CINEMA
Digital travel magazine about villages and slow tourism
CRACO,
non just western
LE CASTELLA,
silver ribbons
BEVAGNA,
technicolor set
Issue 10 2019 Free edition
Calabria,
a stage in a region
The Land of Mantua,
delicacies and Bertolucci
Villages crossborder,
British cast
Legends and curiosities,
suspense plots
www.e-borghitravel.com
An amazing trip in the walled cities of Veneto brings you in the heart of the Medieval and Renaissance history, thanks to the treasures and the art masterpieces that you will discover walking or cycling among villages, castles and impressive bastions.
Montagnana | Padua | Veneto
HAPPINESS IS A JOURNEY.
bit.fieramilano.it
9 - 11 FEBBRAIO FEBRUARY 2020 FIERAMILANOCITY | MICO
DI
ER
SCOV
Click on the “discover” icon when you find it to deepen your reading and find out more details from the e-borghi.com website
Don’t miss any issue of e-borghi travel. Subscribe to the newsletter and you will unlock the download of the magazine!
Sassi, Marera. On the set of “007 No time to die” to be released in April 2020 maserrac/Shutterstock.com
® e-borghi travel 10 www.e-borghitravel.com Publisher Giusi Spina direzione@3scomunicazione.com Publishing coordinator Luciana Francesca Rebonato coordinamento@e-borghi.com Art director Ivan Pisoni grafica@e-borghi.com Editorial office Simona Poerio segreteria@e-borghi.com With the collaboration of Antonella Andretta, Simona PK Daviddi, Grazia Gioè, Marino Pagano, Luca Sartori, Nicoletta Toffano, Carola Traverso Saibante Translation Beatrice Lavezzari Draft revision Luca Sartori Promotion and Advertising 3S Comunicazione – Milano Cosimo Pareschi pareschi@e-borghi.com Editing 3S Comunicazione Corso Buenos Aires, 92, 20124 Milano info@3scomunicazione.com tel. 0287071950 – fax 0287071968 The use of our website and our on-line magazine is subject to the following terms: all rights reserved. Any section of www.e-borghi.com can’t be reproduced, recorded or broadcasted in any form or by any means, be it electronic or mechanical or through photocopies, recording or other systems without a previous written authorization by 3S Comunicazione. Although a careful check of the information that are contained in this issue has been carried out, 3S Comunicazione won’t be considered responsible for any mistakes or omissions. The opinions being given by contributors are necessarily the same as the ones given by 3S Comunicazione. Unless different directions, the individual copyrights belong to the contributors. All efforts have been made to track down the owners of the photos’ copyright in case they were not taken by our photographers. We’re apologizing in advance for possible omissions and we’re available to enter further clarifications in the next issues. © 2019 e-borghi
ie
Under the patronage of
ne
Band
ra
Paesi ei
iazione d soc
As
Parli italiano? Leggi la versione in italiano
A ra n cio
Marchio di qualità turistico ambientale per l’entroterra del Touring Club Italiano
S t a g i o n e
lirica e
balletto
19 2020
DON CARLO
PINOCCHIO
LA TRAVIATA
24, 27, 30 novembre, 3, 7 dicembre 2019 / Teatro La Fenice
13, 15, 17, 19, 21 dicembre 2019 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 marzo 2020 / Teatro Malibran
4, 5, 18, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29 gennaio 2020 / Teatro La Fenice
Pierangelo Valtinoni
Giuseppe Verdi
A HAND OF BRIDGE Samuel Barber
DUSE
IL CASTELLO DEL PRINCIPE BARBABLÙ
John Neumeier Hamburg Ballett
5, 6, 7, 8, 9 febbraio 2020 / Teatro La Fenice
A kékszakállú herceg vára Béla Bartók
Giuseppe Verdi
LA SERVA PADRONA Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
13, 14, 15 febbraio 2020 / Teatro Malibran
17, 19, 21, 23, 25 gennaio 2020 / Teatro La Fenice
L’ELISIR D’AMORE
CARMEN
ENGELBERTA
15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25 febbraio 2020 / Teatro La Fenice
25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31 marzo 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 aprile 2020 / Teatro La Fenice
26, 27, 28 marzo 2020 / Teatro Malibran
RIGOLETTO
FARNACE
FAUST
23, 26, 29 aprile 2, 6, 8, 19, 21, 23, 27, 29, 31 maggio 2020 / Teatro La Fenice
30 aprile, 3, 5, 7, 9 maggio 2020 / Teatro Malibran
22, 24, 26, 28, 30 maggio 2020 / Teatro La Fenice
Georges Bizet
Gaetano Donizetti
Giuseppe Verdi
Antonio Vivaldi
RINALDO
ROBERTO DEVEREUX
Georg Friedrich Händel
19, 21, 25, 27 giugno, 1, 3 luglio 2020 / Teatro La Fenice
Gaetano Donizetti
26, 28, 30 giugno, 2, 4 luglio 2020 / Teatro La Fenice
LA TRAVIATA
IL TROVATORE
