The Boys of Turi and the Dream of Education

When knowledge changed the destiny of a community (1630–1718)

There are stories that do not speak only of the past, but continue to breathe in the present. Stories made of names, dates, worn stones and stubborn dreams. In Turi, between 1630 and 1718, at least twenty-nine young men made a radical choice: to leave their homeland and embrace the educational ideal of Saint Joseph Calasanzio, entering the Order of the Pious Schools.

They were the sons of artisans, farmers and modest families. Yet they had received something extraordinary for their time: access to education. In a southern Italy marked by poverty, famine and social inequality, the presence of the Piarist Fathers in Turi represented a true, silent revolution.

A school to change the future

Founded in 1630, the Piarist House of Turi was not merely a place of instruction, but a cultural and moral stronghold. Grammar, rhetoric, theology, mathematics and geometry were taught here. Here, young people learned to read, write and think. Above all, they were offered a concrete opportunity for social advancement.

Many of these young men, once they entered the Order, went on to Naples, Chieti, Francavilla, Castelnuovo (Manduria), becoming educators, architects, rectors and masters of novices—central figures in the cultural and religious life of the Kingdom of Naples.

Lives that become history

Among them stands out Vito Leonardo di Tonno (1660–1730), a Piarist and architect, author of important works in Castelnuovo, described by his contemporaries as architectus peritissimus.Equally significant is Vito Antonio Colapinto (1700–1758), Servant of God, whose death sparked popular clamour and accounts of miracles, so much so that the crowd cried out: “Miracle!”.

Alongside them was Vincenzo Maria d’Addiego (1755–1830), an enlightened educator and future Superior General of the Order, a symbol of a Church capable of engaging with culture, science and the Enlightenment without renouncing its identity.

Memory carved in stone

In Turi, this story is still visible today. In the Church of San Domenico, a plaque records the perpetual commitment of the Piarist Fathers to celebrate a weekly Mass for the soul of Nicola Gil, a benefactor of the Order. On altars, in paintings and in carved coats of arms, the tangible signs of a community that invested in knowledge as a form of salvation re-emerge.

A legacy that still matters

To recount the story of the Piarist Fathers of Turi today does not mean celebrating a distant past, but recognising the roots of a collective identity. It means remembering that public, free education, open to all, was a slow and courageous achievement. And that even a small town can become a centre of cultural influence.

As one of the protagonists of this history wrote, “all the inhabitants know how to read and write.” In those words lies the deepest meaning of an educational project that has endured through the centuries.

Sources and Credits

Texts and historical research– Don Vito Ingellis, transcription and summary from “Turi Chiesa Madre” no. 6/1972– Matteo Pugliese, articles published in Il Paese (April 2021; no. 116/April 2003; no. 74/July 1998)– Historical Archive of the Order of the Pious Schools– Parish Archive of the Mother Church of Turi

Original insert– Piarist Fathers, special feature edited by Giovanni Leredde, published in Il Paese, April 2021

Photographs– Il Paese Archive