Page 142 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 11(2) (2023)

possible in their work, as the foundation stone material (soil) that would have to be brought in
had been laid way back in 1926. The cabinet of to build suitable foundations. The quality of the
the Minister of the Interior gave the final green soil from the Dreher brewery that was to be used
light for the start of construction work on the for the foundations was not assessed. In addition,
site of the monument on 4 September 1934, the municipal engineer in Koper stressed the ne-
when the work actually began. cessity of landscaping the wider area around the
We can find out more about the phase of monument that had often been used as a waste
viewings and preparations for construction from dump. In his view, there was a risk the landscap-
the report by the municipal engineer from Kop- ing might not be carried out later, or it might
er, dated 13 January 1933. It was written at the re- cost more. On 28 January 1935, Bianchetti, Head
quest of the Prefect of Koper, Nino de Petris, and of the Cabinet of the Council of Ministers, in-
could be used to present the progress of the pre- formed the Ministry of Public Works that the
142 paratory work at the meeting of the special com- estimate given by the engineers from Pola for the
mittee. This document shows that the architect purchase and development of the land to be used
Del Debbio and the sculptor Selva had already for the monument amounted to 105,000 lire. Bi- ti
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 11 (2023), številka 2 / volume 11 (2023), number 2
visited the site in Koper in the autumn of 1930 anchetti added in his letter that the Prefecture
and determined the most suitable location for of Koper estimated another 250,000 lire would
the monument and the orientation of its compo- be needed to pave the entire surface around the
nents. They also noted that the ‘backdrop’ to the monument – in addition to the already antici- ta
monument would also need to be developed. It pated costs. The municipality of Koper was not
would consist of a nearby park and a platform on able to cover this cost, so it turned to state aid,
which the sculpture would stand. To this end, it which approved all the planned financial inputs.
was decided to take some building material from A letter from January 1935 shows a rough esti-
the seabed of a nearby shipyard and an islet cre- mate of the additional costs amounting to about di
ated by the excavation of material for the Dreher 355,000 lire (105,000 lire estimated by the en-
brewery. The two competition winners then be- gineers from Pola and 250,000 lire by the Pre-
gan visiting Istrian quarries and examining rock fecture of Koper). Bianchetti also informed the
samples in order to determine the most suita- Ministry of Public Works that the engineers
ble material for the monument’s construction. from Pola had been given permission to begin
On the basis of the results (inspection, measure- urgent construction work in the area surround-
ments and the rocks themselves) and some sug- ing the monument. The podesta, or mayor, of Ca- here
gestions from the committee, they refined the podistria tried to take advantage of the monu-
original plan. At the same time, a unit of the ment’s construction – for which the state had
Royal Engineers from Pula (Corpo reale Civile allocated a considerable sum of money – to car-
di Pola) was given the task of examining samples ry out additional infrastructure works in the
from the plot on which the monument was to town itself, requesting an additional 185,000 lire
be built in order to draw up a plan for the foun- for this purpose. These would be earmarked for
dations. In the course of drilling, it was realised the redevelopment of St. Mark’s salt warehouse
that the new foundations would partly rest on (the present-day Taverna), but his tactical inten-
the remains of the former salt warehouse, so Sel- tion did not succeed. In a letter from 23 February
va and Del Debbio proposed to shift the monu- 1935, we can see that the Prefect of Pola informed
ment’s location so the entire composition would the podestà of Koper that the Ministry of the In-
rest on more solid ground. In addition to draw- terior had not approved an additional 185,000 studiauniversitatis
ing up a plan for the foundations, the Royal En- lire for the landscaping of the monument’s sur-
gineers from Pola were also required to provide roundings. The letter also made it clear that,
the ministry with an estimate for the amount of given the financial situation, such renovations