The man who became God

Stefano Rivetti di Val Cervo, a nobleman from the Italian north, moved his textile business to the south and drew on the funds of the Cassa del Mezzogiorno. He is remembered locally as a benefactor. What he left behind marks the landscape of northern Calabria and Basilicata, and stands over the gulf in the statue of Christ at Maratea, a place of pilgrimage across southern Italy and twinned with the Christ of Rio de Janeiro.

The video follows a dissenting account of that legacy, told by Francesco Cirillo.