27, 29 agosto, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 19, 20, 24, 26 settembre 2 ottobre 2020 / Teatro La Fenice
25, 27 settembre 4, 10, 13 ottobre 2020 / Teatro La Fenice
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Charles Gounod
AIDA
Giuseppe Verdi 23, 28, 30 agosto 1, 2, 5, 9, 13 settembre 2020 / Teatro La Fenice
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA Gioachino Rossini
3, 8, 14, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27 ottobre 2020 / Teatro La Fenice
DER SCHAUSPIELDIREKTOR
LA CAMBIALE DI MATRIMONIO
9, 11, 15, 17, 20 ottobre 2020 / Teatro Malibran
11, 15 ,17, 20 ottobre 2020 / Teatro La Fenice
PRIMA LA MUSICA E POI LE PAROLE Antonio Salieri
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Main Partner
Tomaso Albinoni
Call center Hellovenezia (+39) 041 2424 www.teatrolafenice.it
Gioachino Rossini
Direzione Generale
SPETTACOLO
ditorial
eLuciana Francesca Rebonato facebook.com/lfrancesca.rebonato
“T
he Great Beauty”. The cult motion picture by Paolo Sorrentino is much more than a movie, it’s an anthology of oral and visual aphorisms that turn the movie into pure aesthetics where the contents and the form are perfectly overlapped. The same spirit features the Italian villages whose beauty becomes the set of full movies or single scenes, the backstage which is the protagonist of this issue of e-borghi travel: we paid homage to the landscapes through the cinema because they are part of a shared memory. It’s a connection that was born with the Neo-realism, it left the theatres and entered into an International film production. Starting with the Medieval village of Bevagna, in Umbria, the list of movies, TV movies and fictional stories that have been set here is very long. Paul Verhoeven, the director of “Basic Instinct” shot “Blessed Virgin” in Bevagna, the movie is going to be released at the end of 1999 with the name of “Benedetta”. Along the Ionian coastline of Calabria we’ll lead you at the discovery of Le Castella: the scenes of some of the most famous Italian movies like “For Love and Gold” that was awarded with three silver Ribbons and the “The Gospel according to Matthew” by Pier Paolo Paolini where shot around the massive Aragon stronghold of Le Castella. So Calabria becomes a stage region and emphasises the connection between the landscape and the characters. We continued our journey towards Craco in Basilicata where the horizon is a rugged series of hills and valleys: the scene of Judah’s hanging from “The Passion” written and directed by Mel Gibson was shot there as well as other famous movies like “Christ stopped at Eboli” by Francesco Rosi. The “tasty week-end” is focused on a sort movie tour in the area of Mantua where “1900”, the masterpice by Bernardo Bertolucci, was set. On the other hand, beyond the border, the attention has been focused on Great Britain where the first moving images were developed on a film in London in 1889. This e-borghi travel issue dedicated to the art week is the container of special effects to be read and to be discovered. It’s not by chance that the outsider Claude Lelouch stated «Cinema is for all those whose curiosity is the greatest flaw». Luciana Francesca Rebonato Publishing Editor
Summary Le Castella
Bevagna
Craco
Life is a combination of pasta and magic
Greedy Weekend
Calabria
Crossborder: Great Britain
Out of place holidays
Legends
Curiosities
Review
On the cover: Piazza Silvestri, Bevagna Andrey_Kuzmin - Paolo Paradiso/Shutterstock.com
Luca Sartori
twitter.com/LucaSartoriIT
Le Castella, history on the water
Andrea Rustichelli/Shutterstock.com
F
rom the heart of this tiny sea village you’ll see the Aragonese castle in the distance, it’s connected to the coastline through a stretch of land and sand. Set in the heart of the marine protected area of “Capo Rizzuto”, the village of Le Castella is a well-known destination and it’s a landmark of the Ionian coastline of Calabria. You can enjoy a unique landscape from its sandy beaches and its cliffs, interspersed with light grey sand. In this part of the Ionian Sea the sky and the sea are marked by the shape
of a fortress that was built in the 15th century, it was used as a shelter for the soldiers who were facing the invaders’ attacks. This part of the coastline is particularly beautiful mainly because of the position of its fortress which was chosen as the set of many famous movies. Le Castella is one of the best loved places along the coastline of Calabria since history and art come together and they match the landscapes, the nature, the colours and the tastes of this part of Southern Italy.
