de Medici”, Felice La Rocca, the Superintendent of Cosenza, Paola Aurino, many institutional, civil, ecclesial and military and military experts in the company, took place at the journalist of Thursday, moderated by the journalist Mimmo Petroni. by Cassano Michele Ornelli, the Colonel of the Guardia di Finanza Group of Sibari Giuseppe Maniglio, the commander of the Port Authority of Corigliano Francesco Esposito and the architect Anna Aiello, commander of the local Cassanese police as well as many citizens and people who intervened to celebrate the event and review the deeply renewed caves.
The event, in fact, marks a new chapter in the enhancement of the local heritage: the caves of Sant’Angelo represent one of the most fascinating speleological sites of Calabria and the whole of Italy, with testimonies ranging from prehistory to medieval era.
“These caves – underlined Professor La Rocca in this regard – develop for over 3,500 meters on several altitude levels through large and deep fractures present in the rock. Between 7,000 and 3,500 years ago the underground environments have been repeatedly used by man, which has left numerous testimonies of their passage. If the entrance areas reveal traces of settlements for residential purposes, in depth the use emerges sepulchral and cult of numerous conduct and salt, some of which are very extensive. An importance from the historical, archaeological and landscape point of view also underlined by the Superintendent Aurino who said he came to Cassano together with the whole office for “The relevant landscape value” and for “the personal emotion of scholar of prehistory of training since we have all worked on these stratigraphic and chronocultural sequences from the average Neolithic until the Bronze Age that are found in caves of this type. An era previous also to ancient Sibari “.
A long and elaborate work planned by the Papasso Administration to bring them back to new life which emerged from the interventions of both the first citizen and the Russian councilor: on the site, in fact, two interventions were carried out: one of 950 thousand euros, ministerial funding, which concerned the hydrogeological safety of the entire parking area, access to the site of the caves of Sant’Angelo, and of the multifunctional system through a pialification system that has blocked the sliding of the land due to the paleofrana present under the site that houses the access area, the multifunctional and the parking lots, and another that has specifically concerned the rock complex and the real caves (including the construction of a museum that will host the ancient finds found on the site). This further project, worth 1 million and 900 thousand euros, regional funding of which the Municipality of Cassano was the leader, also involved other nearby local authorities and other sites including the naturalistic one of the mouth of the Crati river. Finally, a further expense also concerned the rearrangement of the systems vandalized by thieves and uncivilized.
In his speech, the mayor Giovanni Papasso underlined the importance of this reopening for the community: “The caves of Sant’Angelo are a symbol of our identity and our history. Returning them to the community means not only to protect an extraordinary heritage, but also to create new opportunities for cultural and tourist growth for our territory. This is a fundamental step for the enhancement of our country and for the relaunch of the local economy.”
The event also represented the opportunity to reiterate the commitment of the institutions in the protection and promotion of the historical and environmental heritage. The commissioner Sara Russo, in his speech, highlighted the value of the collaboration between entities and citizens: “This reopening is the result of a synergistic work between the municipal administration, experts and associations. Our goal is to make the caves of Sant’Angelo a point of reference for cultural and naturalistic tourism, inserting them in a circuit that enhances our historic center and the entire territory. It is a heritage that belongs to all of us respected “.
The mayor underlined the great commitment and wanted to personally thank all the managers and municipal offices who worked hard to get to this result and the companies that operated on the construction sites. Thanks also to Don Nunzio Laitano, who brought the greetings of the Bishop Mons. Francesco Savino underlining how “To be reborn we need beauty”, to journalists and communication operators present.