Longola, culture defies fire: Di Leva and Pantaleo bring the community back to the Archaeological Park.

Poggiomarino – From words to theater, from music to the memory of a region that refuses to surrender. This is the essence of "Daily Inspirations," the show starring Francesco Di Leva and Adriano Pantaleo on Sunday, September 13th, at 8:00 PM, at the Longola Archaeological and Naturalistic Park in Poggiomarino.

An event that goes beyond the spectacle and, after the arson attacks that struck the site last June, also becomes a sign of cultural resistance and reappropriation of a space considered the heritage of the entire community.

The initiative is part of the "The Invisible City" project, promoted by the Municipality of Poggiomarino with the support of the Metropolitan City of Naples. Admission is free, subject to availability, and the goal is to bring residents and visitors back to a place that in recent weeks has inevitably been associated with images of the devastation caused by the fires.

The words of ordinary people become theatre

Di Leva and Pantaleo will lead the audience on a poetic and civic journey built around the daily inspirations of ordinary people, transforming words and music into a reflection on the dignity of work, the memory of places, and the ability of communities to identify with their roots.

It is precisely this intertwining of culture and territory that makes Sunday's event particularly significant. Longola will not only be the setting for the show, but an integral part of the narrative: a place where the archaeological past meets the present and where culture can also become a tool for rebuilding a sense of belonging.

The artists accepted the invitation of the Extraordinary Commission currently governing the Municipality of Poggiomarino, choosing to use their presence to convey a clear message: Longola must once again be experienced, known, and recognized as a collective heritage.

After the fires, the challenge is to get Longola back to life

The initiative comes at a delicate stage. The areas damaged by last June's fires are still under sequestration, and it's not yet possible to determine with certainty when the Park will be able to return to full operation. The damage remains to be assessed and the timing and methods of the necessary interventions to restore the structures have yet to be determined.

But the uncertainty surrounding the site's immediate future makes the September 13th event even more important. Bringing culture back to Longola means preventing the site from being consigned solely to the memory of vandalism and fire, and instead restoring its natural function as a space for encounter, learning, and participation.

"The commitment we made in the aftermath of the crimes to maintain high levels of awareness of Longola's cultural heritage," explains Gabriella D'Orso, president of the Extraordinary Commission, "is also expressed through the promotion of cultural events, opportunities for dialogue, and opportunities for community participation."

Heritage as identity and future

The president of the Extraordinary Commission also expressed a clear vision for revitalization: "Experiencing the Archaeological Park means rekindling everyone's sense of belonging in a symbiotic moment of belonging to the territory, a moment that is simultaneously the past, present, and future of a city that seeks to connect with its roots and consolidate itself within them for a cultural identity that can give meaning to far-reaching programs."

The process, therefore, doesn't end with Sunday's event. The meeting with Di Leva and Pantaleo is part of a broader strategy aimed at maintaining high levels of attention on Longola while work continues to understand the extent of the damage and plan for recovery.

"It's obvious that, with the seizure of the damaged areas still in place, the timeframe for a full resumption of the Park's activities is not yet clear," D'Orso emphasizes, "but we can assure you that we remain extremely vigilant in restoring the damaged structures."

Work with the Archaeological Park of Pompeii

The site's future is also being considered through collaboration with the Pompeii Archaeological Park and its director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel. The Municipality of Poggiomarino has announced its intention to support the restoration project with financial support, working in synergy with the Pompeii archaeological site.

This is an important step because it ties Longola's fate to a broader strategy for enhancing the archaeological heritage of the Vesuvian area. And while interventions on the damaged areas will have to follow their technical and administrative path, culture can already play another role: rekindling attention on Longola even before the scars left by the fires have been fully healed.

On Sunday evening, the theater will enter the Park, and Di Leva and Pantaleo's words will intertwine with the site's millennia-old history. It's a reminder that archaeological heritage lives not only through its artifacts and structures, but also through the people who frequent it, know it, and feel it's their own. And that, after the fire, the first form of rebirth may be precisely that of returning to it.