Luigi Onorati (1901-1989), an engineer from Modena from a wealthy family, who ended up between Marche and Abruzzo for love (he had a wife from Teramo but the couple had no children), it is the mind that conceived the characteristic and exclusive style of the well-known seafront and transformed San Benedetto del Tronto from an ancient fishing village into a modern tourist and seaside town; but Luigi Onorati also took care of other famous works in the coastal city. Specifically, the Blue Building, the public gardens, the redevelopment of the Upper Town and the Mandracchio area. In particular, all projects by the Modena-born engineer who headed the municipal Projects Office between the 30s and 60s.
Luigi Onorati and the assignment to design the waterfront
Initially, in 1928, the Committee of the Autonomous Company for Health, Accommodation and Tourism was born, whose members gave the task to Luigi Onorati, then municipal head of the technical office in 1931, to design the waterfront and adjacent areas. As such, the young engineer, who arrived in San Benedetto that very year, immediately demonstrated expertise. But also admiration for the city's beauty. To begin the design phase, given the city's tourist appeal and its layout, Onorati immediately understood that the central area, with access to the sea, should be more relevantAnd it absolutely had to be enhanced with the construction of a retaining wall made of recycled materials, the planting of thousands of trees, and the construction of an artificial stone balustrade. But in those years, its figure became the fulcrum around which the transformation and enhancement of the city's central area would take place.
The project
Specifically, Luigi Onorati's work plan has foreseen and implemented a roadway 30 metres wide overall with the suggestive Giorgini Roundabout at the end of the very central Viale Secondo Moretti. And it ends in the Salvo D'Acquisto Roundabout, to the south, for a total length of about 6 kmAs is known, the peculiar characteristic of the seafront is the presence of approximately 8.000 species of palm trees These have become somewhat of a symbol of the city, having taken the name "Riviera delle Palme." Onorati himself was the first to conceive them as enjoyable, and after 1932 they became part of the city's heritage. Unfortunately, the Second World War prevented Onorati's project from being completed. In fact, due to the bombings that San Benedetto suffered, the seafront was badly damaged.
The merit of Luigi Onorati
To return to the subject, the engineer contributed to the reformation of the city, making it certainly more beautiful and welcoming. In addition to this, Luigi Onorati has the great credit for having wanted to fill the Adriatic city with greenery, imposing it to universal admiration as unique, at least in Europe. That said, the presence and intervention of the great urban planner are indelibly transmitted in his creations marked by his evident professional passion prepared and authoritative. In this regard, in July 2005, the Municipal Council of San Benedetto del Tronto, with a resolution to name "Largo Ing. Luigi Onorati" the space existing at the intersection of Viale Secondo Moretti with the street of the characteristic Art Nouveau villas.
Thanks for the cover image: wikipedia.org
