Friday, 28 September, 2018 24C
The last time I was here I wanted to go to the Pietro Micca museum but somehow didn’t so it was on my Must Do list for this time.
Pietro Micca is quite a hero in Torino. There’s even a street named after him and a statue. Yet, to me he seems a romantic figure with some history that’s only guessed at. Snatches of memory and conversation that were put together to make a valiant story for future generations. Yet it’s fascinating.
I went alone. Krish doesn’t like tunnels.
After the museum visit, the literature and even reading the story in both Italian and English I remain somewhat confused about what really went on. Truth.
My garbled version, then. The French and Spanish wanted to annex Northern Italy but there was Italian resistance. The city of Turin was at the centre of it all or so it seems to me. The ‘enemy’ set up camps of tents around the periphery of the city and the attacks began. Pietro Micca was a 29 year old Sabaudian soldier and knew his way around explosives. His supposed nickname was Pass-par-tut (Passepartout) – which also seems intriguing since he did indeed pass through everything, getting into the trenches that day.
Pietro Micca and at least one companion wanted to set off explosions in the tunnels that would thwart the enemy invasion. They set one long fuse that successfully held off one contingent and then more soldiers tried to breach a deeper tunnel. This time a shorter fuse was needed, since the soldiers were close. Pietro told his companion to Go, since that soldier had no bread that day, and then he lit the fuse.
It’s assumed that he then ran down the stairs to escape the blast but the heat was so strong that he was flung forty paces and was later found dead at that spot. However, the attack was thwarted, the Sabaudians were victorious and Pietro Micca became a hero.
Was he really a hero? All the stories say so. It’s also supposed that it was more a misjudgment in how long a fuse was needed to be able to escape.
The museum is near Porta Susa station and is a bit ramshackle. But it’s small, just how I like it. They told me that I could follow the Italian guide at 4:30 and use the English audioguide. At 4:30 the guide arrived to tell me that he was going to do the tour but I should do it on my own and then after the Italians had left, he would take me downstairs to show me the tunnels – ‘very dangerous down there.’
I tend to breeze through museums, audioguide or not. This one was better ordered than some and that speeded me through quite quickly. The numbers and facts swirled around my head, but I sort of got the gist of things. A few facts sunk in – I liked the models of the city in two different spots but taking photos of them was hard, with all the glare and reflection. The rivers Po and Dora are also good markers for where everything was and still is.
I was curious about the citadel. To make it stronger, triangular shapes were built at its edges. I’ve also seen things about Torino’s ‘Star Fort.’ But this was different. I need to do a lot more research, but is this the inspiration for the Torino’s iconic eight-pointed Star?
The muskets on display were enormous, the paintings glorious and not bloody, the artifacts well kept and signed, but all in Italian. There are two small rooms of these things, fifteen in all points along the way before you reach the barrier of the staircase leading down to the tunnels.
Then it was 5:30 and, since the museum closes at 6, i asked the guide if I could go down with the Italians and he nodded yes. I felt excited. Tunnels and caves scare me but I’m also enthusiastic about exploring them. These were dark, with low ceilings and not much width to pass through. There were side tunnels and alcoves, as expected and when I lost sight of the guide, I did feel a little worried – not for long. There’s a lot more down here than I expected but we keep to an uneven path. I hoped I wouldn’t stumble or turn my ankle and I was glad I wasn’t at the back!
The details are a little lost on me. The audioguide wasn’t so audible down here with the guide’s Italian explanations rising over the volume, I think I got enough from it. The first spot where the longer fuse was lit, a memorial to French soldiers (the staircase here was rough and deep – too bad we couldn’t go down but it did look treacherous), the Pietro Micca ‘scala’ (steps) where the short fuse was lit, and finally the spot where Pietro was found, marked with an artificial wreath.
It was odd to come back to the sunlight. One street up is Corso Vinzaglio, a wide street with a median, very grand and quite deserted.
I made my way to the 51 bus, stopped to buy pickles (!) and some wine. And home to make a sausage and gnocchi dinner for when Krish returned from his run.
I’m glad I went. I felt more connected to Torino after this, and then a curious discovery (and the mystical reason Pietro Micca had always resonated with me….joke?). Pietro Micca was born on March 6th.