Dietro al Muretto
Le Piagge is a pheripheric area in the suburbs of Florence. Everything from buildings to human beings in the area communicates suspension, absence and isolation. Residents are lonely old people, poor Italian families or immigrants.
The area and the buildings are meant to contain people, not to stimulate social relationships. There are no squares, and the green area covered with grass is too large for people to fully enjoy it. The result is that people do not socialize. They do not live the public space as a common place where to develop new social relations or nurture the old ones.
For long time a "street priest", Don Alessandro Santoro, developed a Community open to anybody, regardless of her religion. In 2010, Don Ale was moved away from the Piagge by the church hierarchy who did not share his progressive view. Despite the opposition of the Church, the Piagge Community is still alive, involving residents in many social projects helping residents to overcome the area's problems.
(c) Mario Mariniello 2026.