mRGB/Shutterstock.com pio 3/Shutterstock
GagliardiPhotography/Shutterstock.com
leoks/Shutterstock
Rocks and coves
T
he fortress is framed inside this territory and it represents the Eastern edge of Calabria that connects the areas of Crotone, also known as Marchesato. Le Castella is featured by sandy beaches and by the rocks that shape the clear water around the Aragonese fortress, the pearl and the main attraction of this area. The seabed is inhabited by the groupers, the barracuda and some strange parrotfish. The water is also perfect for diving because of the amazing sceneries you can see underneath the sea like
the swaying of the Posidonia Oceanica bushes, the sea anemones, the breams, the sea breams and the dreamfish. You can easily find the octopus in the rocks. In the area of Le Castella and in the Marine Reserve of the Island of Capo Rizzuto you can also find the dolphins and the loggerhead turtles. You can explore the seabed even if you don’t like diving thanks to the glass bottomed ferries that offer you the chance to live an amazing experience during the day and at night.
Subphoto/Shutterstock
A
stone’s throw from the sea, between the silences and the peace of the Calabrian countryside, is the restaurant hotel L’Orizzon-
DI
te. Located in Campolongo, a small stone village of farmers and shepherds, it is open all year long. Few minutes from equipped beaches,
ER
Restaurant Hotel L’Orizzonte
SCOV
pubs and discos, from the famous Aragonese Castle of the picturesque seaside village of Le Castella and from the Norman castle of Santa Severina, a charming village in the Crotone hinterland, L’Orizzonte offers a classic decor with bedrooms that offer spectacular views of the beautiful Gulf of Squillace and the mountains of the Calabrian hinterland. From the standard double room, with garden or sea view, to the double room with balcony, from the triple with balcony to the triple economy, the hotel is able to meet the different needs of those who choose this corner of the South, offering more alter-
natives for a stay in this location on the Ionian coast of Calabria, a stone’s throw from Crotone and an area full of castles and the enchanting sea. The Horizon is not only a place to stay, but also an excellent restaurant in which to rediscover and savor the full-bodied flavors of the Calabrian land. The aromas of basil, laurel and wild fennel mix with the flavors of local game and fish, which is always served fresh here. Dishes of local tradition that are served in a large room renovated keeping the exposed stones and ceilings with wooden beams. An antique furnishing is the setting and it accompanies the tasting of recipes handed down from mother
to daughter. Homemade pasta made with tools of the past - such as thimbles with grouper - and first courses made with a modern and particularly delicate knowledge such as risotto with orange juice and shrimp but also succulent dishes prepared with local mushrooms, served in multiple versions without forgetting the inevitable, full-bodied wine of this corner of southern Italy. To be savored, in winter, in front of the warm fire of the fireplace.
leoks/Shutterstock
Naeblys/Shutterstock
The Aragonese mood
T
he fortress was an ancient shelter for the soldiers, it deserves a visit because of its particular location and its historical and architectural value. The cylindrical tower dating back to the 14th century stands out in the middle of the castle, there’s a stone spiral staircase inside it that connects the three floors. During your visit you’ll be able to praise the different historical periods that feature this jewel of the sea from where you
Naeblys/Shutterstock
can enjoy wonderful views of the coast and an important environmental context surrounded by the Marine Reserve of Capo Rizzuto. The fortress’ silhouette reaches the nearby village as well as the other places in this area where you can taste the traditional dishes like the rice with the wild fennel, the rice with the borage and the goat’s cheese, the fish soup, the fried potatoes and peppers and the fried pumpkin pie.
