Pizzo Harbour Project (Update Spring 2013)
/- For future updates, please click here: Harbour Project
- The introduction to the Pizzo Project (Lungomare) includes an update form June 2012 about the stop of the project
Pizzo Calabro: Harbour Progress (November 2010)
/The photos below are taken from our balcony:
Pizzo Project (Lungomare)
/The map below shows the Marina on the right and the little bay called La Seggiola on the left:
Inbetween boths sights of the village is a not so attractive 'lungomare' which was provisorically installed some years ago to protect the rock on which thrones the historical centre of Pizzo from being washed out by the sea.
However, there is one more attraction hiding ! Almost underneath our house one can still see the entrance of the "grotta azzurra". When my husband was a little boy (not so many years ago) he used to go by boat very close to the grotta and even swim inside the grotta. Today grows grass around the entrance and it easily can be overseen.
A project of the commune of Pizzo forsees a reopening of the grotta. The plan is to enlarge the bay by letting in sea water until the grotta. Eventually this area will be used as yacht haven and small boats will carry visitors inside the grotta azzurra.
photo sources: with friendly permission for publication by Arch. P. Pitt
Update November 2010:
They have started with the earth moving work. Here a photo taken from our balcony:
PS:
Oh, yes, it is a fantastic project - and the view from our house will be even more interesting.
I only hope that the earth moving work they do, and the digging, does not affect the rock... and the houses on top...
Update July 2012:
Since this post is one of the most popular posts of my blog, I think a little update is necessary. Last summer, 2011, they finished the digging of the harbor. There is no connection to the gotta, however. A neighbour, who lives above the gotta, stopped this part of the project with a lawsuit. He claimed the work would endanger the rock on which many houses of the Centro storico of Pizzo are located. Well, maybe not that absurd.
But after they did all the earthwork, the heavy equipment and trucks disappeared. Now, we have just a deserted sandy dessert around the half finished "harbor" - that has not seen any boat yet, I guess it is not deep enough - and the wind transports fine dust every day up to our balconies and through the windows...
The new elected major Callipo (since May 2012) wants to continue with the project. But people here say that the commune has no more money. It seems a typical Calabrian project. It will take more time than other projects elsewhere. But it will be accomplished one day, I am sure, because it is a great project, that will make Pizzo even more attractive in the future.
Pizzo: lungomare
/Pizzo's historical center is located on a rock, 54 meter above sea level. So far tons of earth and stones were put in front of the rock to protect it from erosion throug the sea. Later, the entire rock itself was renovated with EU's financial support some years ago.
And now the city authorities are planning to enlarge the small fisher boat harbour (darsena) at the Seggiola by letting the water in until the grotta azzura. This is right below our house - I mean, 54 meters below our house.
Pizzo's seaside now:
And Pizzo's future seaside:
I do not know when they will start the project, since part of the financing apparently still needs to be approved. We hope that our architetto Pino Pitt who is involved with this project will finally get it going.
It is too good to be true... how pittoresque will this be? This will attract so many - tourists and locals - for a walk (or jogging), from the Marina, along the seafront promenade, across the little bridge with a glimpse of the blue grotto until the Seggiola where you could climb up the hill back to the historical town center. What a fantastic project!
Photo source and copyright: Arch. Pino Pitt (email: pino.pitt@virgilio.it)