When in Rome...

By M.J. Cryan

Very few people manage to visit Rome without falling in love with it, and many who come just for a few weeks end up staying for the rest of their lives. There seems to be something magical in the air.  Rome is also very chaotic – no use denying that. The traffic is a free for all, cars park all over the sidewalks and the average Roman is as undisciplined as he is creative in his driving. But then, what can you expect of a city with a population of four million built on a series of hills along a meandering river, centuries before the invention of the automobile.

If you can come to terms with the confusion it can be the most beautiful city in the world, a treasure chest of artistic and architectural jewels built by popes, kings and emperors over a period of thousands of years. The last thing any of these people worried about was practicality. They wanted a spectacular city that would glorify God, the empire, the regime and often just themselves.

What to See

Everybody knows about the famous sights of Rome -the Colosseum, St. Peter’s and the Vatican museums, Castle St. Angelo. There are also hundreds of churches and palaces that are worth seeing. One great way of looking at the city, though is from the river Tiber –either walking along its banks or from atop a bridge. One of the most fantastic views in the world is from the Bridge of the Angels in front of Castle St. Angelo. Take a look inside the castle itself, which houses a beautiful collection of armor. You might enjoy wandering through the small side streets of Trastevere and the old center to watch the craftsmen at work Rome is a city built on hills and from the tops of several there are fantastic views. Try having a drink at the Zodiaco bar at the top of Monte Mario with an excellent view of the city. See the Vatican museums stopping for lunch at the inexpensive modern cafeteria. The museums are free on the last Sunday of each month and the lines are long. Bring your student card for student discounts.

The Changing of the guard at the Palazzo del Quirinale, the president’s official residence, takes place at 4 p.m. every day. On Sundays it is even more spectacular with band music and the tall Corazziere guards on horseback.

The perfectly round Pantheon, Rome’s famous temple-church with a hole in the dome, may give you a surprise if you are there when a musician is playing the organ –the acoustics are fantastic. If it’s a day of light, intermittent rain you be lucky enough to see the rainbows which form inside the building.

Be sure to visit the Trevi fountain. Tradition holds that if you throw a coin into the fountain you will return to Rome someday, and there’s hardly a tourist who has not tossed a coin into this fountain.

Parks and Courtyards

Rome is full of gardens and parks of all sizes, but there are three that are particularly impressive. The best known and most central is Villa Borghese. Villa Pamphili is located above the Trastever quarter and Villa Ada is near Via Salaria. Villa Borghese is carefully laid out, full of buildings and paths, while Villa Pamphili and Villa Ada are much wilder and much closer to open countryside. All three are excellent places to go jogging or take a bike ride. Some of the courtyards you’ll want to see are at the Palazzo Taverna on via di Monte Giordano, Palazzo Spada and Palazzo Mattei.

All Rome’s parks especially Borghese should be avoided after dark, especially if you are alone.

Lovers' Hideaways

By M.J. Cryan

 When taking that special vacation for just the two of you, a place to spend the night should be more than a hotel. It should be romantic and have charm. Luckily for those planning such a visit to Italy there is a wide range of romantic hideaways.

You can choose a renovated castle boasting a fine restaurant and its own wines, an elegant 15^th century Tuscan villa or a hunting lodge lost in the midst of a nature reserve where wild boar stew is served for dinner.

They may be hidden on private estates or tucked away among the rolling hills of the Tuscan wine country but they all have one thing in common : they are perfect places for a weekend getaway with that special someone, for  a honeymoon or a second honeymoon. The most romantic areas of Italy are the central regions of Tuscany and Umbria. Perhaps this is due to the flourishing court life of the area’s city states over the centuries or the abundance of splendid art and architecture. Perhaps it is the aura of love poetry begun in the days of Dante, which still lingers.         

The ideal way to visit these two regions is to wander from one of these superb hostelries to another over a period of a few weeks, using them as departure points for exploring the neighboring towns, valleys and vineyards.

All of these country inns are small and cozy, discreet and elegant and embedded like jewels in the world’s most beautiful landscapes. Similar landscapes can be seen in the background of paintings by Raphael or Perugino where rows of pointed cypress trees are visible on the horizon through a bluish haze.

Often the painters included the towers of a fortified hilltop town or castle in the distance, a castle such as that of Gargonza where the modern lord of the manor welcomes holiday guests to share his family castle in self-catering apartments and tastefully renovated farm cottages.

Gargonza near Monte San Savino and Arezzo was once a medieval village dominated by a grim crenellated tower and immersed in a forest of ilex, cypress and oak. But for the past century it has been an agricultural center. The 20 little houses once occupied by resident farmers have kept the names of their former occupants but they are now given over to visitors who want quiet, peaceful surroundings for rest, independent vacations or study.

A quick drive through the Chiana valley brings one to Arezzo famous for its Piero Della Francesca frescoes, a lively monthly open air antiques fair. Further on is Cortona with its perfectly preserved medieval quarter. Here the overhanging second stories, the wood-beam construction of the tiny palazzo and the narrow cobblestone streets have remained intact for over 500 years.

