The Italian Chapel comes to life
THE RECENT guest speaker at the U3A Vall del Pop general assembly was Angela Chantry, who has given many lectures on both history and art to local U3As and associations. She gave us a fascinating presentation on The Italian Chapel, Orkney.
Angela gave a very emotional talk about the human story behind the creation of this chapel. The way in which the Italian prisoners of war were shipped from the POW camps in Egypt to Orkney to help build causeways/ sea defences around Scapa Flow following a successful German submarine raid that sunk HMS Royal Oak with the loss of over 800 lives.
During their imprisonment on Orkney the prisoners needed somewhere to find solace, and a request was made to the commandant of the camp to build a small chapel. A group of talented Italian prisoners managed to create a beautiful chapel with the help of Domencio Chiocchetti, a talented painter before the war, using two Nissen huts, concrete, steel reinforcing bars from the civil engineering project they were working on and whatever they could find around their prison camp. Corned beef tins turned into lamps, iron bars became candle sticks, and each man on the team used their skills to enhance the beauty of this chapel. They created an astounding and truly unique place, which has become an enduring symbol of peace and hope around the world.
After the war the creators of the chapel continued over the years to help in its upkeep and return to Orkney to visit, providing a very human story of reconciliation after the horrors of WW2.
Angela was presented with a gift and card from one of our committee members, Paul Corazzo.