Category: Architecture

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.

Italy: Contemporary Architecture in Rome

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MUSEO DELL’ARA PACIS

Museo dell’Ara Pacis

Today we had another tour with guide Liz from yesterday and concentrated on examples of contemporary architecture in Rome.  Rome as a city is not always open to contemporary architecture, and it is even hard for Italian architects like Renzo Piano, to get their projects funded and then built.  Many building projects take years and years as funding is available, then dries up and construction is halted, and then started up again in fits and starts until completion.  

One of the first buildings we viewed this morning was the Museo dell’Ara Pacis designed by American architect Richard Meier.  This white mostly unadorned structure was built around an earlier building that houses the Ara Pacis, a sacred altar built to celebrate the return of Emperor Augustus from Spain and Gaul in 7 BCE.  Meier’s very contemporary building stands out midst more classical architecture and was unpopular with some for this jarring juxtaposition.  It opened in 2006.

Old style architecture near Meier’s museum

AUDITORIUM

We were eager to see Renzo Piano’s work here. The music auditorium (Auditorium Parco Della Musica Ennio Morricone) designed by him opened about 20 years ago.  It’s the largest performance space in Europe (or was) and it includes a cafe, a large bookstore, and three raised auditoriums, each of a different size.  Their exterior shells are black and look insect-like; they have been called scarabs by some.  

The building is of reddish brick using thin bricks as were used in ancient times.  We were able to see some of the interior and walk the exterior promenades while admiring the use of columns, staircases, glass, and open space. 

MAXXI

Of equal interest was Zaha Hadid’s curved and angular building, MAXXI, Museum of Art and Architecture.  Hadid was a noted British-Iraqi female architect born in Baghdad who practiced around the world.  MAXXI is the first Italian public museum of this type incorporating not only gallery space for exhibits, but also a research “hothouse” for dialogue between design, fashion, cinema, art and architecture.  

Its periscope like protrusion from the top front has a screen reflecting neighboring buildings.  Inside are a variety of curved staircases layering and crisscrossing one another.  

The information desk is curved, some public seating is curved couches, and there are also stretches of glass broken up by metal strands. It was all very striking and to me, most appealing.

MUSIC BRIDGE

Lastly, we visited the Music Bridge which was built to someday accommodate trams.  It was designed in 1999 by Armando Travajoli.  Today it was just a quiet pedestrian bridge crossing the Tiber to a sports stadium.  No teenagers were in sight skateboarding in the park underneath. I found its simplicity most attractive.

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

Italy: Fascist Period Architecture in Rome

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Post office in Testaccio

This morning the Chief Penguin and I had a guided tour of some of the architecture of the Fascist period in Rome, ranging from a post office to train stations to the grand buildings of the EUR area.  This is architecture from Benito Mussolini’s time in power, roughly 1922 to 1942. Our guide, Liz, a transplanted American, married to a Roman, has lived in Rome for 33 years.  An  architect focusing on historic preservation, she was knowledgeable and friendly and easy to engage with questions. 

Interior of 1924 post office

Our first stop was a striking post office building in the Testaccio area from 1924. Designed in the Rationalist style, it looks strikingly modern, especially compared to the nearby ornate, castle-like firehouse built the same year.  

Classic firehouse, 1924

The interior was equally majestic with curves and pendant lights.  What looked strange was the rows of chairs with people waiting to be served.  You take a number (and perhaps a seat), just like in the DMV offices in some U.S. cities!

Waiting for your number

We also checked out an early train station that took folks from Rome to the beach in Lido on the Tyrrhenian Sea. With regular train service, the Lido community greatly expanded in size.  From the outside, this station looks quite simple.   Inside is another matter entirely with some lovely sculptural scenes on the stone.  

Elaborate wall art

Next we visited the voluminous Roma Ostiense train station built in 1938 and designed to commemorate an upcoming visit from Adolf Hitler.  Part of the façade is pushed out to allow a hidden space for a car to arrive (carrying an illustrious visitor) and for the dignitary to exit and immediately enter an elaborate presidential room.  Unfortunately, that room is reserved for special functions only and not open to the public.  

Facade of Roma Ostiense train station

We were able to appreciate the many black and white mosaics on the floor portraying historic events along with bas reliefs on the exterior walls.  Also inside were two large rectangular panels of lovely green marble on each end wall, one with an eagle on it

The metro wasn’t running today, due to a strike, which gave us a few transportation challenges for the second part of the tour.  After some delay, we three did get  a cab to the southern edge of Rome to the EUR district.  Named after the planned 1942 Esposizione Universale di Roma (EUR), which never happened because of the war, it includes a number of monumental buildings designed under Mussolini’s regime to showcase the grandeur of Italy to the world.  

“Square Colosseum”, EUR

Probably the one we found the most stunning was the Palazzo della Civilta Italiana, informally known as the “Square Colosseum,” with its many arches within arches and its sheer size on its long raised base.  Classic sculptures of Romulus and Remus flank either end in addition to two bronze pieces, one a pyramid shape and part of a special exhibit.  

