A View on the Fosso Reale

A view on the Fosso Reale from Piazza Cavour. (Already posted on Instagram)
Vista sul Fosso Reale da piazza Cavour. (Già pubblicato su Instagram)

Tulips at the Dutch Church

Tulips in front of the Dutch church, Scali degli Olandesi. (Already posted on Instagram)
Tulipani davanti alla chiesa degli Olandesi, scali degli Olandesi. (Già pubblicato su Instagram)

Before and After

Two images of the church before and after the restoration. Today, at 10:30, a public presentation of the partial restoration works of the Dutch church will take place in the Mascagni Room of the Teatro Goldoni.

Dutch church - A Good Start - Works Have Started - The New Scaffolding - Ready for the Facade - End of Works

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External links: Temple of the Dutch German Congregation (Wikipedia)
Search labels: Dutch church

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End of Works

A public presentation of the partial restoration works of the Dutch church will be held tomorrow, at 10:30, in the Mascagni Room of the Teatro Goldoni. Soon we will show you some photos taken on site during the works.

(Also posted on Instagram)

See also: Dutch church - A Good Start - Works Have Started - The New Scaffolding - Ready for the Facade
External links: Temple of the Dutch German Congregation (Wikipedia)
Search labels: Dutch church

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Ready for the Facade

The new scaffolding now covers almost all the facade of the Dutch church.

See also: Dutch church - A Good Start - Works Have Started - The New Scaffolding
External links: Temple of the Dutch German Congregation (Wikipedia)
Search labels: Dutch church

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The New Scaffolding

It is good to see that a new scaffolding is being erected on the facade of the Dutch church. With the still scarce funds now available they will be able to stop the decay, preserving the building from further damage and at least partially securing it.

See also: Dutch church - A Good Start - Works Have Started
External links: Temple of the Dutch German Congregation (Wikipedia)
Search labels: Dutch church

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Works Have Started

Restoration works have started at the Dutch church. The area has been cleaned up from weeds and the old rusty scaffolding has been removed: quite a difference from a month ago.

See also: Dutch church - A Good Start - Theme Day: Rust and Ruins
External links: Temple of the Dutch German Congregation (Wikipedia)
Search labels: Dutch church

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Theme Day: Rust and Ruins

It is hard to speak of rust and ruins without remembering our beloved Dutch church.

The building is still fenced off and its own railing is almost overgrown by weeds.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

External links: Temple of the Dutch German Congregation (Wikipedia)
See also: Dutch church - A Good Start
Search labels: Dutch church

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A Good Start

I am not an optimist by nature, but it seems that something good is going to happen quite soon for our Dutch church.

Yesterday, in an informal press conference inside the Mercato Centrale, a detailed plan to secure and partly restore the facade was announced, with works starting in the early summer.

Funds are limited, but they probably would be enough at least to stop the decay of the building.

External links: Press release (Livorno delle Nazioni)
See also: Dutch church - Mercato Centrale
Search labels: Dutch church

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Night and Day

Two almost identical views from the bridge of the Mercato: on the left there is the Chiesa degli Olandesi (Dutch Church), at the far end of the Fosso Reale (Royal Canal) we can see Piazza Cavour.

At night

In daytime

See also: Ponte del Mercato - Chiesa degli Olandesi - Piazza Cavour

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Theme Day: Best of 2013

Today's Theme Day is about the best photo of 2013. I was looking back at the pictures I took last year and it was difficult to pick up something I really liked. Then I saw this was the one: it portrays Stefano Ceccarini and Matteo Giunti, two brave friends of mine who are still fighting hard to save at least part of the precious heritage of this decaying and uncaring city.

With their hard work they have just secured 25.000 Euro for the Dutch Church, with more 80.000 Euro coming. It is not much, but it obviously helps.
As we have recently seen, Matteo has also his hands busy with the cemetery in danger.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Happy New Year to All of You!

