La Tomba Babelica di ‘Tanta Sa’ [The Babelic tomb of Tanta Sa]Paolo Provera (1850 – 1930)

Provera, nicknamed “Tanta Sa [a lot of salt]” for his wit, worked as a bucket-maker, barrel-maker, and a host. In his later years and over the course of a decade, he built a small funeral chapel in the town’s cemetery for himself and his family, which he decorated with busts, symbols, banner, and gravestones inscribed with poetry. At the center of the interior of the tomb is a sarcophagus created out of concrete; his original desire had been to be buried in a seated position and he had constructed a wooden chair-shaped box. Within the chapel there are wrought iron and rocaille decorations, and it appears like a theatre in which one might hear the voices and looks exchanged between the busts of Povera, his mother, wife, sister, and nephew. However, Povera committed suicide through inhaling gas, and none of his family members were ever buried with him in that chapel, as he had hoped.

The chapel was restored in 1997 and can be visited inside the town cemetery free of charge.

~Gabriele Mina
www.costruttoridibabele.net

San Salvatore Monferrato, Piedmont, 15046 it
Latitude/Longitude: 45.0059491 / 8.5692728

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