Spidermen in Rome!

(posted on 25 April 2006) Italian Liberation Day, also known as the Celebration of the Resistance (Festa della Resistenza), is celebrated on April 25 each year in Italy. This historic day memorializes Italy’s proclamation of a national popular rising against German occupation forces and the remnants of Mussolini’s Fascist Government, which were defeated through the combined efforts of Allied military forces and the Italian Resistance. It is a day of celebration but also of mourning and remembrance for the 312,000 allied troops and over 100,000 Italian citizens who lost their lives. In particular, the firemen come together from all over Italy for a spectacular demonstration of their live-saving techniques, shown here in a practice session early in the morning, before the official ceremony with President Ciampi at 10 o’clock today. They crawled up and down the walls of the Coliseum, using pulleys and traction devices to show how injured people are saved from burning buildings and from other catastrophes. Later on there was a parade of old fire engines and vehicles, including a motocycle with a dog riding in the sidecar and very old fire trucks pulled by teams of work horses.

©2006-2014 Judith Crews