Not far from Cortona on the way to Siena is one of the most romantic and little known ruins in central Italy the Abbey of San Galgano at Montisiepi. We Anglo Saxons claim  the legend of King  Arthur and the sword in the stone as our own, but it seems that a 12^th century  Tuscan knight, Galgano, was the basis for the Arthurian cycle, or else it is just an amazing coincidence. The story of Galgano, a local knight-saint, his conversion and the foundation of the sanctuary and huge abbey are identical with much in the King Arthur tales celebrated by Tennyson.

At Montisiepi, one can visit the circular hilltop sanctuary where the saint’s sword has been protruding from a massive rock since the year 1180. Just below in the valley is the huge shell of an imposing, ruined Cistercian Abbey with tall Gothic windows. Only noisy crows break the eerie silence as they fly in and out of the roofless abbey.

The monastery is situated in the middle of an untouched paradise, the regions largest wildlife and nature reserve where the only other cars on the single lane road are forest rangers’ jeeps and the only industry is the making of honey and herbal products which can be purchased at Montisiepi along with the monks’ liquor and fruit perfumed soaps.

Still on the road to Siena, at Sinalunga, one can reach the Locanda dell’Amorosa (Inn of the Loved One) after a drive through vineyards and forests, along a cypress-lined drive and under the medieval tower that leads into a perfectly preserved courtyard. Here, next to the tiny frescoed church, the farmers used to gather on summer evenings to dance and sing. An historical chronicle shows that “…the village called Amorosa enclosed by high walls and defended by a stone castle” already existed in the 1300’s.

Like Gargonza, this fortified village had been an agricultural community and an elegant family estate. Now the old family villa has been intelligently converted, keeping intact the beauty of arched stone loggias and walled gardens. The stables are now a rustic yet elegant dining room where guests can savour local specialities such as the hearty Ribollita and huge Florentine steaks accompanied by local wines.

Unique and Weird Museums

M.J.Cryan

The Museum of the Dead Souls, Rome

Built at the turn of the century in the neo-Gothic style, this tiny church faces the banks of the Tiber. Inside a side room has been set up to house a most unusual collection. It consists of a number of extraordinary artefacts such as prayer books, night caps, objects of wood, linen, etc. all bearing the imprints of fiery hands and crosses - testimonies of “calls for prayers” from the afterlife. The museum is inside the church of S. Cuore del Suffraggio, Lungotevere Prati 12, Rome. Free entrance. Hours 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The museum is closed during mass.

The Cemetery of the Franciscan Capuchin Friars, Rome

The entrance to this macabre monument is just a few steps from the hustle of Piazza Barberini’s metro stop on Via Veneto, a street better known for it  dolce vita  than for such unusual sights. Inside this above-ground cemetery (before Napoleon’s new laws in the  1800’s  all churches had crypts where  the dead were buried) every available inch of wall and ceiling space in the corridors and the six chapels is covered with unique and dramatic decorations made of human bones. These are the remains of persons who died between 1528 and 1870; over 4,000 Capuchin friars, Roman nobles, Papal soldiers and foreign dignitaries who considered it a privilege to be buried in the cemetery’s “holy soil” which was brought back from Jerusalem. Thousands of artistically stacked skulls, habit-draped skeletons of departed friars and the hanging, ceiling lamps made from leg and arm bones makes this one of the world’s most unusual cemeteries.

On the bottom level of the Concezione Church, Via Veneto 27, Rome. Entrance free, leave a donation with the grey-bearded monk who greets you at the door.

The Shrinking Statue – Palazzo Spada, Rome

Palazzo Spada, built about 1550, is a perfect Renaissance palazzo with a facade covered in fanciful decorations and busts of Roman emperors.

Besides being the seat of the National State Council, it houses a private gallery where the Spada family’s collection of old  master paintings, ancient statuary and sparkling Venetian chandeliers  can be admired. It is well worth a visit for it gives an excellent idea of how Rome’s noble families lived among abundant marble, frescoed walls and shiny brick floors.

After a visit to the gallery, ask the porter to show you the optical illusion set up by the 17^th century Roman architect Borromini, in a corner of the courtyard. You will see a massive statue of  the god Mars,  placed at the end of a long colonnade, which appears to shrink as one approaches it due to an optical illusion or architectural 2Joke” created by the artist. In fact the statue is less than a meter high and is placed at the end of a colonnade of only 9 meters. From a certain distance the colonnade seems infinitely longer due to the faked proportions used by Borromini who progressively reduced the columns’ height and that of its vaulted ceiling.

The Wine Museum, Torgiano, Perugia

Ten kms. From Perugia and 160 from Rome on the E7 super highway lies the tiny village of Torgiano, famous for its Museo del Vino. Housed in the elegant Palazzo Baglioni, it was set up by the Lungarotti wine estate in 1974 and since then thousands of people from all parts of the glove have visited the fourteen well desinge4d rooms devoted to different facets of wine: the technical side of wine making to wine’s importance in history, folklore and art. Wine’s use as a medicine, in the kitchen, its magic properties and the hard to die superstitions about wine are all shown with the use of ancient manuscripts and designs. A large section is devoted to early tools and machines and the crafts connected to wine making. Wine containers used throughout the centuries from the robust terracotta amphorae of the Romans to delicate Venetian glasses and local ceramics form another section of the museum.  In nearby Assisi there are over 50 hotels and pensions but Torgiano has its own Le Tre Vaselle, noted for its elegant accommodations, cuisine, and of course, wine.

