"I recognized that well curb immediately: an artifact of gray polished stone, finely worked and now partially crumbling, probably dating back to the 16th century. It was the well curb of Palazzo Soleri, the head office of “Aiuto Materno”, the Maternal Helpline.
This discovery touched me deeply, and many distant memories reappeared and overlapped in my mind. Memories of children, of games, of us outside and of them inside.
It was located in the middle of a courtyard, a space enclosed within four walls, maybe a little gloomy, but the floor was made of smooth stones and the place was safe. Who knows how many of my peers, who like me lived in the Institute, had run around it playing tag and filling the place with life! [...]
I love thinking of them running noisily after each other around that well curb like moths around a flame. What touches me is the unconscious and sincere joy of the children playing."
Paolo Freddi

The well curb was originally located in the seventeenth-century Palazzo Soleri (Corso d’Augusto 241) which the aristocratic Sister Isabella Soleri destined for the support of poor unmarried mothers and illegitimate children. Nowadays the Palazzo houses the Fondazione San Giuseppe per l’Aiuto Materno e Infantile Onlus, a historic Riminese institution, awarded the Sigismondo d’Oro in 2010. The Foundation takes care of children and young people sent there by the Juvenile Court; they live in social-educational structures, residential and semi-residential, which support them in their development. www.sangiuseppe.org
The well curb, after being restored, is now placed in front of the central market after the recent requalification works.