
“For things to remain the same, everything must change.” I was a young woman when, for the first time, in a book that I found in my grandmother’s house, I read this phrase that is so important if one wants to be able to understand Italian history. Many years later I discovered that many things that are useful in attempting to understand Italy can be found in the deep South. Palazzo Filangeri Cutò, in Southern Sicily is one of these places. 400 years after its construction it still dominates the city’s main square. It is a sunlit monument dedicated to the slow and difficult liberation of Italy from the rusty and feudal constraints of its society. Thanks to Giuseppe Tommasi di Lampedusa, a descendant of a noble family that had its roots in this town, this story became known around the world.