The Mummies of Ferentillo, (Umbria)

The hill top village of Ferentillo near the city of Terni in Umbria boasts an unusual tourist attraction. The crypt of the village church due to the mineral content of the earth and the northern winds which whip through its open windows, has produced a natural mummification process on the bodies of the dead deposited there over the centuries. Ring the bell at the house bearing the sign  Guardiano delle Mummie and an elderly guardian, flashlight in hand, will conduct you through the crypt after having counted heads just to be sure no one gets left inside. He will point out the more interesting of the hundreds of mummified bodies, some in museum like cases, but most just propped up against the stone walls, as they were found in a setting which makes a Frankenstein film seem a comedy. Owls, dogs and other animals were often trapped in the crypt and mummified. They can be seen along with the remains of 18^th century travelers still robed in period dress, a bride in a tattered wedding gown and the tragic mummies of children. Adding to the other worldly atmosphere is a sign above the exit which reads, “We were like you; you will become like us”.

_______________________________________

Tips for Travel in Italy

By M.J. Cryan

I: Living it up on a small budget

Here are some tricks and tips used by Italian students living on tight budgets that tourists may find helpful.  Instead of eating in restaurants, do as the natives do and use the neighbourhood markets and discount alimentari... Buy bread, cheese, fruit and cold cuts at the outdoor markets that are open from early morning until 2 p.m. and have a picnic in the park or in the shadow of a monument. Buy something ready-made at a tavola calda or rosticceria and eat in a nearby osteria or wine shop.  Pizza al taglio is excellent and much better nutritionally than a hamburger and fries. In Rome, save your shopping for postcards, pictorial guides and souvenirs for the day you visit the Vatican and then buy them at wholesale prices Comandini at 151 Borgo Pio and Soprani on via del Mascherino are still the cheapest in Italy...but watch out for the hordes of shoving nuns.

Take your coffee, drink or ice cream standing up at the bar like the Italians do and save the sitting down occasions for very tired feet moments. Sitting at the café table costs at least twice as much.

Always double check the size of the currency you give when paying a restaurant, shop or taxi driver. And count your change right away. Be sure you receive a copy of your restaurant bill or conto and hold on to it at least until you are far away from the restaurant. The Italian tax police are cracking down with stiff fines for customers and owners when receipts are not given. Same goes for purchasing fake designer bags and pirated CDs from street vendors… it's better not to.

Mid-January and all of August are sale days saldi for clothing and shoes in the cities. Usually the big and very small sizes of everything are available at half price. Be sure it fits before purchasing for sale items cannot be returned.

II: The Best Beaches & Islands in the sun
Everyone has a favourite beach along Italy’s 8,600 kms of coastline, but if you ask ten Italians where their country’s best beaches are, nine will give you the name of an island, usually Sardinia.

Italy has about 400 islands, some just uninhabited rocks, others organized as perfect summer resorts. Crystal-clear water, unspoiled nature and unique folklore and culture can be found on the island of Sardinia to the west of the mainland. From the little peninsula of Stintino  to S. Teresa di Gallura in the north-eastern corner, lies a Riviera of emerald water and fine sandy beaches, some of them with pink sand and some only large enough for a couple of beach blankets. Old towns, many dating from the 12 th century are dominated by castles and walls which once held pirate raiders at bay. But the summer villages and hotels are modern and elegant offering facilities for daytime water sports, swinging nightlife and fine eating.

A relatively unknown yet spectacular part of Sardinia is the island of San Antioco in the south-western corner. Here gourmets can gorge themselves on local lobster and the wines of Calasetta.

The 400 inhabitants of Stromboli are not jittery even though they live on a still-active volcano that is part of the Aeolian archipelago north of Sicily. With their black lava sand beaches, the comforts of civilization are assured although drinking water is brought in by cistern ship during the dry summers. Closer to the Sicilian coast is green Vulcano, famous for its beaches, beautiful tourists and mud baths. Both Stromboli and Vulcano can be reached by ferry from Milazzo in Sicily.

Among Tuscany’s many islands, Elba is most famous because it once housed the exiled Napoleon. Its green rolling hills, beaches (like Biodola near Portoferraio) and laid-back lifestyle make it a perfect getaway (take the ferry from the port of Piombino).

In northern Italy the Venetian lagoon holds several islands worth a visit. The Lido is a quick vaporetto ride from crowded St. Mark’s Square and is probably Italy’s most beautifully equipped beach with beach cabins, tents, white-jacketed waiters scurrying with ice buckets from the Excelsior’s bar and a famous gambling casino. It seems to be still the setting for the cult film “Death in Venice” and hosts the annual cinema festival.

Nearby is Murano, a mini Venice with lacy, pastel-colored palaces along tiny canals. Don’t miss the extraordinary glass museum or the free tours in the factories where master craftsmen still make blown glass as it has been done for centuries.

Chioggia, at the southern tip of the Venetian lagoon, is 40 miles from Venice by road or a two-hour cruise from Riva degli Schiavoni. An important fishing center, it boasts the lively Sottomarina beach, plenty of good hotels and wining nightlife.

For those who wish to stay on mainland Italy there are several great beach areas. Cervo Ligure a few miles up the coast from San Remo was a coral fisherman.

Fregene and Ostia Lido near Rome: They are not terribly clean but they do boast crowds of local people in the summer.

