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The Peace Citadel: La Rondine at TEDxViadellaConciliazione

1,557 views · Published 3 May 2013 · 11:18 · Indexed 22 September 2026

Channel: TEDx Talks · 2013 · Nonprofits & Activism

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Franco Vaccari is the founder of la Rondine, Cittadella of Peace. La Rondine is a medieval village near Arezzo, where students coming from war-torn countries learn how to see the human being in their enemies. It was the meeting with Dimitri Lichacev, a survivor of a Soviet labor camp, which inspired Vaccari. Licahacev told him, "You who have La Verna and Camaldoli, you must share what you have with those at war". In 1997 the first four students arrived at la Rondine: two Russians and two Chechens. Today la Rondine is home to 40 students, coming from Kosovo and Bosnia,  Russia and Chechnya, Israel and Palestine, Sierra Leone and Mali. "Our aim at La Rondine is to show that history can be reversed: those whom history has marked as enemies can easily become your friends".

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

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