Railway and Underground stations have not always been known by their current names. Taking London’s Piccadilly line as an example the following stations have changed their names since they were first built:

‘Acton Town’ was originally called ‘Mill Hill Park’ when it opened in 1879. ‘Green Park’ was once named ‘Dover Street’ and Alperton formerly had a double-barrelled name, ‘Perivale-Alperton’.

There seems to have been little protest by Londoners at the name changes since these reflect the need of the underground system to more accurately reflect their geographical situation in the great metropolis.

There have been comparable name changes in Italy’s railway stations. Recently, for example, it has been suggested that stations in and around Turin should be modified to indicate important historical sights near the station so as to add to tourist interest.  In this example ‘Collegno’ becomes ‘Collegno Certosa’ reflecting the majestic Royal Charterhouse nearby. ‘Dora’ becomes ‘Dora Parco Dora’, ‘Lingotto’ becomes ‘Lingotto Fiere e Congressi’ indicating its conference and international trade fair facilities, ‘Moncalieri’ becomes ‘Moncalieri Castello di Moncalieri’ alluding to the marvellous castle in that town, ‘Nichelino’ becomes ‘Nichelino palazzina di Stupinigi’ since this where one alights to visit the elegant Royal hunting lodge there and ‘Rosta’ is changed into ‘Rosta Sant’Antonio di Ranverso’ which is the name of the beautiful mediaeval abbey there.

Here are some picture of the abbey taken by me as a teenager:

A similar method could have been used at Pisa for one of its stations, that of San Rossore which might have simply had ‘Torre Pendente’ added to it, alluding to the fact that if one just wants to see the city’s famous Leaning Tower it is possible to alight here rather than proceeding to Pisa’s Central Station. Instead, the municipal authorities have considered changing the name entirely and calling it instead ‘Piazza dei Miracoli’ (Square of the Miracles) a square which, incidentally does not exist on any street map of Pisa but is the popular name given to the complex of Pisa’s cathedral, Leaning Tower, baptistery and Campo Santo.

This blatant renaming proposal has particularly aroused the ire of the ‘Ippolito Rosellini’ cultural association, a conservation and local historical group presided over by my friend Giovanni Fascetti who is also the guardian of the imposing castle of Vicopisano designed by Brunelleschi, the architect of Florence cathedral’s dome, and which is described in my post at https://longoio.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/vicopisano-and-brunelleschis-military-architecture/

I have translated the letter written to the municipal authorities of Pisa and it is worth quoting it here to appreciate the unwarranted name change to San Rossore station.

“The ‘Ippolito Rosellini’ Cultural Group expresses its total opposition regarding the decision taken by the Municipality of Pisa to change the name of the Pisa – San Rossore railway station. Two negative effects are produced by this rash action: first of all the cancellation of the city’s historical memory since the name of the station is linked to the Royal estate of San Rossore which was once frequented by the Savoy monarchy every summer since the reign of King Victor Emmanuel II. The elegant and luxurious royal train stopped at San Rossore Station where the royal family and their entourage, continued in a carriage. The station’s name recalls a precious heritage that is part of the city and its history, including the regional park, proclaimed a MAB (‘Man and Biosphere’) Nature Reserve by UNESCO, one of the few in Italy.

The second reason against this renaming is the imposition of a place name, that of “Piazza dei Miracoli”, which is absolutely bogus. It’s not shown on any road map but is just a nickname. The  authentic name appearing on maps is ‘Piazza del Duomo’. As such it is known throughout the world, and has been included in the World Heritage List since 1987. If the intent is to promote the square in the light of a possible boost to tourism, this is certainly a disservice to the city since most tourists travelling by train alight at Pisa Central Station and, on the way to the cathedral square, discover that in addition to the Leaning Tower and its associated buildings there are also other wonderful city sights including monuments, churches, museums and restaurants which remain very poorly publicized .

Finally, let’s keep quiet about the condition of the Pisa-San Rossore railway station which certainly does not offer an adequate welcome to tourists, major sources of income for the city and for whom we should roll out a red carpet if we want  our economy to recover and not treat them as flocks of sheep to be sent away once they’ve been fleeced. Citizens and administrators do go and see for yourselves – when there is no lockdown, of course – the real conditions of a station that was once a Royal stop. Gangs of pickpockets gather here from the Piazza del Duomo, purloin bags and purses in green spaces that resemble a wateland. Syringes abound, and one may note down-and-outs defecating and urinating. There is no staff present and in the evening the place presents an utterly sad desolation.

We hope that the New Year will bring everyone a little wisdom!