Blue sky shows through the end arches

Since the world exposition didn’t occur, other buildings didn’t get built, and this one never was used for its original purpose.  Somewhat ironically, I’d say, today it is the headquarters of Fendi, the Italian fashion designers. Usually, the public can enter this building, but not today!

I think she meant business!

This tour was a fascinating way to spend the morning, and we both learned a lot and enjoyed it!

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

France: Onward to Carcassonne

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SPECIAL DINNER AT LA BELLE DEMEURE

On our last night with Richard and Philippe, they served us a marvelous dinner on the terrace.  We began with Philippe’s homemade walnut wine as an aperitif.  First course was a delicate medallion of foie gras terrine with some homemade onion jam. 

Foie gras plate

 This was followed by a beef daube along with panfried broccoli finished with sesame oil.  Dessert was a piece of walnut cake and a slice of walnut ice cream, both homemade, of course. 

Dessert

 The food was all delicious, but even better, we had a wide-ranging conversation with our hosts.  So much so, we felt like we had made new friends.

GETTING TO CARCASSONNE

The drive to Carcassonne was projected to take around 3 hours with most of the trip on the super highway.  The first hour was typical French countryside over, around, and up on narrow one-lane roads.  Pretty, but the Chief Penguin was glad we were the only car around.  Ultimately, we joined A20 and began to concentrate on keeping the gas tank filled.  Today was a General Strike day all over France, so some businesses were closed and no trains or mass transit were running.  

On the plus side, service areas on French highways are numerous and fairly closely spaced. There are “aires” that are what we in the U.S. would call rest areas with parking and usually restrooms.  Interspersed with those are other aires which have a gas station and coffee shop and sometimes also a restaurant.  On the negative side, a few aires were totally closed (there was messaging ahead on the electronic signboard), and many were under construction.  

The roads in these aires loop around like spaghetti, and the signage is not always clear.  The first time we stopped for gas, there was so much construction we couldn’t easily get to the pumps, another time we missed the internal turn for the restaurant and didn’t like the food offered at the gas station. Finally we settled on an aire where we surrendered to a small salad bar with quite a choice of ingredients. We ate outside at a high tables with stools.  Lunch accomplished.

CARCASSONNE

Several miles before you reach the old city of Carcassonne (La Cite’), it looms up looking perfectly put together, yet out of place.  A bit like something you’d expect in Dungeons and Dragons.  We parked just outside the walls and began our exploration.  I first heard about Carcassonne, this famous medieval city, in one of my high school French classes.  It was part of a sentence we learned for vocabulary, and ever since, I’ve wanted to visit it.

Entrance to La Cite’
Outer wall of Carcassonne seen from inside

The height of the outer walls, the bridge over the empty moat, and the large, now open, gate are almost overwhelming in their size.  Inside, the streets are narrow and wind around, with stores, restaurants, and an uncountable number of ice cream parlors.  Normally, you can pay to enter the chateau and access the ramparts, but it was closed due to the strike. 

Love the series or arches

 The chateau and the cathedral dominate the city.  Churches never close, though, and we were able to go into the cathedral, Basilique Saint-Nazaire.  I was impressed by its height and very much liked the rich purples and reds of the stained glass.  

Rose window in the cathedral

DINNER IN CARCASSONNE

Quiet streets in the evening

Carcassonne in the evening was quiet except for the open restaurants and cafes.  The tour groups and the lively students had all retreated.  We debated where to have dinner and compromised on Le Jardin de la Tour.   The Chief Penguin was very enthusiastic about his panfried cepes (it’s the season for these mushrooms), and equally pleased with the cassoulet he ordered. Cassoulet, a stew of white beans cooked with duck and pork, is the dish in this region and appears on almost every menu. 

Traditional cassoulet

I ordered cold salmon crumble with avocado which was a mound of raw salmon on avocado purée topped with crumbs and served with a green salad.  A different taste experience.  For my main, I had a pasta dish heavy on the Parmesan cheese with some small shrimps on it.  I had been craving pasta or something different from all the fish I’ve consumed. 

Pasta with zucchini

The excuse was we’ll never be in Carcassonne again, so dessert was a plate of profiteroles for the CP and some strawberry and citron sorbet for me.  A good dinner in a medieval dining hall.

OUR B&B

This B&B, Le Jardin de la Cite, has a prime location just a short distance beyond Caracassone’s walls.  We left the car here and walked into old Carcassone in the evening.  That took all of about 5-7 minutes.  

Our host, Daniele’s property is lovely with a single story house, pool and nice lawn, and a casita with two rooms where we stayed.  She  is retiring the end of the week to spend more time with family in Spain and do other things. We are some of her last guests. 

 For breakfast, she provided an attractive buffet of croissants, muffins, some sliced ham, cheese, and dishes of fresh fruit. The Chief Penguin thought the coffee was especially good.  During the summer when the B&B was full, she had 12 guests.  

Note: Photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved.) Header image is Carcassone at night from outside the walls.