by Marcello Iezzi – Opened on 5 May 2012, Dream Point 43° Parallelo is the result of a fantastic collaboration between the municipality of Grottammare – represented by the mayor, Luigi Merli, the councillor for culture, Enrico Piergallini, and the councillor for tourism, Simone Splendiani – and the 43° Parallelo Italy Association of Grottammare, which promotes a series of initiatives aimed at establishing a network to enhance the cultural, economic and tourist resources of the area lying along the 43rd parallel north.
The founding members: the founder and chairman MARCELLO IEZZI, alongside the financial backers FILIPPO OLIVIERI, a tourism entrepreneur and vice-chairman, the steel entrepreneur GIUSEPPE MARCOZZI, a board member, and the coffee sales representative LUIGI SANTORI, secretary – all residents of Grottammare who love their local area – have donated the ‘Dream Point 43° Parallelo’ to the local council.
A sculptural group carved from Ascoli travertine and white Abruzzo stone, created by the master sculptor Francesco Santori.
The artwork, which symbolises the globe, features a large ‘G’ in the centre and also depicts the four shrines through which the parallel passes (Santiago de Compostela, Lourdes, Assisi and Medjugorje). Next to it stands a large world map bearing a phrase that invites visitors to dream, showing the most important locations around the world visited by the 43rd P., certified by the University of Padua, and a totem – also made of travertine and sculpted by Santori – on which an inscription in Braille, created by the UICI of Ascoli Piceno, has been mounted to make the Dream Point accessible to the visually impaired. Bringing it all together is a small garden, featuring Mediterranean plants, created by the Grottammare nursery district.
It is the world’s first Dream Point dedicated to a parallel.
A place where one can dream of being in many other locations around the world at the same time – from Russia to Japan to the USA – all crossed by the 43rd parallel, which is often cited because, more than any other, it encapsulates the diversity of Italy’s landscapes, from Grottammare to the Gulf of Baratti (Piombino) through the Marche, Umbria and Tuscany, all the way to the island of Capraia and the northern tip of Corsica (Giraglia). This initiative has many aims, not least the promotion of tourism in a region of central Italy that is rich in art, culture, gastronomy, olive oils and wines, but also features the sea, mountains, nature reserves, spas, lakes and shrines – all of which encapsulate the beauty of the entire peninsula.