Claudio Stocco/Shutterstock
Pasolini and Monicelli
M
any scenes belonging to the most important Italian movies were shot in Le Castella and in its fortress. The “Armata Brancaleone” (The Incredible Army of Brancaleone) is an unforgettable movie released in 1966 directed by Mario Monicelli, starring Vittorio Gassman, Gian Maria Volontè and Catherine Spaak. It’s an adventure comedy that won three Silver Ribbons (nastri d’Argento) and it’s one of the masterpieces by this Roman director. The movie was greatly appreciated for its scenography and its costu-
mes designed by Piero Gherardi and also for the soundtrack written by Carlo Rustichelli. Another historical movie that was partially shot in Le Castella is “Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo” (The Gospel according to St. Matthew), directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1964. It’s an historical religious movie based on the life of Jesus as it’s described in Matthew’s Gospel. Among the protagonists there are Enrique Irazoqui who plays Christ, Margherita Caruso who plays Mary in her youth and Susanna Pasolini who plays Mary in her old age.
Vittorio Gassman in “L’Armata Brancaleone“
Pasolini and Margherita Caruso on the set of “Il Vangelo secondo Matteo“
The Castle of Santa Severina RudiErnst/Shutterstock
Caccuri
Silvana Mangano in the movie “Il brigante Musolino“
Santa Severina Sopotnicki/Shutterstock
Old castles
A
few kilometres far from the blue Ionian Sea there are the hills of the hinterland mainly the ones belonging to the Marchesato, an area of Calabria that borders the province of Crotone. The nice village of Caccuri is a really interesting place, it’s set at 650 metres of altitude, perched on the top of a cliff which is overlooked by an old castle. Caccuri is featured by a nice historical centre, steep slopes, narrow streets and little squares that were used as the set of a movie by Mario Camerini called “Il brigante Musolino” (Outlaw Girl) starring the great Silvana Mangano. Another jewel of the area of Marchesato is
the village of Santa Severina that was entered in the list of “the most beautiful villages of Italy”. It’s featured by a beautiful castle dating back to the Norman domination. Among the other architectural emergencies there are the Byzantine Baptistery which is featured by a circular shape and some frescos dating back to the 10th or the 12th centuries as well as the Cathedral dating back to the 13th century. Cirò, considered the regional capital of wine, also deserves a visit. It’s a well-kept medieval village near the Sila mountains where you can get lost along the narrow streets, the staircases and the amazing views.
Le Castella
BACK TO THE SUMMARY
Naeblys/Shutterstock.com
MUNICIPALITY OF CAPO RIZZUTO
CATANZARO
Borghi storici marinari
ER
SCOV
DI
Crotone
Crotone, Calabria Inhabitants: 1103 Altitude: 11 m s.l.m. Surface: 13,366 km² Patron saint: San Giuseppe Sant’Antonio di Padova Nostra Signora di Guadalupe
OPERA
BALLET
GIUSEPPE VERDI
PËTR IL’IČ ČAJKOVSKIJ
CONDUCTOR DANIELE GATTI DIRECTOR VALENTINA CARRASCO
VINCENZO BELLINI
I CAPULETI E I MONTECCHI CONDUCTOR DANIELE GATTI DIRECTOR DENIS KRIEF
PËTR IL’IČ ČAJKOVSKIJ
EVGENIJ ONEGIN CONDUCTOR JAMES CONLON DIRECTOR ROBERT CARSEN
SWAN LAKE
CONDUCTOR NIR KABARETTI / CARLO DONADIO CHOREOGRAPHER BENJAMIN PECH
SERATA JEROME ROBBINS CONDUCTOR CARLO DONADIO CHOREOGRAPHER JEROME ROBBINS
IL CORSARO CONDUCTOR ALEXEI BAKLAN CHOREOGRAPHER JOSÉ CARLOS MARTÍNEZ
GIACOMO PUCCINI
SUITE EN BLANC / SERENADE / BOLERO
CONDUCTOR ALEJO PÉREZ DIRECTOR AI WEIWEI
CONDUCTOR FAÇAL KAROUI CHOREOGRAPHY SERGE LIFAR, GEORGE BALANCHINE, KRZYSZTOF PASTOR
LEOŠ JANÁČEK
MAURICE JARRE
TURANDOT
KÁŤA KABANOVÁ CONDUCTOR DAVID ROBERTSON DIRECTOR RICHARD JONES
