An unexpected collapse. Life in a container. And
then a tragedy that turns into an opportunity with a ten-year renovation that
rewrote the history of a historic family home that now welcomes guests. We are
in San Giacomo Roncole, a town four kilometres from Mirandola. For FARE
INSIEME, Giampaolo Colletti interviewed Angelica Ferri Personali, owner of La
Personala
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
There is a before
and an after in this story. And a devastating earthquake in between. But this
story is also made of unexpected circumstances, of a will to restart, of the
need to rethink one's job and, after all, one's life. We are in San Giacomo
Roncole, a town four kilometres from Mirandola with 25 thousand inhabitants in
the Modena province that has become known all over the world precisely because
of that earthquake that shattered everything, redefining that before and after.
This is where Villa La Personala is located. An actual gem with roots deep in
history. But let’s go back in time. Precisely to that 29 May 2012. The second
earthquake in Emilia at around 9 am that caused the collapse of that tower that
had remained unharmed since 1100 and the destruction of the interior of the
villa. “Today we can tell the story because, by some miracle, we are all alive.
I was working in a company, my mother was doing the shopping and my father was
in the garden,” recalls Angelica Ferri Personali, owner of La Personala.
But let's proceed in
order. An unexpected collapse. Life in a container. And then a tragedy that
turns into an opportunity with a ten-year renovation that rewrote the history
of a historic family home that now welcomes guests. So the bedrooms became suites
to welcome guests. An entrepreneurial project was born from an extremely
dramatic episode thanks to sacrifice, dedication and resilience. Because this
home encloses the entire typical Emilian welcome. “After all, we’ve transformed
it simply by opening the doors to our house,” explains Ferri Personali. We
can’t argue with that. A family atmosphere, and a historic one, can still be
perceived around here.
History of the family. These
rooms, these corners,these places ooze history and identity. Villa La Personala
is the ancient residence of the Counts Ferri Personali. It has been passed on
with passion and love from one generation to the next since 1100. It has now
become a luxury relais where guests can experience the warm Emilian welcome,
but the connection with tradition remains intact. After all, the place
illustrates the exploits of the family that lived in Germany at the times of
the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in the 12th century. In those years
it took part in the Crusades as well. Then, in the mid-13th century, the family
descendants crossed the Alps and settled in northern-Italy and, more precisely,
in the municipality of Bedulita in Valle
Imagna (Bergamo). It was here that, in 1308, after establishing a small
settlement that exists to this day by the name of “Case di Personé”, they were
elevated to the rank of Counts by Henry VII of Luxembourg, the same mentioned
by Dante Alighieri in the Paradise part of his Divine Comedy. The swift
multiplication of the members of the numerous family forced the forefathers of
the various lines to take on different nicknames, many of which then went on to
become surnames. It was a way of identifying themselves. Among them is
Personali, whose line moved to the Modena area in 1472, near San Giacomo
Roncole di Mirandola to be precise. America had not yet been discovered at that
time. The name La Personala, from the surname of the lords who owned and still
reported today on the maps of the Mirandola and Cavezzo municipalities, dates
back to around 1500. It was a noble residence and a reference for the local
community, as this was the location of the common court. In 1912, Count Guido
Personali renovated the villa which, in the 1990s, also became a location for
celebrating weddings and events. This is
where Maddalena Corvaglia and US guitarist Stef Burns got married in 2011, with
a ceremony celebrated by Vasco Rossi. With their intervention, the Region and
the Mirandola Municipality enabled Villa La Personala to restart.
The connection with the territory. A Food Valley,
Motor Valley, Biomedical Valley, but
also a shopping and wellness area: these are the strong points of this
wonderful Italian location. Villa La Personala is madly in love with the
territory it was built on over one thousand years ago. “We firmly
believe in this project. We believe Emilia is a
tremendous tourist attraction. People used to only talk about Tuscany, but we
have never seen so many tourists as during this year. I am now seeing a rebirth
precisely thanks to tourism. For example, a splendid European project - the
Ciclovia del Sole connecting Italy and Germany - passes by Mirandola,”
stresses Angelica Ferri Personali. This is the famous Emilian resilience,
optimism made up of vision and concreteness. What a winning recipe!
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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