I’ve blogged twice about the destruction in Italy several days back. Once soon after the earthquake happened, with a photo of the purported State Archives, and later with further updates.
In a phone conversation this morning with Anthony Alioto, with Italianlaw.net, in San Francisco, he informed me that the picture referencing the flattened building in L’Aquila, Italy is the Prefettura and NOT the Archivio di Stato in L’aquila. He’s promised to send further information soon. Typically, we are at the mercy of the news media as deals with these things, and it’s always helpful to speak with others that may have more information. He left a comment on this blog today explaining a bit about the Prefettura, which is a governmental office unfamiliar to most Americans.
Note that while watching reports of the devastation on Fox News the day following the quake, I would swear that I saw a crumbled building – the facade still standing, but cracked something awful, that had the word “Archive” or something close to that on the front of the building… I’ve not seen a picture of that building since.
One would ask what is the difference between the “Prefettura” (Prefecture) and Archivio di Stato? The answer could be quite long but said quickly:
The Archivio di Stato does not keep “historical documents” in the sense, for example, of Garibaldi’s handwritten letters during the formation of the Republic of Italy but rather serves as a collection point at the Provincial level for all documents produced within the Province. An example: court documents. On the other hand, the Prefettura represents the Italian Government within the Province.