Treia seen by Dolores Prato: the Italian town that inspired a great 20th-century writer

Among the streets and alleys lined with stone and brick palazzi and churches, the presence of Dolores Prato is still loud and clear. That of the writer born in Rome in 1892 is not a name that has remained confined to the shelves of Treia's bookshops.

Every place conveys something of the woman and her poetry: Piazza della Repubblica, which she describes as 'the most beautiful hanging square in the world'; the landscapes that, as she stated, would have enchanted even Giacomo Leopardi; the monastery Della Visitazione, where she studied as a young girl. 

Looking up at any window of a random building, it feels as if you could spy the knowing glances between the butcher's daughter and the seamstress at the centre of the village gossip. Watching the children play, you can almost hear the same rhyme that Prato used to hum, though she later forgot the words. Passing by the house where she lived as a child, you can almost see her sitting at the doorstep or checking how much she had grown.

Faces, places, and atmospheres still seem the same as those that filled the everyday life of young Dolores.

Dolores Prato was one of the last century's most daring and singular Italian writers. Her autobiographical novel Giù la piazza non c'è nessuno is a detailed snapshot of provincial life in the early 20th century, a moving tale in which Treia is rendered with vivid, accurate, realistic descriptions.

She lived in Treia from age five to eighteen, a period of growth and education spent as a guest of a priest uncle and a maiden aunt. Today, a plaque on the façade of that house, a two-storey dwelling on Via Garibaldi, homages the writer. However, Prato's talent was only fully recognised after her death. 

Giù la piazza non c'è nessuno was published in 1980. Dolores Prato was 88 years old at that time, but in the volume, so vivid with images and emotions, there is her whole childhood self. Memories, characters and events are combined with long, sharp descriptions in an unconventional, fast-paced style. 

She did not like that the book came out in a small format, less than 300 pages. The title, however, immediately became a literary phenomenon and won a silver plaque at the Lerici-Golfo dei Poeti award.

The unabridged edition finally arrived in 1997, but she could not experience the final success, as she had died in Anzio in 1983. Posthumous publications include Scottature (1998) and Sogni (2010).

The people of Treia cherish the memory of Dolores Prato, considered a symbolic figure of the local cultural identity, almost a familiar presence. 

The historic Centro Studi Dolores Prato preserves her heritage. The centre housed inside the Municipal Theatre in Piazza Arcangeli collects all the works of the Roman writer, including period photographs, original manuscripts, newspaper articles and personal items. It is a place of memory where the legacy of a significant signature of Italian literature long underestimated is kept alive. 

The Centro Studi also features a digital workstation that allows users to easily consult the archive and access a large number of documents, texts, images, and reviews.   

For Dolores Prato, Treia is a place of memory and a 'terra del cuore e del sogno', the land of the heart and dreams.

Prato arrived there as a child after her mother entrusted the girl to the care of two elderly cousins. Her father, a lawyer from Calabria, never acknowledged her. 

From 1905 to 1911, she attended the prestigious Collegio Salesiano della Visitazione, a boarding school for girls from respectable families. The autobiographical Educandato, written in the 1970s, describes the experience of those years.

Prato left Treia to attend university in Rome, where she graduated in literature. For the fascist authorities, her surname was of Jewish origin, so she was forced to abandon the teaching career. At that time, she earned a living doing precarious jobs. Meanwhile, her home in Via Fracassini became a meeting place for anti-fascist intellectuals. 

The memory of Treia never left her. In Rome, Dolores began to write for some newspapers and also published (at her own expense) her first novel, Nel paese delle campane, in 1963. Then she began to put together the pieces of her youth and give shape to what would be her masterpiece, Giù la piazza non c'è nessuno.

Prato would only receive the credit she deserved later in life. The consecration arrived posthumously, with the release of the complete version of the powerful autobiographical novel.

She left her signature on Italian literature and mark on an entire town that has never forgotten her. And where she rests today. 

Treia is a refuge of tranquillity and beauty where culture acts as a thread that unites the community and attracts anyone in search of profound and meaningful experiences that are also fun and stimulating. 

In addition to the link with Dolores Prato, the writer celebrated with initiatives such as festivals, author walks, and a prestigious literary prize, there is a rich heritage of stories and traditions that are worth getting to know. 

The Disfida del Bracciale, a unique historical commemoration, is the most renowned example. The sporting event dedicated to the Renaissance game Pallone col Bracciale fills the town with sounds and colours reminiscent of the 19th century. 

Concerts and shows flank the religious rites of the St Patrick Festival and the Giardini di Marzo initiative, with floral and green installations that transform the town centre into a large garden. 

When there are no scheduled events or festivals on the horizon, Treia enchants with landscapes and atmospheres that envelop those same places that contributed to the formation of Dolores Prato.