News Culture

Rome second-hand book stall, gutted by fire, gets ready to reopen

By: Wanted in Rome

Date:

11 Jul, 2022

Investigation underway into cause of fire at much-loved book stand.

A well-known stall selling used books in Rome's Piazzale Flaminio is getting ready to reopen, days after it was destroyed by fire, according to Italian news reports.

The cultural landmark, known as the Bancarella del Professore, was gutted by flames at dawn on Saturday.

Thousands of books were reduced to ashes in the incident, leaving the stall's many customers shocked and saddened.

Bancarella del Professore gets ready to reopen. Photo Dire.

Three days after the blaze, however, Italian news agency Dire reported that the stall's owner Alberto Maccaroni - known to readers and book collectors as "il professore" - is preparing to start again from scratch.

As investigators work to ascertain the cause of the fire, Maccaroni pledged that he would "reopen in the next few days".

"I have already bought a new tarpaulin and I had the tables in the warehouse" - he told Dire - "As for the books, there was no problem because Romans have given me a sea of them."