On May 14 and 15, in collaboration with Open House Milan, NEIADE Tour & Events provided its professional guides by organizing free guided tours of the air-raid shelter in Piazza Grandi, between Corso XXII Marzo and Viale Umbria.
People from all corners of the city (and beyond!) flocked to it, but it was mainly the residents of the square itself who enthusiastically welcomed this occasion: the very ones who, although they knew of the existence of this shelter and even though they live within walking distance, had never been able to visit it and learn more about the history of a place that is generally closed to the public-except in rare circumstances!
The event drew visitors of all ages: from children who flocked excitedly to the mere idea of being able to access an underground shelter, to the kind gentleman born in 1924 who made us part of the dramatic stories he experienced firsthand inside the Milan bunker during the World War II.
Why is visiting the air raid shelter in Grandi Square such a participatory experience? Theuniqueness of the visit certainly lies, first of all, in the possibility of crossing the threshold of a place that is usually inaccessible and so important for its historical value. In fact, it is one of the first air-raid shelters built by the City of Milan before the outbreak of World War II, in 1936; it was precisely in ’36 that a royal decree was issued imposing the obligation to provide every residential building with an air-raid shelter, when the first winds of war began to blow, far away… The shelter in Piazza Grandi would later play a strategic role during the war conflict, thanks to its location in the Porta Vittoria area. In the heart of a very commercially active district, the bunker served as a safe place for the population when an endless rain of bombs rained down from the skies over Milan.
Access to the shelter today appears almost hidden by the urban harmony of the verdant Piazza Grandi, dominated by the monumental fountain dedicated to the artist of the same name. Only armed with gloves and a helmet are you able to lift the heavy metal trapdoor that opens the passage to reach the underground rooms of the bunker, over a steep flight of steps. The solidity of this place is due to its structure: in the belly of the fountain lies a labyrinth of 24 concrete rooms, with arrows indicating exits, the direction to the toilets and where to find drinking water. The historical endowments of the shelter, still partly preserved and marked with black paint signage, attracted as always the attention of the many visitors, intrigued by the clues of the “life lived” by the Milanese hospitalized inside the bunker during the bombing.
Under the fountain dedicated to sculptor Giuseppe Grandi, also inaugurated in 1936, it was a real surprise for many to discover the appearance and functions of the air raid shelter, through the stories of NEIADE Tour & Events guides and the impromptu testimonies of those who had direct experience of this place during the years of terror of the war. As one of the residents of Piazza Grandi reminded us, “memories fade, but the feeling of fear remains”-words that, today especially, underscore the importance of historical memory as an ever-present reminder for peace.
