After a long voyage of over 750 miles, the Klizia , along with its crew, has landed in Trieste. The Return to the Land of the Fathers is an adventurous journey/event that has been filled with excitement: "We've sailed a long way, even in particularly rough seas," said Giulio Marongiu, an exile from Pula who turned 85 during the voyage, landing in Civitavecchia. "In these 47 days at sea, we've visited 27 locations, where we've always been warmly welcomed. There have been challenges, but we've always managed to overcome them, thanks in part to a crew that has demonstrated great team spirit," Giulio continued.

The Klizia , which left the port of Alghero on July 30th, after having sailed along the coast of northern Sardinia and eastern Corsica , reached the Tyrrhenian coast on August 8th, disembarking in the port of Livorno , where it was welcomed with great affection for a meeting with representatives of the National Association of Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia of Livorno, Pisa and Florence and the Association of the Sardinians 4 Mori of Livorno, during which Giulio Marongiu was able to tell his story and explain to those present the reasons for this journey.

Among the most significant stops in the Tyrrhenian Sea were certainly Civitavecchia, during which Giulio Marongiu received the commemorative medal of the Maritime Directorate of the Coast Guard from the hands of Deputy Commander Angelo Capuzzimato, the stop in Fiumicino and that in Gaeta , a city which had 3 refugee camps through which over a thousand Julian-Dalmatian exiles passed, including numerous families who later arrived in Fertilia.

The arrival in the Adriatic was a thrilling experience. Among the most notable stops were Ferrara, Chioggia, and especially Venice. In Ferrara , the home of many of the settlers who transformed the marshy lands of the Nurra Alghero area into a fertile and productive zone, the crew of the Klizia vessel was welcomed by Mayor Alan Fabbri, who expressed great interest in the project and announced his upcoming visit to Fertilia to meet with the Emilian community that still resides there.

In Chioggia , the place from which the 13 fishing boats loaded with exiles departed in 1948 for Fertilia, Councilor Zennaro, together with a delegation from the ANVGD, met the crew of the Klizia . Giulio also had the opportunity to meet some descendants of those who sailed aboard some of those boats, owned by the Preden family, and who returned to Chioggia to continue their fishing activities, given that selling fish in Sardinia at the time was extremely difficult. Then they arrived in Venice , in the prestigious setting of the Giudecca Canal, guests in the Darsena located on the centrally located Island of San Giorgio, right in front of Piazza San Marco.

"We felt a tremendous emotion when, aboard the Veneto Regional Council's launch, we met President Roberto Ciambetti in the prestigious Palazzo Ferro-Fini on the Grand Canal," said Federico Marongiu, Mauro Manca, and Giuseppe Bellu, some of the crew members of the Klizia . "Accompanying my father, along with my son Marco," said Federico, son of Commander Giulio, "was a powerful emotion. Three generations who together, aboard our boat, were able to reach this wonderful city, which bears the symbols that unite the identity of our community of Fertilia, to tell the President of the Veneto Regional Council that in distant Sardinia there exists a place where women and men of diverse backgrounds, who have always lived beneath the Bell Tower of San Marco and the Lion of St. Mark, have been able to write a wonderful story of inclusion, based on the values ​​of respect, industriousness, and solidarity."

"We spoke at length with President Ciambetti and also told him about the birth of a film that will tell the story of the Return to the Land of the Fathers. The team, led by director Igor Biddau, is filming this exciting adventure," said Giuseppe Bellu, a member of the Klizia crew who is capturing, with his camera, the most intimate moments of the voyage aboard the magnificent 10-meter wooden vessel, which set sail from Sardinia for Istria. At the end of the meeting in Venice, which was also attended by Professor Bellu, the filmmaker said: Davide Rossi, a historian who has always been committed to disseminating the events of the eastern border, and some representatives of the ANVGD section of Venice, the vessel set off again, touching the wonderful landing places of Caorle and Grado , then heading towards the port of Trieste, a city that was the moral capital of the exodus and which hosted, in the famous "Silos", an incredible number of exiles who were then sorted to the more than 100 refugee camps scattered throughout Italy, subsequently giving hospitality to over 70.000 of them.

"Entering the port of Trieste aboard the Klizia and visiting Muggia , the Fisherman's Village, and Borgo San Mauro , welcomed by the affection of the community," commented Mauro Manca and Giulio Marongiu, "was an indescribable feeling. Passing by the castles of Duino and Miramare, alongside the Molo Audace, to dock at the Società Triestina della Vela dock and seeing the sea rippled by the bora wind all around us, made all the hardships of this journey worthwhile. The emotion we felt, embracing each other immediately after docking, will always be in our hearts." Trieste represents the central stop on a journey that today, a month and a half after its departure, has already attracted great interest, thanks in part to the RAI Media Partnership, which has allowed us to convey the message of this project, which seeks to speak of values ​​and positive examples for new generations, without falling into the legitimate rhetoric of the pain and tragedy the exiles have experienced.

In the coming hours, the voyage will see new stops in Muggia, on the 18th at the headquarters of the Società Triestina della Vela, while from the 21st to the 24th the project will be presented at an institutional stand as part of the international festival "Gusti di Frontiera" in the city of Gorizia. The Klizia will then sail to Istria, first in Koper on September 25th, then Piran on the 26th, Rovinj on the 28th and 29th, and finally Pula on the 30th, before concluding in Trieste for the 55th Barcolana. This maritime celebration will celebrate, in a special setting, an undertaking that has allowed a topic long considered politically divisive to highlight its human implications and universal values, which are today highly relevant and important for new generations.