(ANSA) Rieti, March 2 - The mayor of the ancient hilltown of Rieti in Lazio on Monday strongly rebuffed a claim by allegedly upstart town Narni in Umbria to be the geographical centre of Italy.
"Hands off the centre of Italy," said Simone Pietrangeli, "it is guarded by the millennial history of Rieti and here it stays".
Rieti is about 80 km northeast of Rome while Narni is about the same distance south of Perugia. Rieti is just over 50 km east of Narni.
Pouring scorn on a claim by Narni to be the true centre of the peninsula, Pietrangeli added that the truth about the location of the central point is to be sought "in the history of our territory that, since the most ancient times, is defined and recognised universally as 'l'umbilicus Italiae' (Italy's belly button)".
Rieti's pedigree to the hallowed title is enscribed in several languages on a marble plaque on Piazza San Rufo, but rival officials in Narni claim to have obtained expert opinions meaning they also will erect a plaque in the Ponte Cardona district to stake what they see as their geographical claim.
Pietrangeli quoted army cartographers as denying reports they had nourished Narni's claim and repeating that "the (Italian) boot is not a geometric design and therefore it is impossible to determine the exact position of the centre of Italy".
Narni Mayor Francesco De Rebotti for his part said "we don't want to create any controversy with Rieti, but have our data and we confirm them".
"Our initiative is not intended to go against anyone and we don't want to deprive a city like Rieti of anything in its history ... from the checks we made, however, also with the Geographic Institute of Florence, we confirm the centre is here".
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