The President Prof. Giovanni Ranieri Fascetti.”

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I should add a few more facts about the San Rossore Royal estate and refer you to my post at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2016/05/14/il-gombo-pisas-ex-presidential-seaside-villa-and-park/ for more details about this magical place which is so near to the centre of Pisa.

San Rossore station itself originally dates 1846 as part of the Lucca-Pisa line. In 1861, Italy’s year of unification, the new section of the Tyrrhenian railway between Pisa and Pietrasanta was completed turning the station into a junction.

The former royal train shed still stands and is now a commercial unit.

In December 1998, during the works for the construction of a building that was to house the headquarters of the new goverment command and control System in Pisa, remains of ancient Roman boats and ships began to be unearthed by the excavations. This amazing discovery gave life to the fascinating Museum of Ancient Ships in Pisa about which I have written a post at https://longoio3.com/2019/12/23/italys-maritime-pompeii/

Finally, San Rossore station also serves as the main stop for students alighting for Pisa’s university whose main buildings are found in this area.

I think you would agree that the station should remain as San Rossore. At the very most an explanatory sign could be placed below the station’s name indicating that this is the main stop to alight for Pisa University and those visitors who only have time to see the Leaning Tower.

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In Peter and Linda Murray’s ‘Dictionary of Art and Artists’ (first published by Penguin books in the 1960s) futurism gets a rough ride, being described by them as one of the dullest and most mediocre of all artistic movements.

Opinions have changed a little bit since then. Yet futurism poses considerable problems even today, particularly with regard to its prevailing ideology of violence, speed, destruction of tradition, espousal of war as a method of social hygene and extreme right wing views such as fascism.

Futurism did champion the latest technology including aeroplanes, power stations and motor cars.  However, its repudiation of previous artistic movements as largely worthless remains quite unacceptable today particularly since concepts such as conservation and preservation have assumed critical importance.

Possibly the most original notion of the futurists was to publicise their movement through manifestos laying down their axioms. No other artistic association had ever done this before, not even the impressionists.

Futurists were keen for Italy to enter the Great War and regain homelands. Sadly, two of their most gifted exponents, Boccioni and Sant’Elia, lost their lives in the bloody conflict. I was especially keen to see Sant’Elia’s original drawing of his ‘ideal city’ at the recent, superbly organized, Palazzo Blu exhibition devoted to futurism at Pisa, since this prophetic architect has very few completed buildings to his credit, although his images inspired a new generation of Italian architects including Michelucci, chief designer of Florence’s fabulous Santa Maria Novella railway station, perhaps the finest example of futurist architecture.

Antonio Sant’Elia was born in 1888 in Como.

In 1903 he completed his technical studies and in 1906 graduated as master builder. Becoming friends with the sculptor Girolamo Fontana and Carlo Care Sant’Elia attended cultural environments such as the Caffè Cova where he met Umberto Boccioni. His first major commission was the Villa Elisi in San Maurizio near Como in 1911.

In 1913, Sant’Elia opened an architectural studio in Milan and designed the tomb for Gerardo Caprotti in Monza’s Urban Cemetery.

In 1914 he presented his drawings for an ‘Ideal City’. Among these were designs for an airport, a train station, and a power plant. In the same year Sant’Elia contributed to a “Manifesto of Futurist Architecture”.

In 1915, sharing the ideas of the other futurist exponents, he joined the army together with Boccioni and Marinetti.

In 1916, after receiving a combat medal, Sant’Elia was commissioned to design the cemetery of the Arezzo Brigade, in Monfalcone. On October 10, while the cemetery was still under construction, he was killed in action.

The general theory of the ‘Ideal City’ is encapsulated in this sentence from the 1914 manifesto:

“We must invent and rebuild the futurist city similar to an immense tumultuous, agile, mobile, dynamic construction site in every part, and the futurist house similar to a gigantic machine”.

In France Le Corbusier conducted a parallel development with the concept of the ideal city in his ‘Cité Radieuse’ which postulated the demolition of the traditional urban layout of Paris and its replacement by vast areas of tower blocks and highways. We all know what this dystopic vision has led to in those cities where a degenerated version has created severe social problems. However, it’s odd that the drug-infested, knife-crimed UK tower blocks are now pointing to similarly-silhouetted exclusively-luxurious tower blocks; just witness the abhorrent developments along the south Thames waterfront at Battersea. Perhaps the fugacious ‘ideal city’ concept lives on still?

However, Sant’Elia deserves credit for having sensed the close dependence between architectural and urban problems on which the planning and reflection of all modern architectural movements has been set.