GIUSEPPE VERDI
LUISA MILLER CONDUCTOR ROBERTO ABBADO DIRECTOR DAMIANO MICHIELETTO
GEORGES BIZET
CARMEN
CONDUCTOR BERTRAND DE BILLY DIRECTOR EMILIO SAGI
IGOR’ STRAVINSKIJ
THE RAKE’S PROGRESS
CONDUCTOR DANIELE GATTI DIRECTOR GRAHAM VICK
GIACOMO PUCCINI
TOSCA
CONDUCTOR PIER GIORGIO MORANDI DIRECTOR ALESSANDRO TALEVI
GIUSEPPE VERDI
LA TRAVIATA CONDUCTOR PAOLO ARRIVABENI DIRECTOR SOFIA COPPOLA
OLTRE L’OPERA
Roma Opera aperta
SEASON 2019-20
NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS
CONDUCTOR LOUIS LOHRASEB CHOREOGRAPHER ROLAND PETIT
CARACALLA 2020 GIUSEPPE VERDI
AIDA
CONDUCTOR JORDI BERNÀCER DIRECTOR DENIS KRIEF
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA
CONDUCTOR STEFANO MONTANARI DIRECTOR LORENZO MARIANI
FRANZ LEHÁR
Ettore Festa, HaunagDesign - Illustration by Gianluigi Toccafondo
LES VÊPRES SICILIENNES
THE MERRY WIDOW CONDUCTOR STEFANO MONTANARI DIRECTOR DAMIANO MICHIELETTO
STRICTLY GERSHWIN CONDUCTOR GARETH VALENTINE CHOREOGRAPHER DEREK DEANE
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MESSA DA REQUIEM CONDUCTOR MYUNG-WHUN CHUNG
IGOR’ STRAVINSKIJ
OEDIPUS REX
CONDUCTOR DANIELE GATTI
operaroma.it
FOUNDERS
PRIVATE SHAREHOLDERS
PATRONS
Simona PK Daviddi
facebook.com/simona.pk.daviddi
Bevagna, a whole different movie!
Valerio Mei/Shutterstock.com
C
alling a tiny village like Bevagna “umbrian Cinecittà Studios” may sound strange but the list of movies, TV movies and fictions that have been shot there is really long and it’s going to get even longer. Only in the last two years the Dutch director Paul Verhoeven’s troupe (the author of Basic Instinct, to make myself clear) have been wondering around the narrow streets of this wonderful Medieval village. He set his “Blessed Virgin” in Bevagna, the movie is going to be released in Italy at the end of 2019 with the name “Benedetta” starring Charlotte Rampling and Lambert Wilson as
Bevagna’s Mayor, Annarita Falsacappa, with John Turturro and Damian Hardung
the protagonists; and the very young cast of the TV movie “Sara and Marti” broadcasted by Disney Channel has just moved to Bevagna for the shooting of the second series; recently the 8 episodes from the TV fiction “The Name of the Rose” broadcasted on Rai 1 last spring were partially set in Bevagna, starring John Turturro and Rupert Everett. But the role of movie set is not new for Bevagna since some important movies were shot there like “Musica in Piazza” (Music in the Square) (1936), “Brother Sun, Sister Moon” (1972) and “Don Matteo 6” (Father Matthew) (2007).
Chiara del Francia (Marti), Benedetta Tuzi (Serena) e Aurora Moroni (Sara) on the set of “Sara e Marti“
Valerio Mei/Shutterstock
Behind the scene of “Blessed Virgin“
Valerio Mei/Shutterstock
Stone jewels
B
evagna is the perfect place to shoot a movie set in the Middle Ages, its historical centre is perfectly kept and it offers views of rare beauty if you fancy strolling around its paved narrow streets and admiring the beautiful stone palaces, the chiselled doorways, the beautiful churches, the craft workshops and the massive walls. Piazza Silvestri is the core of the village, it’s one of the most beautiful Medieval squares of the region overlooked by three chur-
Valerio Mei/Shutterstock
ches, San Silvestro, an unfinished Roman jewel dating back to 1195, the church of San Michele, featuring a huge clock-tower and some beautiful frescoes dating back to the 17th century and the church of San Domenico and Giacomo built in 1291 where you can see a cycle of paintings belonging to Giotto’s school, the Gothic Palazzo Consoli, decorated with elegant mullioned windows and a staircase that leads to the Torti Theatre dating back to the 19th century.
