Sant’Andrea di Conza discussed the “Incontro Tempo” dossier for the candidacy for Italian Capital of Culture 2027 on February 27, 2025, in Rome, in the Spadolini Room of the Ministry of Culture, with the presence of the mayors of Alta Irpinia and a delegation from the provinces of Potenza and Salerno. “The presentation of the dossier was a festive and choral event for our territory. The candidacy of Sant’Andrea di Conza was and is in all respects the candidacy of the City of Alta Irpinia, of 25 villages and communities, a proposal for the revenge of the internal areas that highlighted history, culture, nature with an eye to the future, in the name of unity and with the ambition of making Alta Irpinia a stable, credible, innovative cultural destination”, declared the mayor of Sant’Andrea di Conza, Pompeo D’Angola.
A candidacy that is the result of a virtuous collaboration between the municipalities of Alta Irpinia, which by joining forces and resources have built a shared vision of cultural and tourist development. Working in unison has made it possible to enhance the historical, artistic, natural and food and wine heritage of Irpinia in a unitary perspective, demonstrating how the union between local administrations can become a powerful engine of growth for the entire territory.
In addition to D'Angola, the discussion in Rome was attended by the president of the City of Alta Irpinia Rosanna Repole, the head of cultural heritage of the Diocese of Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi-Conza-Nusco-Bisaccia, as well as the parish priest of Sant'Andrea di Conza, Mons. Tarcisio Gambalonga, the communications manager Gaetano Grasso with his work group created the concept "Incontro Tempo".
Emotion was the leitmotif of the presentation, which began with the performance of Francesca Errico, a young actress from the “Mario Martino” theater company, and continued with the viewing of two videos and the final appeal by lawyer Donato Cicenia. “Today you can choose to pick a flower, wonderful and beautiful. The challenge we are launching to you is to choose a flowerbed, rich in colors, emotions, and scents,” he said, warming up the audience where, among others, the vice president of the Province of Avellino and the members of the Scientific Committee, the journalist Andrea Covotta and professor Leandro Ventura from the Central Institute for Intangible Heritage sat.
“A challenge in which – President Repole specified – the territory believed, allocating resources already allocated by the Campania Region for our internal area.” And the financial plan, drawn up in collaboration with the administrative coordinator of the candidacy Stefano Pirozzi, clearly restored the concreteness of the actions implemented.
“Many expressions of esteem and congratulations are arriving from Irpini and non-Irpini - reveals Mayor D’Angola - We have succeeded with this candidacy, which the commission has defined as ambitious but not unrealistic, in transmitting a precise message: there is an Alta Irpinia that was not born on November 23, 1980, but centuries, millennia before. And that wants to tell its story, to offer and welcome. A dutiful thanks goes to the writer Maurizio De Giovanni, to the managing director of Ema di Morra De Sanctis Domenico Sottile, to the president of the Consortium for the Protection of Irpinia Wines Teresa Bruno, to the director of the Irpinia Museum Giovanna Silvestri and to the director Luca Bellino, for their messages in support of the territory”, he concludes.
