Piazza Grandi: where history is to be discovered
A guided tour of the Piazza Grandi Antiaircraft Shelter, among the few in the city accessible to the public, is a unique opportunity to relive the past from a special point of view: here memory becomes a warning not to forget the history of Milan. Right there, under the monumental fountain in Piazza Grandi, lies one of the first air-raid shelters built by the city of Milan before World War II, in 1936. Capable of holding up to 450 people, it is one of the best-preserved air raid shelters in the entire city, thanks mainly to the great work of restoring the fountain and its plumbing.
An air raid shelter for the Milanese.
Here in the vicinity two large white arrows with a black border indicated the presence of shelter to the population in need of shelter at times when the enemy air force sped over the Milanese sky. We still see them today, but do we really know how to recognize them? How many of us know what they mean and what events we have witnessed? How many broken stories and hopes have they witnessed?
The surreal life in an underground shelter
Descending down the only one of the two flights of access steps still usable, we will access the 24 rooms that make up this labyrinthine underground air raid shelter where the signs indicating basic rules of living together in a collective shelter, affixed in black paint on the concrete walls, are also still excellently preserved today: from the classic “no smoking” or “no dogs allowed” to signs on emergency exits or the toilet area. Life in the underground shelter unfolded in a surreal and almost suspended way, tracing concerns and habits of the world “upstairs”: families and neighbors sought mutual support and consolation, feared for loved ones who were not present, children tried to beguile the wait with some games… In this guided tour, today as never before, reliving the story of the interminable moments spent in the shelter is a reminder that peace is our most important goal and the remembrance of History an ever-present commitment.
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Open House Milan, part of the Open House Worldwide circuit since 2015, is a weekend of open architecture, to learn about and share architecture, for everyone. On May 25 and 26, the event takes place all over Milan, from the center to the suburbs, in the six districts that have marked the city’s urban development over the centuries.
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