(Finance) – The YOU DO – Italian Environmental Fund ETS e Intesa Sanpaolo today presented the results of the11th edition of the national census of “Places of the Heart” closed last December 15th: with 1,500,638 votes collected in 2022 for more than 38,800 places the census is confirmed as the most important Italian campaign to raise citizens’ awareness of the value of heritage and the need to protect and enhance it, as is FAI’s mission.
The ranking of the most voted places of the heart was announced in a press conference, in the presence of Mark MagnificentPresident of the FAI, and of Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, President of Intesa Sanpaolo, and with the participation of the representatives of the three winning assets, who will receive, in exchange for a project, a contribution for restoration and enhancement. On the podium the Church of San Pietro dei Samari in Puglia with 51,443 votes, followed by the Museum of Mysteries in Molise with 32,271 points and the Church of San Giacomo della Vittoria in Piedmont with 31,028 points.
Thanks to this initiative, from 2003 to today, they have been interventions were supported for 138 places in 19 regions of Italy, who were forgotten, abandoned or little valued, but loved by their communities, who saved them by voting for them. The votes collected make it possible to start ad a virtuous process capable of multiplying the effect of the census, mobilizing Municipalities, Regions and Ministries, companies, foundations and associations to save them, so much so that the support from Intesa Sanpaolo to this project has generated investments worth ten times as much. .
In the 2022 edition were involved in the census 6,508 Municipalities in Italy, 82.4% of the totalreported by citizens, individuals or associated in committees, arising from the initiative of many different subjects of civil society, from schools to parishes, from libraries to museums, from tourist offices to the municipalities themselves.
“In this edition, in a particularly evident way, ‘The Places of the Heart’ have given voice to the ‘last’, to those places of the Italian cultural heritage considered minor, which have never had the attention of the country, but which instead deserve it , and that without the love of the people who voted for them they would have been lost”, explained the President of the FAI, Mark Magnificent.
Gian Maria Gros-PietroPresident of Intesa Sanpaolo, added “Intesa Sanpaolo and the FAI have been collaborating together since 2004 to encourage projects proposed by the communities on the basis of the consensus gathered spontaneously. An extraordinary active participation of citizens that allows widespread intervention and dissemination of art and culture throughout the national territory. Culture is a fundamental factor of social cohesion and economic growth; for this reason the Bank’s cultural activities are a qualifying element of our 2022-2025 Business Plan”.