The left-handed

Memoria di un simbolo affondato nei racconti del mare

On the Forte dei Marmi seafront, a story shrouded in mystery and the majesty of the sea is intertwined with the ancient 'Mancina', a powerful and iconic iron crane placed on the Pontile Caricatore way back in 1877. This majestic crane, so called because it only turned to the left, represented a fundamental part of the port life of Forte dei Marmi, skilfully used to deposit precious cargoes in the holds of ships.

The epic of the 'Mancina' took a dramatic turn in September 1943, when the German armed forces occupied the area. The 'Pontile Caricatore', considered a possible support for enemy troops, was mercilessly demolished. In this sad chapter of local history, the 'Mancina' met its end, sinking into the sea, as if the waters themselves wanted to guard the memory of a bygone era.

The crane, once the undisputed protagonist of the bustling port activity, thus became a submerged symbol, a silent relic of an era that saw a succession of crucial historical events.

The first recovery initiative took place in September 1986 by divers Giuseppe Lottini and Enrico Boncompagni. On 24 November 1993, Giuseppe Foffa, President of the Association of Sea Workers, resumed the operation in order to create a monument to the memory of the Mancina which was in fact inaugurated on 1 May 1995, designed by the architect Tito Salvatori. Among the promoters are: Emilio Barberi, Gold Medal for Military Valor, Captains Ettore Polacci and Galliano Raffaelli, the Seaman Luciano Figlié and Luciano Luciani.

The monument unites the various finds, half destroyed and broken (the main axis, the gear castle and part of a cogwheel). The marble base, installed by Ennio Bazzichi, a building contractor and Knight of the Republic, reproduces in the three white marble bas-reliefs, created by the sculptor Rino Giannini, the arduous work of transporting the marble from the quarries to the sea.

The last operation of the 'Mancina' took place in January 2017 by Sub Versilia Forte dei Marmi and its president Primo Cardini, with an underwater inspection to locate the arm of the old crane that still lies underwater.