Controversy Over Archaeological Find at Ring Road Construction Site

“Why weren’t serious checks conducted on what was supposed to be the point where the route of the ring road would almost certainly meet the ancient walls of the Serraglio?” This is the most frequently asked question during the public assembly requested by the minority councilor, former mayor Luciano Terleth. The event was organized by the municipal administration to take stock of the ring road situation.

Interventions and positions on the discovery of the Serraglio

“Is it a coincidence that they thought to excavate as much gravel as possible along the 4,630 meters of the underground road,” asked Giuseppe Guidara, an architect who found the interchanges of the bypass very close to his home, “and only afterwards did they reach the critical point, when it would have taken two days of work to reveal the Serraglio? The Municipality should claim damages from the design firm that, misled by the survey of the English archaeologist Hudson, who made no reference to precise levels, failed to verify if there were archaeological obstacles.”

But could anything have changed if the Serraglio had been discovered immediately? Giorgio Vandelli of the Archeoclub stated: “It could have been possible to change the route,” reaffirming the uniqueness of this fortification, “or, probably, to construct the ring road flat, without creating this wound in the territory.”

Opinions on the construction and protection of the site

The mayor Fausto Sachetto disagreed: “The gravel allowed a reduction in the cost of the work, and nonetheless the designers went down to nine meters to comply with the indications of the Superintendence.” Among the public, there was concern that the discovery of this fortification, dating back to the 14th century, and the consequent change in design (with the construction of a flyover on the road to Villafranca) might cause delays in the construction of the bypass.

Extreme protests were also proposed: “If everyone took away a stone from that wall,” shouted a man from the audience, perhaps oblivious to the fact that he was proposing something illegal, “the problem would disappear in a few hours.” This act of removing “stones” is not new in Valeggio: when the Scaliger tower collapsed, many old stones disappeared and ended up in various taverns of Valeggio.

The Visconti bridge faces the same problem: many people take away souvenir stones. They are just stones. Under the attacks of about eighty present, both the Soprintendenza—accused of giving too much importance to “four stones”—and the Municipal Administration, responsible for not strongly opposing this safeguarding action, were overwhelmed.

Responses and decisions of the administration

“You all know,” declared mayor Fausto Sachetto, also in response to Terleth’s accusations that he hadn’t done enough, “that I myself proposed breaking through this wall, exposing about eighty meters of the Serraglio on the side and installing lighting and parking areas. However, I didn’t want to take the responsibility of blocking a project for years with the risk of leaving it unfinished. I reluctantly accepted, as did Anas, the proposal of the Soprintendenza to cover the remains and to build a flyover that will be designed to stay within a height of three and a half meters. The first section of the road should be completed by June.”

There was little support for Terleth’s proposal to send a protest petition to the relevant authorities. A doubt remains: would they have excavated if instead of gravel, there had been clay?