Campers love the stretch of coast on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Albinia and Talamone near Grosseto because of several inexpensive campgrounds set among pine woods right on the sandy beaches. Gastronomic delights of the area include wild boar stew in the inland medieval hill towns and the inexpensive Tuscan red wines purchased at the Parrina’s vineyard wholesale outlet in Albinia. Here you can also stock up on cheeses made on site, farm produce and oil.

Worth a beach day are those on the Argentario peninsula near the renowned vacation spots of Porto Ercole and Porto Santo Stefano. La Feniglia (where the topless ration gets higher every summer) and La Giannella (a family beach).

Rimini: The stretch of beaches along this part of the Adriatic coast is a swinging summer spot with 15 kms of white sand, clean water and droves of Scandinavians, Russians and Anglo-Saxons from spring to autumn.  Each year the best beaches are awarded prizes signalled by a   “bandiere blu” flag.

In southern Italy folks dote on Calabrian coast and the islands of Pantelleria and Stromboli:  far away places invaded by water and scuba-diving enthusiasts each summer. Remember that they are at their best in July, September and even the beginning of October because the latitude is the same as northern Africa. 

Fregene and Ostia are Rome’s seaside resorts where a midday dip in the Med is possible before returning to the city. These beaches are fine during the week but are guaranteed to be very crowded on weekends. Ostia is connected by a rapid train and has the added attraction of a mini-Pompeii, Ostia Antica, a few stops before the beach.

Fregne has lovely homes, cleaner beaches; great fish restaurants and one can even rent the villa that once belonged to film great Federico Fellini for the weekend.

Near Pisa the Marina di Pisa is the place for beach life.

To avoid are the millionaire resorts on the Costa Smeralda of Sardinia where a gelato can cost up to $5 in August. Also to stay clear of are beaches near large cites and the peak season of August 15-18, Ferragosto holiday. Instead save up to 50% on hotels in the other summer months and the service is much better.

III. Where the Girls Are

Whether in small towns or big cities, young people in Italy have retained the custom of the late afternoon and evening “passeggiata”.  This evening stroll is a combination of window shopping, boy and girl watching and the time for a rendezvous.

In Rome girl-watchers paradise is the triangle of side streets off Via del Corso and the Alberto Sordi Gallery. Shops specializing in music and sports gear are a good excuse for a gathering. While older Romeos grab a table and drink at the sidewalk cafes of Piazza del Popolo or Piazza Navona, the younger ones stake out a step at Piazza di Spagna, Piazza del Pantheon and Piazza San Pietro to view Roman girls and newly arrived female tourists.

Venice’s strollers prefer Le Frezzerie and Piazza San Marco. Milano and Bologna are easy places for girl watching even when it rains. Take a stroll through Galleria dei Longobardi and Galleria del Corso and those at San Babila, Passerella, San Carlo and De Cristoforis. Bologna’s kilometres of arcaded walkways means it’s possible to windows shop and stroll for hours without using an umbrella.  In all Italian cities, keep an eye out for wall posters or banners announcing pop concerts, activities and special shows.

Italian girl-watchers claim that the Florentines are the most beautiful with their naturally elegant way of dressing and walking. You can judge  for yourself along the shopping streets or at the top cafés Giubbe Rosse, Caffe Strozzi, Doney on Via Tornabuoni, Giacosa (famous for its chocolate) or at  Gilli and Paszkowsky in Piazza Repubblica where live music lives up the atmosphere.

IV. Keeping Cool

Here are some cool spots to try in and around Rome.

Tivoli-Water, water everywhere. Follow the Via Tiburtina outside of Rome to the hilltop town of Tivoli. It has two famous villas, but it’s important not to confuse them. Hadrian’s Villa, at the base of the hill, is where the eccentric emperor relaxed between conquests of the ancient world. In high summer it is only for history buffs who don’t mind the heat and dust.

Villa d’Este which tumbles down the hillside is lush, green and cool. You can avoid the midday heat by roaming its tree-lined walks, ducking under the hundreds of gushing fountains or simply sipping a cold drink at the terrace bar which commands a wide view over the countryside all the way back to Rome. The gardens at Villa d’Este are particularly romantic and cool at night, especially by the lighted fountains. For a swim, stop at the sulphur baths in Bagni di Tivoli, where an Olympic-sized pool is the meeting place for locals seeking alternatives to sandy beaches.

North of Rome the Renaissance gardens of Villa Lante in Bagnaia just outside Viterbo are a match for the cool greenery and fountains of Villa d’Este. Hot baths abound here too, but for summer time its best to bathe at Le Masse which boast a frigidarium pool as well as the usual caldarium waters that make the thermal baths of the area so famous.  The three volcanic lakes in the Viterbo region promise cooling days: the choice can be made among Lake Vico, Lake Bolsena and Lake Bracciano.

The catacombs in Rome are fascinating year round, but in the summer months they also become perfect “refrigerators”. The best are those of San Callisto and San Domitilla on the ancient Via Appia Antica.  Many people are surprised to learn that there are catacombs also in northern Lazio. Those of Nepi are hidden in an ancient church behind the cemetery and the catacombs of Santa Cristina beneath the church dedicated to the saint in Bolsena.

