Filiberto Mancini returned to where part of his history and that of his family began: the Puerto Colombia pier (Atlantic). Without taking his eyes off the renovated structure, which plays with the colors of the sunset, he recalled an unforeseen event that led his grandfather to disembark in the emblematic work, establish himself in the region and create a company.
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The year 1919 was advancing and the complex situation in Italy and other countries affected by the First World War led Generoso Mancini and his friend Rómulo Cruciani to seek new horizons in Venezuela.
Many of those Italians who arrived at the dock did not come to Colombia, they went to Venezuela
“He arrived at the dock, but he was not coming to Colombia. In fact, many of those Italians who arrived at the dock were not coming to Colombia, they were going to Venezuela and, at that time, there was a strike in the port of Guaira. My grandfather decided to get off here and his partner continued to Venezuela”, narrated Filiberto.
Upon settling in Barranquilla, according to his grandson, he fell in love with Rita Alzamora, daughter of a prominent businessman, identified as Manuel Julián Alzamora. It was the beginning of a love story which Generoso’s brother then replied.
“Later his brother came in the ‘twenties’, he fell in love with Rita’s sister and also stayed here (laughs)”, expressed the cultural manager from Barranquilla.
Business creation in the region
There were times when many people moved to other countries, looking for better options and taking with them their ancestral memories.
Like them, other immigrants including Germans, Arabs and Jews entered the first international wharf that the country had, which was built between 1888 and 1893 (year of delivery) by the Cuban engineer Francisco Javier Cisneros.
“There were times when many people moved to other countries, looking for better options and taking with them their ancestral memories, their skills in various fields, their customs, which ended up in gastronomy and trade issues that did not exist in the country”, Mancini recalls.
In that sense, the 55-year-old man says that some other tasks did exist, but they were improved with techniques from those who were arriving from abroad, such as the Celias, the Mozzarellis, who had a shoe factory; and his grandfather, who had wheat flour factory, vegetable oils and soaps.
Therefore, when the old structure began to crumble with a 200-meter segment in 2009, the memories of thousands of families left behind by immigrants of that time also sank.
Locals and tourists enjoy 200 meters of recovered dock every day.
Today, with the restoration of the same number of meters, Filiberto and another group of descendants of immigrants see how it is recovering that historical memory that turned Barranquilla and the metropolitan area into a ‘golden gate’ of Colombia, a term recalled by President Iván Duque on January 22, the day the work was delivered.
“The important thing here, with the recovery of the dock and its surroundings, we managed to pave the way to gradually recover the historical memory of Puerto Colombia and its surroundings,” said Mancini.
The sculpture The Immigrants and tourism
During the construction process, 80 jobs were created, which contributed to the revitalization of the municipality’s economy
In total, there were 62 metallic piles with a diameter of 610 millimeters and a length of 22.5 meters each, which came from China, as well as railings, handrails and other prefabricated elements, to make this work a reality, with an investment of 20 billion pesos, according to data from the Government of the Atlantic.
“During the construction process, 80 jobs were created, which contributed to the revitalization of the municipality’s economy in the midst of the reactivation of the different sectors,” said the Secretary of Infrastructure, Nury Logreira.
The project was carried out under the agreement of partnership between Fontur, the Ministry of Culture, the Mayor’s Office of Puerto Colombia and the departmental administration.
“The recovery of the historic dock of Puerto Colombia, through which thousands of migrants entered, progress and modernity to the country, is essential for our Atlantic tourism policy,” said Governor Elsa Noguera.
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Given the relationship with foreigners in the past and today, the sculpture was installed in the boardwalk area, next to the new square and the pier. called The Immigrants, in homage to the families who entered the country through Puerto.
Now, it is a space that locals and tourists enjoy on a daily basis. They attend en masse, especially on weekends, to capture with a photograph the recovery of the dock, the same one that Filiberto Mancini does not stop looking at at the end of the afternoon.
Deivis Lopez Ortega
Correspondent of EL TIEMPO Barranquilla
On twitter: @dejholopez
Write me at deilop@eltiempo.com
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