See also: Theme Day: Best of 2009 - Theme Day: Best of 2010
- Old English Cemetery - Chiesa degli Olandesi - Stefano & Matteo

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Amen

On Valentine Day the final ranking list of The Places I Love census has been posted: our Dutch church is only ninth, with 23685 votes. You may even see this as something good, but I prefer to call it another missed opportunity by Livorno.
The winner, with 53953 votes, is the Citadel of Alessandria, a city of 95350 inhabitants in Northern Italy. A simple math says that at least a 56.6% of its population actively supported this choice.
In spite of the heroic efforts of our friends Stefano, Matteo and many others, only a scarce 14.7% of the 161192 inhabitants of Livorno voted for the church, with the decisive help of many voters from abroad. Counting only the ‘foreign’ votes our church would be first, with 327 votes and a good edge on the second.

External links: Final Ranking of the 2012 Census (FAI)
Search labels: Dutch church

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Stefano & Matteo

Our friends Stefano Ceccarini and Matteo Giunti have been the driving force behind the collection of signatures for the restoration of the “Chiesa degli Olandesi” (Dutch Church) and many other initiatives. Here they were checking the interior of the church and I was tagging along, taking pictures.

The building is, if possible, in even worse shape than ever, with further collapsing and widespread decay.

All the stained glass windows are broken, but one of the smaller ones inside has still something to say.

Search labels: Dutch church
See also: Abandoned Church - Scali degli Olandesi - Chiesa degli Olandesi - Sad Preview - A lecture - Finale - A Ray of Hope - Falling to Pieces - Flying Rats - Another Collapse - Fenced Off - Piazza Poerio - The Places I Love - A Few More Votes - Rose Window - Second Place?
External links: Temple of the Dutch German Congregation (Wikipedia)
Facebook Group: “Salviamo la chiesa degli Olandesi a Livorno” (Save the Dutch church in Livorno)

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Second Place?

On November 30 “The Places I Love” census has finally come to an end. Looking at the online votes our Dutch Church is only fourth, but there are still a lot of paper votes to be officially counted, and this will take time. Snooping around I have found some interesting data on local websites, which I summarize in the following table:

Place	Online votes	Paper votes	Total
Reggia di Carditello	3565	25000	28565
Parco e Castello di Miramare	3109	20000	23109
Castello Svevo	2727	13000	15727
Tempio della Congregazione Olandese Alemanna	2023	24000	26023

At best, this is an educated guess based on available and unconfirmed data, but Livorno will come out a close second. Thanks to everyone who has helped us!

External links (in Italian):
Nelle mani delle associazioni più di 25mila firme
Ora faremo pesare i ventimila voti raccolti per Miramare
Circa 13.000 le segnalazioni per il Castello Svevo
Più di 24000 firme per salvare la Chiesa degli Olandesi

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Rose Window

The rose window of the Dutch Church: “traces” of pigeons are visible in the upper part.

To save this church you can still vote in The Places I Love census until October 31st.

Search labels: Dutch church
See also: Abandoned Church - Scali degli Olandesi - Chiesa degli Olandesi - Sad Preview - A lecture - Finale - A Ray of Hope - Falling to Pieces - Flying Rats - Another Collapse - Fenced Off - Piazza Poerio - The Places I Love - A Few More Votes - Rose Window - Second Place?
External links: Temple of the Dutch German Congregation (Wikipedia)
Facebook Group: “Salviamo la chiesa degli Olandesi a Livorno” (Save the Dutch church in Livorno)

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A Few More Votes

The fantastic effort of our friends Stefano Ceccarini and Matteo Giunti and their enthusiasm, with the help of many others, has brought the Dutch Church to the first place of the national list of The Places I Love. If we will be able to keep this position until the end of October, the restoration of the church will be financed by the Intesa-San Paolo bank. Everybody can vote, even from abroad: it only takes a couple of minutes, please help us to save this historical building!