Keep cool by eating lightly. A favourite summer dish especially in the mid-South homeland of the mozzarella-producing buffalo cows is the Caprese.  It’s a salad of freshly sliced mozzarella cheese alternated with tomato slices and topped with basil leaves, a drop of balsamic vinegar, maybe a few olives and the best extra virgin olive oil you can find. Match with a cold white wine such as the Sicilian Rapitala or an EST EST EST of Montefiascone for a superb light summer lunch.

Spoleto for All Seasons

By M.J. Cryan

Spoleto is a city for all seasons and for sturdy shoes. Percy Bysshe Shelley, passing through on his eternal quest for respite from chill winds and family woes, called it, “...the most romantic city I have ever seen”. The grey and gold palaces, the skylines of steeples and medieval towers surrounded by green forests and olive groves all remains unchanged since Shelley’s visit -  the perfect postcard image of Italy’s  green heart, Umbria.

Traditionally one of the earliest illustrious visitors was Hannibal who, after his overwhelming victory at nearby Lake Trasimeno in217 B.C. had his army driven back just outside the city’s walls. Totila, king of the Goths, invaded Spoleto in 545 and turned the Roman amphitheatre into a fortress.

Another prominent but unwelcome visitor was Frederick Barbarossa, the Swabian emperor, who admired and then demolished most of the town’s fortifications in the first of his many incursions into Italy. As Barbarossa’s troops entered Spoleto they set fire to many of the 100 towers causing them to explode.  A Byzantine icon of a praying Madonna, Barbarossa’s peace offering to the semi-destroyed town, can still be seen with its precious marble frame in the apse of the Duomo.

An involuntary guest was the beautiful but maligned Lucrezia Borgia who spent several months of gilded seclusion in the Rocca as a pawn in her father’s (Pope Alexander VI) politics. In her short unhappy life Lucrezia passed from one marriage to another as alliances with different states were made and broken. Had Shelley’s stay in Spoleto been longer, he might have been inspired by Lucrezia’s story just as the tragic tale of Beatrice Cenci caught his fancy in Rome and resulted in his creation of the fine tragedy, “The Cenci”.

Our romantic English poet would also have like the Lauri who lived in the center of Spoleto in the early 16^th century and where a street, Via F. Lauri, recalls their tale. Because of her beauty, Fiordispina Lauri had many admirers one of whom ambushed her  husband, Filolauro, as he returned home at night. Hearing his cries from the street the fearless wife ran out brandishing a sword with which she killed her husband’s would-be assassin. Questioned and tortured to make her confess, she remained silent until the judges threatened to torture Filolauro When the truth was known, the judges were so touched by Fiordispina’s courage that they pardoned her.

From Via Lauri to the main market square the visitor passes under the Arch of Druso and Germanico, dedicated to the imperial princes in 23 A.D. and one of the many vestiges showing Spoleto’s stance as an ally of Rome.

The well-preserved Teatro Romano in the middle of town is still used and near the Palazzo Comunale one can visit the house of Flavia Vespasia Polla (Vespasiano’s mother) discovered in 1885. On the further side of town are the remains of the Roman amphitheatre that once held 10,000 spectators, a huge number for Spoletiuim.

Here Ponziano, the city’s patron saint, was thrown to the lions which left him untouched. He then survived 12 days in a well and a battering with meat hooks, and was left unscathed by boiling oil before he was decapitated in 175. The amphitheatre was Totila’s fortress, then a warren of shops and botteghe but by the 14^th century it suffered the same fate as the Colosseum when its stone was quarried for the construction of the Rocca high above the town.

The archives of Spoleto for the year 1254 narrate how the townspeople were awed by a bright star that appeared above a well near the amphitheatre. A volunteer descended, investigated and told how he had found the bottom of the well littered with bones and the gory remains of abandoned infants; thus the decision to institute what was probably the first orphanage in Europe, named Monastero della Stella in remembrance of the prodigious star.

Spoleto’s vibrant city life goes on 12 months a year. Winter can be bitterly cold so the best fuori stagione-before and after the festival- is early summer and August to October. This is the time to wander its twisting lanes exploring the nooks and crannies of the many beautiful churches and monuments.

Via dei Duchi and Via Fontesecca abound with vaulted storerooms that have been used as botteghe for over 600 years and when the ancient wooden shutters are taken down they reveal elegant boutiques and international level galleries. The gourmet delights of Spoleto are well known: try the Nera river trout, the special pasta known as strangozzi, the local mushrooms, crostini with patè of game and black truffles and Spoleto’s famous extra vergine olive oil.

The best after-lunch walk takes the visitor up a steep hill to Piazza Campello where bull fights were once held and to Via del Ponte for a close up look at the two monuments that Shelley called “…those so sublime creations of man”.

The bridge-Ponte delle Torri- constructed by Matteo Gattapone in the 14^th century and the huge castle-La Rocca- are among the symbols of Spoleto. The bridge, with its 10 tower-like arches or pylons, leaps 78i meters high over the ravine to Monteluco hill. It acted as an aqueduct but was also a sign of Spoleto’s importance, a warning to enemies of her power. The window  half-way across the 230 metres long walkway is sadly famous as a lovers’ leap even in our modern day.

