Il testo qui riportato è gentile concessione della ADSI sezione Puglia

PRESS RELEASE

The two lovers belonged to two different social classes. He was the second- born in the old and noble family Pietà, she was born in a family of the rising middle class of the time, the Termites. Their love was strongly hindered by the noble family.

The young girl forced to enter the convent of San Pietro Nuovo became a nun, the boy was obliged to leave and fight as a soldier of fortune.

Nevertheless that didn’t stop them. Every time the boy came back to Bitonto he would go to a small street called Vico Storto behind the monastery and sing the Ménacedde ( in the local dialect this word means young nun) a song for his lover.

This story, that recalls the one of Romeo and Juliet, was told for the first time this morning, with an enchanting performance, during the press conference to present the 2018 Bitonto Cortili Aperti event, scheduled on the 26/7 May.

 

 

This will be the 6th edition of the festival organized by the Puglia department of the Associazione Dimore Storiche Italiane – ADSI in cooperation with the Comune di Bitonto. The cultural event is part of the national Adsi days a festival promoted all over Italy. Adsi is member of European Historic Houses – EHH.

Bitonto is one of the most important towns because of the number of courtyards that will be opened to the visitors, some of these for the very first time. Indeed, there are more than 60 private and public buildings to be visited in the old part of the town, in the 19th century district and outside the city walls, all particularly interesting from an artistic and historical point of view.

We must thank the owners of these old buildings – Angelantonio Marchio de Marinis, representative of the ADSI, said “ saying yes to our invitation they will give the opportunity to people from Bitonto, but also to the many tourists who are expected to come from every part of Puglia, to visit old palaces of great architectural and historical value, as in the case of the Bove Planelli Termite Palace, the old house of the two lovers Pietà and Termite.

 

 

The main aim of this event – Piero Consiglio, regional Vice President of adsi said- is to encourage both the owners and the local government to preserve this enormous cultural heritage, that is a source of economic growth both as a tourist destination and as a work opportunity for qualified workers, who are employed in the maintenance and restoration of these buildings.

The major Michele Abbaticchio said “our town keeps a great richness that tells our story. Every single stone of the noble palaces, of the churches of the museums reminds us of what we were and gives us the responsibility for what we would like to be, especially in the old part of the town.

Rino Mangini, councilor for the local marketing said“ I thank adsi for the work and their commitment. The story of the two lovers shows how rich our cultural historical artistic and architectural heritage is. It is thus very important to make the most of it and to promote Bitonto as a tourist destination, also considering the recent nomination of our town as cultural capital for southern Italy in 2020.

 

 

Courtyards will be opened on Saturday from 6 p.m.to 10 p.m and on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 4.30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Tourists will be guided by more than 800 students of the local schools who will tell them about the historical sites in Italian and in different foreign languages (English, French, Spanish, German, Romanian, Albanian e Arabic).

The story of the two lovers was performed this morning by Federica Monte.

Nicola Napoli and Ilaria Florio impersonated the characters of the two lovers.

Marinella Napoli played the music of the Ménacedde.

http://www.adsi.it/

https://www.mokazine.com/it_IT/moka/bitonto_cortili_aperti/bitonto-cortili-aperti-2018—vi-edizione