Italy
Precious manuscripts are stored in industrial size freezers at -25°C to remove excess water from them
Thu 25 May 2023 5:44pm BST
Ancient books and manuscripts, some dating back to the 16th century, affected by devastating floods in northern Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region are being stored in refrigerators in a bid to save them.
Volunteers have transported the books and other valuable documents, which were mired in water and mud in flooded libraries in the worst-hit areas, to Cesena, where the items will be placed on shelves at temperatures of -25ºC in industrial-size freezers provided by Orogel, a company specializing in frozen food.
The Carabinieri of Bologna’s Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage helped recover books from the Episcopal Seminary. Photo: Serrano/AGF/Shutterstock
“We typically use this process for ripe fruit and vegetables within three hours of harvest, but I never expected that this rapid process could also be useful for our literary heritage,” the company’s president, Bruno Piraccini, told the Ansa news agency. “I received this surprising request from the library of Forlì and we are in the process of reorganizing the space in our warehouse.”
Fifteen people died and thousands were left homeless after violent storms caused flooding and landslides that damaged or closed 500 roads. Heavy rains continued in Italy this week. A man reportedly died in flash floods in the southern province of Avellino on Thursday.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who pledged aid to Emilia-Romagna, surveyed the flood-hit areas by helicopter on Thursday afternoon.
“I’m here to send a very clear message: Europe is by your side,” said von der Leyen during a press conference in Bologna.
Italy’s cultural heritage was also significantly damaged: 75 monuments, 12 libraries and six archaeological sites were affected by the floods.
Lucia Borgonzoni, Under-Secretary of State at the Culture Ministry, said the government had allocated €6million (£5.2million) to fund heritage.
Volunteers packed the old books in plastic bags for transportation to the freezers. Photo: Serrano/AGF/Shutterstock
“Measures to safeguard the historical heritage have been underway since Tuesday,” she said. “At the same time, warehouses are found for storing the recycled material.”
The most serious damage occurred to books in the library in the basement of the Catholic seminary of San Benedetto in Cava, a hamlet in the province of Forlì, after it was flooded with water, as well as to books kept in the archives of Forlì town hall. Old books that could be rescued from the flooded Trisi library in Lugo were also packed in plastic bags before being transported in airtight crates to the freezers in Cesena. More books are expected to arrive from other areas of the region.
The goal of freezing is to rid the books of excess water to prevent further damage before drying them and recovering them if possible. In order for it to work, the books must be frozen as soon as possible.
Piraccini said he was giving his company’s equipment away for free “for the good of the community.” “Our factory is used to maintaining the best quality,” he said.
Weather-related disasters are on the rise in Italy, a country considered particularly vulnerable to the climate crisis. Emilia-Romagna and parts of Marche were also affected by severe flooding in early May, in which two people died.
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