Cardinal Albornoz, the papal governor, was responsible for the Rocca, built at about the same time. For several centuries it was a fortress of the Papal States and for a few months in 1860 the walls of the castle rang with Irish ballads when a group of volunteer soldiers under the command of Major Myles O’Reilly was stationed there to protect the town from invasion by the Italian unification troops. A long and hard battle was fought and lost to the numerically superior Piedmontese Bersaglieri troops on 17 September 1860 ending the temporal power of the church in the Umbria region.

Up until 1972 the Rocca was used as a state prison and tourists enjoying the view from the nearby bridge would exchange waves with prisoners at the barred windows. A difficult restoration has released the Rocca from its centuries of lethargy and restored it to use as a museum and venue for cultural happenings.

Rome’s Hidden Corners and Courtyards

By M.J. Cryan

The next time you want to see an authentic neighbourhood in the shadow of Capitoline Hill, take a walk in the area bordering on the central Piazza Venezia but far from its traffic, fumes and fury. Here the visitor can walk the same cobblestones that Dickens trod during his 1845 visit and can peek into the courtyards of Renaissance palaces. The backdrop will remind many of the Hepburn/ Peck classic film Roman Holiday but the actors are today’s Romans with a few walk-on parts reserved for passersby.

Before plunging into the past, stand for a moment at the busy intersection of Via del Plebiscito and Piazza del Gesù, main church of the Jesuits and be surrounded by Italy’s palazzo of power: the Gesù, main church of the Jesuits, is on your left while straight on is the ex-Christian Democrat headquarters. The main Masonic lodge is here too as well as the bankers’ central “lodge” ABI in the delightful Palazzo Altemps. In this same piazza there is also the rarely visited rooms of St. Ignatius of Loyola where the warrior-saint and Jesuit founded lived between 1544 and 1556. Enter the doorway next to the church ( no. 45) to leave the chaos of modern Rome behind. Inside the 16^th century is evoked in the rooms furnished with original artefacts and the corridors frescoed by friar-painters.

From there you can take Via di Aracoeli and Vicolo Margana to enter one of the city’s most expensive real estate areas where apartments are valued at astronomical rates. Piazza Margana and its surrounding lanes are a microcosm of Roman life; modest doorways may open into a butcher shop, an artisan’s bottega, a bar sporting banners of Stalin and Gorbachov. An elaborate portone leads to FAO’s representative office and a princess has a boutique of Turkish carpets inside another doorway.

Further along is Piazza Mattei where antiques shops vie with the famous tortoise fountain for attention. Across the piazza a series of palazzo which belonged to the powerful Mattei family. A first courtyard has an airy staircase and loggia but as the family grew in wealth and power other palaces and courtyards were added.

Peek in at no. 17 and then into the splendid double courtyard of the palazzo built for Alessandro Mattei in the 1560’s with its busts of Caesars inserted into the walls. Climb to the first floor where the American center has its classrooms and library to note the herring-bone pattern of the brick pavements and the stone benches on the landings, carved to resemble cushions and complete with sculpted tassels.

Exiting on Via Caetani there are two reminders that Rome is a layer-cake of history. The facing wall carries a commemorative plaque where bouquets are often left, for on this spot the body of the Christian Democrat leader, Aldo Moro was found. A few steps away is the Crypta Balbi, a new museum resulting from the years of excavations done on site by the University of Siena. The via dei Polacchi and the Polish church are the lifeline for thousands of Polish immigrants in the Eternal City.

Numerous tiny bars and trattorie flourish in the area but just across Largo Argentina and its numerous cats you will find Corsi‘s trattoria and wine shop, a legend among office workers: pretty waitresses, quick service and a typical Roman hum.

Exiting from Corsi’s peek into the opposite courtyard to discover a unique water-powered clock dated 1860 which still ticks away the hours in an ivy-covered fountain.

Another special area for an afternoon stroll is the ghetto area and Portico d’Ottavia where bakeries and kosher restaurants have been serving out artichokes, carciofi alla Giudea, since the times of Pius IX. This flourishing discount area is still a discount shopper’s heaven. Next to the portico named after Ottavia, modern brides choose crystal and silver under the frescoed ceilings of a 16^th century fishmonger’s guild hall. From among the collection of armorial plates on the showroom walls, a sharp eye can pick out those ordered by kings, popes and presidents. There is even a pattern ordered by Mussolini with its gold “M” strangely similar to the logo of a hamburg empire.

Viterbo: A Connoisseur's guide

M.J.Cryan

Once a papal city, Viterbo offers delights for history lovers, antiques enthusiasts and gastronomes

Viterbo deserves an unhurried visit from art lovers, gastronomes and historians. The connoisseur’s visit must include a walk through the medieval quarter of S. Pellegrino; so perfect is this architectural ensemble that it is often used as a movie set. Anglo-Saxons ask to see the church in Piazza del Gesù which was the scene of the murder of Henry, Duke of Cornwall, and cousin of King Edward I. He was killed in 1272 by Guy and Simon de Montfort to revenge the murder of their father. Portuguese visitors to Viterbo always make a stop at the black and white striped cathedral S. Lorenzo which dates from the 12^th century with 16^th century and post-war touch-ups. Here they admire the magnificent cosmatesque floors and the tomb of Pope John XXI, the only Portuguese pope who died when the floor of his room collapsed.

