Civics 101 – a bit of history
Laura Rozen recalls, and describes, a visit to an actual torture chamber – one recently active. I too once visited a torture chamber, except that it was empty. The place was in a fort, the Rocca di Vico Pisano, just outside of Pisa, designed by Brunelleschi in 1435. Giovanni Fascetti, who took responsibility for its restoration and who also leads tours, proudly explained that the instruments of torture were destroyed in 1786, when Tuscany, through the penal reforms of Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo, became the first state in the world to outlaw torture and the death penalty, which had come to be regarded as acts of barbarism – “Italy”, and the characters of the 20th century, did not yet exist. So when the fort was recently restored, this room was deliberately left empty. The Fort itself, once used by Florence to conquer and rule over Pisa, now flies the flag of peace.
It also used to be by a lake that formed where the Arno once met the Serchio river, and was surrounded by wetlands – until the Arno river was straightened in 1599 to improve navigation. In another room – that was restored, underneath several layers of paint, they found a fresco that depicted the landscape as it once was – it was a rice farming area! Next maybe they can restore those wetlands…