Buffy1982/Shutterstock
Ancient echoes
B
evagna will first charm you in the distance: the view of the village surrounded by the ancient walls is breathless and a stroll around them is unmissable! You can enter the village through its bridge over the river Clitunno where you can enjoy a wonderful view of the ancient public wash house. Witnesses from the past will lead you even farther and go back to the ancient Roman origin of Mevania: along the cobbled streets you’ll bump into the findings of a Roman temple dating back to the 2nd
Marco Saracco/Shutterstock
century A.D.,the findings of a theatre and the old baths that still keep their ancient mosaic floors with the drawings of sea animals like the crested newts, the dolphins and the sea horses. Then, skipping a century, more or less, the church and the monastery of Santa Margherita deserve a visit: you can see wonderful frescoes dating back to the 16th century and the impressive Scala Santa, so called because if you go up the stairs you’ll get the same mercies of the same-named staircase of the Eternal City.
marcociannarel/Shutterstock
marcociannarel/Shutterstock
Giacomo R. Bartocci/Shutterstock
The “Gaite”: back to Middle Ages
Y
ou can hear the echoes of the Middle Ages not only in the buildings: on the last ten days of June, the most mysterious historical age is back with the Market of Gaite whose name is related to the separation of Bevagna into four districts that were called “gaite” in the Middle Ages. It’s an amazing festival that aims at reproducing in a very detailed way the life of Bevagna between 1250 and 1350 so the narrow streets of the historical centre are filled with people wearing costumes and showing the ancient trades
at the sound of music and the happiness of jugglers; the palaces and the shops re-create the atmospheres and the Medieval “set” while the inns and the restaurants offer the typical tastes from Umbria. The four districts during Winter compete at trying to offer a real picture of the importance the inhabitants used to have in the Middle Ages and they compete in four contests related to four main sectors of the Medieval life: the market, the archery, the ancient trades and, no need to say, the food.
OlgaMerolla/Shutterstock
Stefano Mazzola/Shutterstock
Ragemax/Shutterstock
ermess/Shutterstock
Tozzetti Marco Mariani/Shutterstock
OlgaMerolla/Shutterstock
Ragemax/Shutterstock
Food and wine: Sagrantino and truffles
W
e can’t help mentioning the rich food and wine offer from Bevagna which is praised for some top wine labels: actually the village is on the road of Sagrantino of Montefalco, the lively red Docg wine which can match the traditional tastes, the truffles, the porcini mushrooms, the green asparagus, the snails that can be cooked in different ways and they are special when they are stewed. Bacchus is also the protagonist of gnocchi (a type of pasta) with Sagrantino and the typical
sweets that must be accompanied with the Vinsanto. If we don’t want to leave this “liquid” environment we must mention the famous oil from Umbria that is used to season the grilled meat, mainly the boar and the lamb or the croutons made of liver. Finally, if you’re looking for some ancient tastes, consider that the recipe of gnocchi is lost in the mists of time and the legend goes that it directly comes from the kitchen of the nunnery of the Benedictine Nuns of Santa Maria del Monte.
Alexander Ingerman/Shutterstock
Bevagna
BACK TO THE SUMMARY
Paolo Paradiso/Shutterstock.com
MUNICIPALITY OF BEVAGNA
I Borghi più belli d’Italia Paesi Bandiera Arancione
ER
SCOV
DI
PERUGIA
Perugia, Umbria Inhabitants: 5013 Altitude: 210 m s.l.m. Surface: 56,22 km² Patron saint: san Vincenzo 23/8
Craco, lively rocks
Luca Sartori
twitter.com/LucaSartoriIT
ValerioMei/Shutterstock.com
Pavlo Glazkov/Shutterstock.com
O
n this rocky sour of Lucania the skyline looks like a wave of hills and valleys. The Norman tower overlooks the stone houses that are perched on the rocks while the wind is blowing and shaping the silence. Craco is a ghost village, a charming destination in the area of Matera where time has the scent of the past and it sounds being on a western movie set. It was a settlement of monks in the 10th century during Frederik II reign then it became an important strategic military area. It
also became a university city in 1276 then the banditry changed its destiny and it started to be plundered during the Napoleonic period and it became the centre of many crimes. The devastating landslide of 1963 deeply marked the history of this village since the people had to leave and move towards the valley. It was the starting of a new historical period for this peculiar village of Basilicata that now looks like a Medieval sculpture surrounded by gorges and canyons.
