Recycling the Roman way … from trash to triumph

Every tour of the Roman Colosseum includes a history lesson on recycling.  As someone that struggles to properly sort modern recyclables, I am left with horror and admiration upon learning of the Coliseum’s Travertine marble facade being stripped away for use at St. Peter’s in Vatican City (around 1462).  The marble and stone from the Colosseum was used well beyond the Vatican, being used in several palaces.  While this story is interesting, I can’t relate to Popes controlling the pillaging of a public works project, often in exchange for revenue, in the quest to pay for new artworks.  The events are too distant in both time and scale.   The artistic results, whether they be the Palazzo Farnese, or the arches at St. Peter’s, are on too grand of a scale for me to appreciate.

After two weeks in Italy, we concluded our trip with a few days in Rome.  To better appreciate the Eternal City, we spent an evening seeing the lesser known sites with private tour guides, John and Ashley.  Seeing more than we could absorb with our feet aching, we bid them farewell.  They suggested we meet the next morning to see something that we would never forget, the Nativity of the Netturbini.  I had already forgotten whatever amazing church I had seen just an hour before, and if I was translating correctly, netturbini means something like street sweepers, or maybe trash collectors.  Surely we weren’t going to the street sweepers’ garage.  Surely?  

The next morning was gray and overcast as we wandered the streets searching for the street sweepers’ garage.  The building was old and gray, with the charm of something that Mussolini might have designed.  After ten minutes of searching, we found the non-descript entrance.  I was in a bit of a funk as the minutes ticked by on our last morning in Rome.

Entering the garage was like entering another world with bright lighting, skylights, white walls and waxed floors.  The place was spotless.  While I did not know anything about these street sweepers, it was clear immediately that they knew how to keep a garage clean.  (Note to self:  Clean garage upon return from Italy.)  One of the workers offered to show us around, as we tried our best to bridge the language gap.  

Walking around the garage we learned the history of the place.  A street cleaner, Giueppe Ianni, had the idea to create this Nativity scene back in the 70’s.  Recycling any materials available, he built with the driving idea that it would be a Nativity scene fit for the Pope.   Indeed it is, as Popes Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI have all visited the garage, as well numerous heads of state and the like.  Today, the scene includes material and stone brought by visitors from all over the world, and beyond.  Yes, there is even a rock from the moon. 

Beyond the artistic beauty, and the photos of the religious and famous that hung in this humble garage, I was struck by the man himself, Giuseppe Ianni.  As we were leaving, he joined us for a discussion of what he had done and why he did it.  Here in Rome, the home of numerous Popes, emperors and artists, some of the greatest the world has ever seen, here was Giuseppe, alive.  As some would see as a “common street sweeper,” he had made a difference in the world, whether measured as faith or art.  He had done it without the resources of power and privilege.  In this city that has so much to offer and teach, perhaps all of the lessons are not from the past.  Perhaps some are right under our noses.  Inspiring.