That historic wharf of Civitavecchia, which for years was the first landing place for thousands of Sardinians who emigrated to the peninsula, will no longer be called “molo Sardegna”. It has now been named after Pope John Paul II, to commemorate the historic visit of the pontiff 35 years ago.
To imprint that date in memory, 19 March 1987, a symbol was also placed: a boulder from the dock with a bronze plaque blessed by the bishop, Monsignor Gianrico Ruzza, in the presence of civil and military authorities.
The change of course, with the naming of the pier after the pope, is a decision that clashes with the emotions of those who, over the decades of the last century, left their land in search of fortune and contributing with their work. the development of various regions, including Lazio itself and the province of Rome. They arrived in Civitavecchia by ship, with their suitcases loaded with few personal effects and many hopes. They descended the ladder in the area of what is now the old port, and for many it was also the first time they crossed the sea. Their stories certainly did not go unnoticed, if it was decided to name Sardinia, their region of origin, that pier where the ships "Città di Nuoro", "Città di Napoli", "Caralis", and subsequently those of the State Railways.
This change of name did not go down well with many people, many of those who had landed at the "Sardinia pier": an erased memory, a place that brought back beautiful and bitter episodes, because emigrating in the 1950s and 1960s was often not a choice, and where many existences crossed each other looking at a new life.
Not even the Sardinian associations, the local Sardinian clubs, born in that period precisely to cope with this migratory phenomenon in terms of mutual help and support, have opposed as perhaps it would have been appropriate to do.
(Unioneonline)
