Category: Architecture

Italy: Wandering Historic Cortona

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SETTING

View from Cortona to mountains

Cortona is a town in Tuscany built on a hillside at an elevation of 2,000 feet. Some of its original walls remain and the architecture is primarily medieval. It was an Etruscan kingdom, then a Roman colony, then independent, and in the 15th century part of the Medici holdings. When Italy was united into one country, Cortona became part of Tuscany. At the highest points, there are good views toward large Lake Trasimeno.

Interesting arches and windows

We stayed at hotel down the hill from the town, a short walk up a fairly steep street to Garibaldi Piazza. From then on, this main thoroughfare is pretty flat and it’s a short walk past shops and eateries (wine bars, pizzerias, trattorias, and restaurants) to the Piazza della Repubblica, site of the town hall with its simple bell tower and clock.

Piazza della Repubblica

CHURCHES AND ART

Today, our guide was Giovanni, a proud native of Cortona whose family goes back to the 1300s. He was both funny and knowledgeable about the town’s history and its famous art and artists. In his spare time, he’s also a cabinetmaker.

On our walk before the town center, he spoke about the medieval buildings we passed. He pointed out the large doors for what were shops next to a narrow door, perhaps no longer a door, for entry into the house. The buildings have a flat surface and are often painted in the ochres, greens, and mustard shades one associates with Tuscany.

Our first stop was the Catterdrale di Santa Maria Assunta or the Cortona Cathedral, where we admired the Romanesque sanctuary and looked at an altar carved out of the softer Italian walnut.

Romanesque cathedral interior
Carved walnut altar

Next stop was the Diocesan Museum, a small museum of paintings by artists associated with Cortona. Of especial note are two works by Fra Angelico which I thought were stunning in their use of colors. One is the Annunciation and the other a Madonna grouping. There are some marvelous details in these paintings which my photos don’t show.

Annunciation, 1434-1436
Mary with infant Jesus

Another noteworthy artist is Luca Signorelli, a native of Corona, renowned for his rendering of human anatomy. One painting of his here is The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary painted between 1519-1521. Giovanni asked us to note the delicacy of the hands and the folds in the golden robe. In the lower half, Mary is surrounded by the apostles. Here is the painting and then a close-up of part of it.

The Assumption… 1519-1521

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Italy: Discovering Spello

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FLOWERS

Yesterday we spent most of the day in Spello, a short drive from Perugia. Spello is an old Etruscan town and one known for its annual religious flower festival, Infiorate di Spello, around Easter. There are many window boxes on buildings and walls, and folks collect and dry the blossoms to be used for creating what is a flower carpet. It is a true work of art with a different theme every year and incorporates flower petals of a range of colors.

Poster of procession at flower festival

The carpet extends down the middle of the street. Priests are allowed to walk on it, photographers snap shots, and people line up on both sides of the street.

AQUEDUCT

Portion of Roman Aqueduct, Spello

Our day was a delight and we were again with our “regular” guide Werner. He is a most versatile fellow with a keen eye for art and full of facts about the frescoes in the several churches we visited. We began with a walk along the Roman Aqueduct trail on the edge of Spello. We saw remains of the aqueduct and admired lovely olive trees with their small fruits. It was a quiet morning and the countryside peaceful—-only one couple and no cars.

Olive trees outside Spello

Before a long and delicious lunch, we wandered down the streets of Spello. Our guide wisely suggested the driver leave us at the top of the town to save us navigating the steep inclines. It was still early enough that there were more cars on the streets than pedestrians. Some alleyways had hooks left from when chains were pulled across to prevent horses from going down the alley. Narrow passage ways often had an enclosed arch at the top.

FRESCOES

Self portrait by artist Pictoricius

In one of the churches, we viewed some stunning frescoes by Bernardino de Betto, known as Pinturicchio, a painter during the Umbrian Renaissance. Note the depth of colors and the details.

Mary after Jesus’ birth
At the temple, detail

INDULGENT LUNCH

Lunch was at a wine cellar cum restaurant called Enoteca Properzio. We had a set menu and tasted four different local wines ranging from a robust white to a merlot/cabernet super Tuscan, an amorone, and then a red sagrantino dessert wine.

Winemaker & restaurant host

First was a plate with a tomato bruschetta and two slices of bread with different olive oils on them. The bruschetta was especially good!