Medieval history comes alive when one stands near S. Maria Nuova with its outdoor pulpit where St. Thomas Aquinas preached to the crowds and inside the papal palace when one glances up to the “new” roof. The original one was removed in the 1200’s during the first conclave in Viterbo to elect a new pope. The cardinals were locked (cum clave, hence the word conclave) inside the palace next the roof was removed to help speed up the election of the new pope and then in desperation the cardinals’ food (and wine) supply was reduced. It was 33 months before Gregory X was finally elected as the new pope.

To fully understand the spirit of Viterbo one must participate in the feast on September 3^rd in honor of the city’s patron, S. Rosa whose statue crowns the entrance to the city at Porta Romana. In most of Italy, feasts commemorate the antique rivalry between sections of a city, as in Siena’s Palio and Pisa’s Gioco del Ponte. The feast of S. Rosa instead, finds the populace united to cheer on the local heroes, the facchini or Porters of S. Rosa, as they perform their superhuman task of transporting the 30-meter high illuminated tower honouring the saint, through the city’s darkened streets. A visit to the museum in S. Pellegrino gives an idea of the task the facchini have proudly performed since the first macchina/tower was transported in 1258.

The procession route along the Corso is also the scene of the evening passeggiata when the young people from the entire province crowd around the fountain in Piazza delle Erbe while their elders take an aperitif in the historic (1493) Caffè Schenardi.

An inexpensive way to travel to Viterbo from Rome is by train from either Roma Nord station (Piazzale Flaminio) or St. Peter’s. The former route is perfect for railway fans who like slow travel since the old-fashioned train passes through a series of picturesque towns including Civita Castellana, Fabrica di Roma, Vignanello, Soriano and Bagnaia before finally arriving to Viterbo’s Roma Nord station. The train from St. Peter’s (or Ostiense station) plies between the capital and northern suburbs such as Olgiata, Cesano and Bracciano before heading further north to Viterbo.

Both trains use the BIRG ticket system: a 9 euro daily ticket gives passengers full use of the regional transport system including Rome’s metro and buses.

A Heritage of Castles

By M.J.Cryan

Several stone towers guard the Via Cassia as it winds its way north from Rome into what was once the Etruscan territory of Veio. Ivy-covered and discreet, they blend into the countryside with only their jagged tops peeking above the neat rows of Mediterranean pines. Once part of an extensive signalling system, these towers were used to send messages by means of night-time torches. Thus warnings of pirate incursions and other emergencies were relayed from the sea coast, where other towers stood guard, as far inland as the Umbrian border in a matter of hours.

As one drives out of Rome into the Lazio countryside such towers and vestiges of other severe constructions are a part of the landscape and it seems that every other hilltop is crowned with a castle and its surrounding village.

This extensive system of forts, castles and fortified towers was needed to guard the boundaries of the territory which was once the Papal States and which today roughly coincides with the boundaries of the Lazio region. Even today in the area counts at least 80 localities in which the term castello is conserved in their names: Castelmadama and Castelnuovo di Porto near Rome are just two.

During medieval times feudal lords lived in these strategically located fortresses high on the crests of hills or overlooking roads and waterways, ready to defend the territory granted them by the popes. In those days the rocca or caste was little more than a military outpost with few comforts but offering such security in time of invasion that a few houses soon gathered at the castle doorstep for protection and slowly gave birth to the hilltop towns that now dot the countryside.

With the invention of gun powder and powerful firearms the earliest castle-fortresses lost most of their strategic importance. Hence, newly built castles no longer included outdated square towers which were substituted with round ones that could better withstand the onslaught of cannonballs. Battlements were removed in many cases and often the lord of the castle transformed the building into a more comfortable palace meant for year round or summer living.

As the Renaissance dawned, artists were called in to fresco the main rooms while tapestries warmed the walls of the family’s private living quarters. Where once kitchen gardens grew, ornate Italian gardens contributed to make the foreboding military  rocca into a pleasure palace.

Many grandiose castles are still owned by the Roman baronial families that built and defended them for centuries; others are in the hands of the Italian state or of private persons and several of these are open to visitors who wish to take a plunge back into history.

Besides the ones described here, castles can be seen wherever an important point of contact, communication or transport existed. Along the Mediterranean one sees a series of fortified tower-castles strung along the coastline from Civitavecchia in the north to Santa Marinella, Santa Severa, Palo, Ostia, Nettuno, Torre Astura, and San Felice Circeo and all the way to Terracina and Gaeta at the southern border of the region. Other castles protected the courses of rivers such as that at Lunghezza and the castle at Nazzano, perched high above the Tiber. The castles at Bolsena and Bracciano in northern Lazio still dominate these beautiful lakes. Some were built to protect bridges (Castello dell’Abbadia) and at Isola del Liri, a small town in southern Lazio, a castle was even built over a waterfall, a most unusual spectacle, moreover, because both are right in the center of the town.   

Bracciano

The castle’s imposing silhouette can be seen from quite a distance as its huge structure and perfectly conserved towers dominate the lake and the town of Bracciano. It was constructed by Napoleone Orsini, the most powerful baron of the time and by his son, Virginio, during the last decades of the 15^th century.

Napoleone Orsini, a famous soldier, probably helped design the military structure while to Virginio we owe the refined cross-barred windows, covered loggia and a general softening of the strictly military aspects of the building, resulting in a masterpiece of late Renaissance architecture.