Alfonso Di Vincenzo/Shutterstock.com
Charming shots
C
raco is a perfect set for Western movies surrounded by dry sunny valleys so it has always captured the directors’ attention. This part of Basilicata together with its rocky landscapes have been used as a set of many movies since the end of the 1970s. Many internationally famous directors were captured by its charm and for example the hanging of Jude in the movie from 2004 directed by Mel Gibson “The Passion”, a really touching representation of the passion of Christ was shot here and many other
A scene from “Christ stopped at Eboli“ Photo 12 / Alamy Image Bank
scenes were shot in the nearby Matera. Among the other famous movies shot in Craco there are “Christ stopped at Eboli” by Francesco Rosi, a movie from 1978 that took inspiration from the Italian writer, painter, politician, antifascist writer Carlo Levi, “King David” by Bruce Beresford, shot in 1985, “Night Sun” by Taviani brothers, a movie from 1990, “ The Nymph” by Lina Wertmuller from 1996, “La Lupa” (The she-wolf ) by Gabriele Lavia from 1996 and “Terra Bruciata” (Burnt land) by Fabio Segatori from 1999.
Craco ValerioMei/Shutterstock.com
Mel Gibson magicinfoto/Shutterstock.com
Alfonso Di Vincenzo/Shutterstock.com
Massimiliano Marino/Shutterstock.com
Lost palaces
T
here’s a huge gate at the entrance of the village. A stones avenue will lead you towards the beginning of your exploration. You can follow a safe route by wearing a helmet since the village is always moving and subject to continuous failures. Some buildings belonging to the 15th century that used to feature the village in the past have survived like the Grossi palace with its frescos with flower designs which is located near the main church and palazzo Carbone, a building dating back to the end of the 15th century that was restored and widened in the 18th
century. Beside the building that was once palazzo Maronna there is a tower overlooking the village dating back to the 13th century, the local people call it the “castle”. It’s featured by a particular doorway and the towers has some beautiful windows from where you can enjoy a wonderful view over the meadows and the canyons that frame the centre of the village. Thanks to the peculiarity of this territory and its ancient village surrounded by the valleys, the rocks and a particular environment, Craco was entered into the list of the World Monuments Founds.
Dionisio iemma/Shutterstock.com
ValerioMei/Shutterstock
Das Schwein/Shutterstock
Meadows and canyons
T
here are plenty of ways to experience Craco. You can reach it by car along the turns that will catch your curiosity as the village is approaching. You can cycle and match your efforts with a slow wave of views of the valleys and the meadows and you can stretch your sight over the ruins of the ghost village. You can walk along a slow route and plunge into one of the most exciting areas of Basilicata surrounded by the nature
and a unique moon-like landscape. It’s an extraordinary feeling. Besides the tracks in the thick vegetation, the meadows, the canyons and the landscapes there are also some historical and religious destinations like the church of Madonna della Stella dating back to the 17th century, the ruins of the little church of Sant’Eligio near Stigliano and the Franciscan monastery of Saint Peter Prince of Apostles.
Farmhouse Il Calanco
DI
ER
SCOV
Caffetteria Umberto
I
mmersed in the enchanting scenery of the Calanchi National Park, 15 kilometers from the sea and 50 from the mountains, the farmhouse Il Calanco in Contrada Santa Lucia, in Pisticci, is a pearl of tranquility far from the chaos of the city and equipped for tourist accommodation. Farm and livestock in full operation, Il Calanco offers its guests the opportunity to enjoy the ancient traditions of peasant culture by taking part directly in company activities such as the harvest of vegetables and care of the animals of the structure.