Bruschetta plate

Then came homemade tagliolini with black truffles (yum!), followed by meatballs in tomato sauce and a small dish of salad greens, and finally some almond and chocolate biscotti.

It was a feast of local flavors and tastes, and we enjoyed it all!

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Italy: Glimpses of Perugia

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PARK SCENES

Situated high up on the ramparts, Perugia has a small park with a view out over the buildings below and over the valley to the mountains.

TOWN HALL

In the historic center is an attractive town hall and museum with on one side sculptures of a griffin and a lion, both symbols of Perugia. Inside the hall is another pair of these animals, at least one dating to the 13th century.

Perugia town hall
Early griffin sculpture

PIAZZA AT DUOMO

In front of the duomo is a very famous fountain. This fountain was at one time key to the town’s water supply. It also has scenes around its base for each month. One shows the harvesting of figs, an important crop and food source.

Piazza in front of duomo
Fountain with elaborate sculpting

UNDERGROUND PERUGIA

Perugia also has an elaborate underground system of tunnels and passageways. From the park level where we were, they were reached by escalator. People arriving in Perugia at the parking lot, by tour bus or car, take a different escalator down to reach this underground network.

Parts of temples discovered underground were built in the 6th century BCE; in the 16th century, homes and other structures were built on top of them when Roman noble families were battling with the pope. Walking through them today, the space is high in volume with lots of arches.

PARK WITH FOUNTAIN

Lastly, here are two images from another park set away from the ramparts area which has a small fountain and an impressive statue of Italy’s first king, Vittorio Emanuele II.

Vittorio Emanuele II

Our guide again today was the extremely well-informed and delightful Werner!

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.). Header photo is a view from Perugia’s upper level.

Italy: Orvieto

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DUOMO DI ORVIETO

Yesterday we traveled from Rome to Perugia via Orvieto.  It was a pretty ride and a combination of winding country roads and some time on the highway.  We spent several hours in Orvieto, focusing mainly on the striking 14th century Duomo di Orvieto.  

This cathedral, unlike others of gray stone, has beautiful mosaics on the front façade. The side exterior walls and the inside have a striped appearance from alternating layers of white travertine and blackish basalt. 

Travertine & basalt on side walls
Mosaics on facade of Duomo di Orvieto

In style, this cathedral is Italian Gothic.  Dedicated to St. Mary, its history is related to transubstantiation, the transfer of the element of communion into the actual blood of Christ.   A traveling priest found that his Host was bleeding so much it stained the altar cloth.  This cloth is now stored in one of the cathedral’s chapels. 

 It is one of the most distinctive and loveliest large churches I’ve seen anywhere. It sits high on a volcanic or lava neck on a small piazza.

Column in duomo interior

We also stopped by the original church here. Orvieto was a poor town surrounded by farms and the church was small. It has been rebuilt to some extent, but the contrast between this building and the duomo funded by the Vatican is great.

Chiesa di Sant’Andrea with separate bell tower

PERUGIA

Cafe scene Perugia

From Orvieto, we went on to Perugia, capital of Umbria, where we will stay for several nights.  Here we enjoyed drinks at one café and then dinner at another, both in the center of the main thoroughfare. Compared to Rome, it was wonderfully calm and less touristy. At one end of the street were a crowd of people and some classic race cars; occasionally a low slung car rumbled by on one side.  

Locals and others strolled past and it was fun to people watch.  We even engaged with a young man masquerading as a cow.  We didn’t why, but he and his cohorts provided some entertainment. Later we learned it may have been part of a graduation exercise.

Young people on the street

FOOD

In Italy, almost all restaurants and cafes serve only Italian food.  Not other cuisines.  We’ve had several pizzas, ranging from good to so-so, and pasta dishes.  Most noteworthy for pasta for the Chief Penguin and me has been the tagliolini with truffles.  In one case, a mix of black and white truffles, and yesterday at lunch, pasta generously dressed with black truffles.  White ones are not fully in season yet.  

Our other treats were roast lamb or lamb cooked over a wood fire and gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce for the C.P.  I indulged in vitello tonnato, paper thin slices of veal covered with a tuna sauce (consistency of thin mayonnaise) topped with capers, and served cold.  I first had this dish in Rome more than 40 years ago and for me, it’s a must at least once every trip.  

Note: Photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.) Header photo is of the piazza around the Duomo Di Orvieto.