When completed the castle was an excellent showplace for this  powerful family that over the centuries produced 18 saints, 5 popes, 40 cardinals, 20 electors of Saxony and Brandenburg, 7 Roman senators, 4 prefects and 6 Gonfaloniere of Rome as well as numerous Grand Masters of the Knights of Malta and the Templar Knights.

Twelve kings’ daughters entered the Orsini family over the years as brides while eleven Orsini girls left their homes to become queens.

The historical building is kept in a perfect state of conservation by the family of Prince Livio Odescalchi who took it over in 1696. The furniture dating from 1450 to 1650 is an antiques collector’s dream. It is not original to the castle for the rich Torlonia bankers sold all the furnishings to Cardinal de Falloux when they were leasing the castle in the first half of the 19^th century.

Visitors today admire the furniture, the trophy room and the armory which were set up by Prince Baldassare Odescalchi at the beginning of this century. Younger visitors enjoy a walk along the crenellated walls, the gigantic kitchens and the stories of secret passages and mysterious murders that took place there long ago.

There are frescoes by Antonazzo Romano showing two important moments in the life of Virginio Orsini: his nomination as Captain of the Aragonese troops in 1498 and his encounter with Piero de’ Medici in 1487. Other fresco cycles, that of the female figures and one showing the labours of Hercules have been cleaned, studied and positively dated as works from the 1400’s.

Arsoli

Another superb princely home which can be visited by appointment is the castle of the Massimo princes (said to be Rome’s oldest continuing family) that dominates the medieval town of Arsoli. The Massimo family resides at the castle during part of the summer but when not in residence allows visitors to walk in their footsteps and enjoy the delights of their ancestral home, which is completely furnished with works of art and antique furniture. Originally an Orsini castle, it dates from the 11^th century with later additions and is a perfect example of a medieval rocca which was transformed during the Renaissance into a baronial palace.

The early Gothic chapel with Cosmatesque decorations, a fully outfitted armory, frescoes by Federico Zuccari and the elegant Italian garden and Castle Park are some of the highlights of a visit to Arsoli which is 60 kms. south of Rome. Because of the castle’s location on the peak of a steep hill there are only two exact points from which it can be seen in its entirety. One of these is beyond the town where the castle can be admired inserted among the cypress, oak and olive groves; the other is from the outer garden which was added later just for this purpose.

Ostia Antica

Famous for the interesting archeological excavations of the ancient port of Rome, Ostia Antica, is visited by many people for its ruins, amphiteatre and mosaics. Only a few rare visitors note the triangular fortress entrenched within its moat along with a fortified village. This is the Rocca designed by Florentine architect Baccio Pontelli in 1483-6 for Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, who later became Pope Julius II. A visit to the Rocca of Ostia Antica gives one a perfect idea of the Italian Renaissance for there are the military necessities which made the Rocca a strategic link in the chain protecting Rome and the Tiber but there are also the civilized niceties of a circular Arabian-style sauna bath all in stone, the well furnished main rooms and the frescoed walls by Peruzzi.

Pope Julius often led groups of courtiers and friends on picnic trips by boat down the Tiber to his seaside castle with musicians and poets on board to enliven the half-day voyage. Now Ostia Antica can be reached in15 minutes with the metro train from Ostiense station or along the Via del Mare from EUR .

Next to the Rocca is the Renaissance church of Sant’Aurea and the Bishop’s palace next to the church and castle is a hidden treasure rediscovered after more than 300 years of oblivion.

Several years ago the parish priest, Padre Sangiorgi noticed that on a wall of the great hall where pieces of plaster had fallen, bits of ancient frescoed figures were beginning to appear. It turned out to be battle scenes commissioned to Baldassare Pereuzzi and his helpers more than 500 years ago by Cardinal Riario showing the Emperor Trajan fighting against the Dacians. Painted in monochrome style, the battle scenes contrast with the polychrome of the surrounding friezes. Their remarkable state of conservation makes them as brilliant as when they were covered, probably as a precaution after a plague epidemic, with strata of whitewash more than 300 years ago. 

Civita Castellana

The name of this town, Civita Castellana, tells us everything: a city and a castle.  It was once the Etruscan center of Falerii Veteres so the present use of the castle-fortress as an Etruscan museum is quite fitting. Built by Sangallo for Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI 1494-1503)) and for his son Duke Valentino, the castle has a roughly pentagonal shape and several towers of various design, all surrounded by a moat similar to that of Castle Sant’Angelo. The popes used it during the 19^th century as a political prison and during the last war it was a residence for the homeless. After a complete restoration begun in 1952 it has returned to its former glory with austere halls, dramatic stairways and central courtyard making a perfect setting for the handsome new Etruscan museum which is an incentive for visiting this lively town on the fringes of the regular tourist routes…and well known for tableware and ceramics.

Other special castles to visit in Lazio include:

-          Sermoneta, the Caetani family castle

-          Ninfa, walled city and Frangipane castle, gardens

-          Cerveteri, Odescalchi-Ruspoli castle and Etruscan museum

-          Caprarola, Palazzo Farnese ,the pentagon palace with frescoes and pleasure gardens   

-          Vignanello, Ruspoli family castle and Renaissance gardens