This is the first time I visited a city park called “Villa Regina” and probably would be the last. The entrance was derelict and quite unwelcoming, but I had to explore it and so I went inside.
The first part of the park is an alley lined by trees, eerily desert in the early Sunday afternoon. The unleafy plants were totally unable to provide any comfortable shadow from the August sun.
After an underpass I saw strange signs of life, just before the park proper: a whole wall of these prints, obviously symbolizing the desire of any living creature to escape this sad place.
Half a dozen of these toys were baking in the sun on unkept land. Nearby, a bridge completely covered with graffiti crosses an empty canal, which obviously lead to a very dry pond.
This is probably the highlight of the park: it reminded me of the flat mountain of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. Perhaps it is only a dry fountain in an empty basin.
Rushing back toward the normal world I found this mural, which I liked instantly. I have no idea what the subjects are, but they are really a lot nicer of everything I saw here. I met nobody in “Villa Regina”: it was only me, all the time.
The church of “Nostra Signora del Rosario” (Our Lady of the Rosary) was built in the 50's of last century, where once stood a local Maronite church. The Maronite community was active in town since the 17th century: Raffaello De Ghantuz-Cubbe, from a family of Aleppo, was even bishop of Livorno between 1832 and 1840.
In 1888 the community obtained the old chapel of “Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi”, restored it and opened the church to cult in 1890. In few years even a bell tower was added, while the church received the rank of parish. (Old photo from Wikipedia)
The dwindling Maronite presence led, after the last war, to the construction of the new church, without leaving trace of the original building. We like to think, without any real proof, that at least the four original bells still have a place on top of the new tower.
