Native Home of Giorgio La Pira

Marked in the early twentieth century by the emigration of many sailors to the Americas in search of better fortune, Giorgio La Pira was born on January 9, 1904, son of Gaetano and Angela Occhipinti, a seamstress in Via Giulia, 8. His birthplace is a ground-floor building, raised above the road axis with the traditional "terrace" in front from which it is accessed. It is located in the "Vicci" neighborhood, located in the heart of the historic city center and protected by the nearby Mother Church Madonna del Rosario, where our man was baptized (on February 7, 1904) and where he went to pray during his stays in Pozzallo.
In these places began the human and Christian story of Giorgio La Pira, who concluded his earthly pilgrimage in Florence on November 5, 1977.
After finishing elementary school, in 1914 he was sent by his parents to study in Messina, with his uncle Enrico Occhipinti. Three years later he enrolled in the accounting institute, obtaining his diploma in 1921. The following year he also passed the classical high school exam in Palermo, under the supervision of the Italian professor Federico Rampolla del Tindaro, who directed him to continue his studies in law. The Christian ideal of peace and justice supported him in his last years, made difficult by a serious illness and painful isolation. Giorgio La Pira was initially buried in the cemetery of Rifredi. Later, his body was transferred to the Basilica of San Marco in Florence, where it still lies today. The site is a destination for pilgrims, devotees of the Blessed from Pozzallo, who stop in front of the house reciting, most of the time, prayers and remembering the figure of the former mayor of Florence.