Sentiero della Costituzione

Barbiana is a place that, despite its tranquility, speaks with strength. A corner of the mountain where silence becomes an opportunity for reflection, a place where the thoughts of Don Lorenzo Milani not only took root but also took shape, giving life to an educational, civil, and religious message that continued to resonate far beyond those geographical boundaries. The ascent to Barbiana, traveled on foot along a mule track that Don Milani himself first trod on the day of his arrival, is the first step of a journey that leads to the discovery of an idea of democratic education, conscious participation, and civic engagement that continues to inspire new generations. In 2011, right in Barbiana, the Don Lorenzo Milani Foundation, with the support of the local community and historical memory, inaugurated the Constitution Path. This itinerary through the woods winds along the paths that the Prior walked every day, featuring a total of 44 bulletin boards, each displaying an article of the Italian Constitution. The bulletin boards were designed by different school groups, who, through their work, made visible a strong connection between Don Milani's educational message and the fundamental principles of our constitutional charter. Each panel invites the visitor to reflect on social rights and duties, to understand how the Constitution is not just a written text, but a living tree that needs to be nurtured, protected, and applied every day to support democracy and the well-being of all. Don Milani, in fact, through his school, not only taught reading and writing but also promoted an education for active citizenship, awareness of one's freedom and rights. His educational action aimed to make his students "sovereign citizens," aware of being part of a community, with the task of defending democracy. The Constitution represents the result of a long struggle, a fruit of the sacrifice of many young people who, during the Resistance, sacrificed themselves to restore to Italy and Europe the civilization and dignity that fascist barbarism had reduced to rubble. Alongside the Constitution Path, the Don Lorenzo Milani Foundation wanted to create another path that links the memory of the Resistance to reflection on the Constitution. This path is called the Resistance Trail, winding through the significant places of the partisan struggles in Mugello. The route starts from the monument commemorating the Padulivo massacre, which occurred on July 10, 1944, a tragic episode marking the brutality of Nazi fascism, and continues to Monte Giovi, home to partisan groups. Along the Resistance Trail, there are 33 panels, designed by students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence and other schools. Each panel tells a historical episode, an image of the partisan struggle, or excerpts from letters of those condemned to death in the local, national, and European Resistance. The path is a real invitation to memory and reflection because the history of the Resistance is not a distant tale but an experience that lives and speaks even today, in the present, to those who want to understand the value of sacrifice, the struggle for freedom, and social responsibility. The Constitution Path and the Resistance Trail intertwine in a continuous and current dialogue, two paths that not only narrate history but invite us to grasp the meaning of an ongoing commitment. Just as Don Milani, through his school, asked his students to be responsible and conscious citizens, today these paths remind us that the future of democracy depends on our ability to protect and apply the fundamental principles of the Constitution every day.

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