Category: Italy

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.

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.)