Search labels: Dutch church
See also: Abandoned Church - Scali degli Olandesi - Chiesa degli Olandesi - Sad Preview - A lecture - Finale - A Ray of Hope - Falling to Pieces - Flying Rats - Another Collapse - Fenced Off - Piazza Poerio - The Places I Love - A Few More Votes - Rose Window - Second Place?
External links: Temple of the Dutch German Congregation (Wikipedia)
Facebook Group: “Salviamo la chiesa degli Olandesi a Livorno” (Save the Dutch church in Livorno)

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The Places I Love

It is appalling to see that more than three thousands of our fellow citizens found the time to answer a poll on bombastic sillinesses about being Livornese and only a few dozens have chosen until now to support a far more interesting and useful initiative.“I Luoghi del Cuore” (The Places I Love) is a survey of our forgotten monuments in need of restoration. The most voted ones will attract attention at national level with a realistic hope to get some private or public funds.
For the first time the poll is open to voters from abroad. If you like, take a bit of your time to register on this website and vote for our designated place, which is obviously the derelict “Chiesa degli Olandesi” (Dutch Church). Please be sure to write exactly the words between the quotation marks to avoid mix-ups.

Search labels: Dutch church
See also: Abandoned Church - Scali degli Olandesi - Chiesa degli Olandesi - Sad Preview - A lecture - Finale - A Ray of Hope - Falling to Pieces - Flying Rats - Another Collapse - Fenced Off - Piazza Poerio - The Places I Love - A Few More Votes - Rose Window - Second Place?
External links: Temple of the Dutch German Congregation (Wikipedia)
Facebook Group: “Salviamo la chiesa degli Olandesi a Livorno” (Save the Dutch church in Livorno)

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Piazza Poerio

“Piazza Carlo Poerio” was set out around 1850 when the course of the “Fosso Reale” was straightened out along with the demolition of the fortifications surrounding the old city center. The square disappeared in 1893 when the Antonio Benci elementary school was built. The “Chiesa degli Olandesi” (Dutch Church), on the right, was built between 1862 and 1864.A recent image of the area in a bird's-eye view from Bing Maps. The old postcard is another interesting find in the collection of Antonio Cantelli.

Search labels: Dutch church - postcard
See also: Abandoned Church - Scali degli Olandesi - Chiesa degli Olandesi - Sad Preview - A lecture - Finale - A Ray of Hope - Falling to Pieces - Flying Rats - Another Collapse - Fenced Off - Piazza Poerio - The Places I Love - A Few More Votes - Rose Window - Second Place?
External links: Temple of the Dutch German Congregation (Wikipedia)
Facebook Group: “Salviamo la chiesa degli Olandesi a Livorno” (Save the Dutch church in Livorno)

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Fenced Off

It has been several months after the last significant collapse, but something has changed around the Dutch Chirch. The temporary barriers has been replaced by a fence shielded by concrete blocks. The street remains closed and the church building untouched.

Search labels: Dutch church
See also: Abandoned Church - Scali degli Olandesi - Chiesa degli Olandesi - Sad Preview - A lecture - Finale - A Ray of Hope - Falling to Pieces - Flying Rats - Another Collapse - Piazza Poerio - The Places I Love - A Few More Votes - Rose Window - Second Place?
External links: Temple of the Dutch German Congregation (Wikipedia)
Facebook Group: “Salviamo la chiesa degli Olandesi a Livorno” (Save the Dutch church in Livorno)

Versione italiana

Another Collapse

Another piece of the moribund Dutch Church of Livorno fell down on this Sunday late afternoon.The “Scali degli Olandesi”, the street in front of the temple, is now completely closed for safety reasons.Sunday was the last day of a display of photos describing the state of the church and the work done at the Old English Cemetery. This was one of the few interesting events of Effetto Venezia, but I am probably saying this because most of the pictures of the church were mine...

Search labels: Dutch church
See also: Abandoned Church - Scali degli Olandesi - Chiesa degli Olandesi - Sad Preview - A lecture - Finale - A Ray of Hope - Falling to Pieces - Flying Rats - Fenced Off - Piazza Poerio - The Places I Love - A Few More Votes - Rose Window - Second Place?
External links: Temple of the Dutch German Congregation (Wikipedia)
Facebook Group: “Salviamo la chiesa degli Olandesi a Livorno” (Save the Dutch church in Livorno)

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