(ANSA) Rieti, March 2 - The mayor of the ancient hilltown
of Rieti in Lazio on Monday strongly rebuffed a claim by
allegedly upstart town Narni in Umbria to be the geographical
centre of Italy.
"Hands off the centre of Italy," said Simone Pietrangeli,
"it is guarded by the millennial history of Rieti and here it
stays".
Rieti is about 80 km northeast of Rome while Narni is about
the same distance south of Perugia. Rieti is just over 50 km
east of Narni.
Pouring scorn on a claim by Narni to be the true centre of
the peninsula, Pietrangeli added that the truth about the
location of the central point is to be sought "in the history of
our territory that, since the most ancient times, is defined and
recognised universally as 'l'umbilicus Italiae' (Italy's belly
button)".
Rieti's pedigree to the hallowed title is enscribed in
several languages on a marble plaque on Piazza San Rufo, but
rival officials in Narni claim to have obtained expert opinions
meaning they also will erect a plaque in the Ponte Cardona
district to stake what they see as their geographical claim.
Pietrangeli quoted army cartographers as denying reports
they had nourished Narni's claim and repeating that "the
(Italian) boot is not a geometric design and therefore it is
impossible to determine the exact position of the centre of
Italy".
Narni Mayor Francesco De Rebotti for his part said "we don't
want to create any controversy with Rieti, but have our data and
we confirm them".
"Our initiative is not intended to go against anyone and we
don't want to deprive a city like Rieti of anything in its
history ... from the checks we made, however, also with the
Geographic Institute of Florence, we confirm the centre is
here".
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