SS. Cosma and Damiano Park

Parco Santi Cosma e Damiano (L. Corevi, Comune di Pisa)

World War II wiped out the ancient church of SS. Cosma and Damiano, documented in the 11th century. It was a small oratory with three naves, which housed a beautiful Biduino sarcophagus. On the lintel of the entrance portal there was an inscription, today kept in the National Museum of San Matteo, which repeated three times:

†ɱ⧩h⧩Ʌ⧩†
†ɱ⧩h⧩Ʌ⧩†
†ɱ⧩h⧩Ʌ⧩†

As for San Frediano, the hypotheses on the meaning are many. In the case of the Church of SS. Cosma and Damiano we report another theory, formulated by Sebastiano Ciampi: the illustrious professor of dialectics and Greek language of the nineteenth century argued that the crosses represented an emblem, ɱ was the thousandth, ⧩ was a dozen, and Ʌ was the symbol of the trinity. So we would get a thousand + three times ten for the trinity, therefore ninety, 1090. Perhaps a hasty conclusion, but still considered valid. In 2007 the small park on the remains of the church was open to the public, but its redevelopment dates back to 2012, when the fountain with the pelican, created by Mexican sculptors Francisco Guevara and Jose Manuel Canseco and by Dietrich Goertz. Other sculptures and decorations embellish this small green space very dear to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, such as the mural by Giovanni Giuliani from Pisa, which represents a pact of friendship and solidarity with the mission founded by Father Ernesto Sakisida in Corumbà and is the backdrop to a small stage for intimate concerts or shows.

A small romantic garden: green papyrus, cypresses, banana trees, roses, pomegranate, cyclamen... Aromatic plants, such as rosemary and lavender, flood the garden with perfumes... in the centre of the park there is a fountain: all these details make this place a sensory garden. Walking on the north side, we can read on the walls messages painted on tiles together with colourful illustrations, each of them reminding us of a right we all have: right to love, to play, to justice, to be together, to learn...