Caffetteria Umberto
In fact, the Calanco is home to a herd of sheep and goats, cattle, pigs and other farm animals. Ideal setting for those seeking contact with nature, the structure offers tourists the chance to stay overnight in a healthy and particularly welcoming environment: in comfortable rooms with classic furnishings, in elegant and refined suites - with larger spaces - and in external rooms, ideal for families and small groups, also equipped with comfort and with the possibility of direct access to the garden, where a playground with
qualified instructors joins the playground for the little ones. Instead, the protagonists of the rich farmhouse table are the aromas of the typical Lucan cuisine and unmistakable authentic flavors, a triumph of typical Lucanian appetizers, tasty traditional first courses and succulent second courses, in an ideal setting to host small and medium receptions . Il Calanco is an unmissable stop to visit the ancient village of Craco, the Sassi of Ma-
tera, the center of Aliano - the town of Carlo Levi -, the village of Irsina, where you can admire the statue of Mantegna, the picturesque center of Pisticci, where enjoy the beautiful Abbazia del Casale and Tursi, where to visit the Rabatana, combining unforgettable trips in unique places with lots of relaxation, continuous contact with nature, the many comforts and services and lots of good traditional Lucan food.
Caffetteria Umberto
Ferrandina Dionisio iemma/Shutterstock
Pisticci ValerioMei/Shutterstock
Urban frescos
T
here are two amazing villages a few kilometres far from Craco. They are two unmissable destinations if you intend exploring this area near Matera. Ferrandina and Pisticci, true treasures of Basilicata, they are museum-villages that exhibit some exciting urban frescos. The actor and director Michele Placido decided to shoot the movie “Of Lost Love� around the squares, the religious buildings and the characteristic white houses of Ferrandina in 1998. This village overlooks the river Basento and it developed around a
bunch of white houses and the patrician houses whose doorways and coats of arms stand out. Pisticci is featured by the white narrow streets and the red tiles of the roofs, it’s an artistic village that offers an interesting historical route. Piazza Umberto I is the heart of the village while the church of the Mother of the Saints Peter and Paul, the little church of Annunziata, the castle of San Basilio, the Renaissance Palazzo De Franchi and the Palazzocchio are just a few examples of the historical jewels of this ancient village.
Craco
BACK TO THE SUMMARY
RobertoRicco/Shutterstock.com
MUNICIPALITY OF CRACO
POTENZA
ER
SCOV
DI
Matera
Matera, Basilicata Inhabitants: 725 Altitude: 391 m s.l.m. Surface: 77,04 km² Patron saint: San Nicola
FILM GIRATI A CRACO • La lupa, di Alberto Lattuada • Il tempo dell’inizio, di Luigi Di Gianni, 1974 • Cristo si è fermato a Eboi, di Francesco Rosi, 1978 • King David, di Bruce Beresford, 1981 • Saving Grace, di Tom Conti, 1988 • Il sole anche di notte, di Paolo e Vittorio Taviani, 1986 • Ninfa Plebea, Lina Wertmuller, 1996 • Terra bruciata, di Fabio Segatori, 1997 • La passione di Cristo, di Mel Gibson, 2003-2004 • The Big Question, diretto da Francesco Cabras, Alberto Molinari, 2004
• Nativity di Catherine Hardwicke, 2005-2006 • Nine Poems in Basilicata, di Antonello Faretta, 2007-2008 • Agente 007 - Quantum of Solace, di Marc Forster • Basilicata coast to coast, di Rocco Papaleo, 2009 • Murder in the dark, Dagen Merrill, 2010 • Montedoro, Antonello Faretta, 2012 • The young messia (Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt), di Cyrus Nowrasteh, 2016 • Mari Magdalene, di Garth Davis, 2018 Archivio storico Craco Ricerche SRL
È possibile, insieme alla visita turistica del Parco Museale Scenografico di Craco e del Museo Emozionale, effettuare il percorso dei film girati a Craco ed eventualmente visonarli presso il MEC o nella sala cinematografica di Palazzo della Cultura.
CRACORICERCHE.NET
CRACOMUSEUM.EU
INFO@CRACORICERCHE.NET
NATURALE
perché fatto solo con carne di maiale italiano, sale marino e l’aria di San Daniele.
SINCERO
perché non ha segreti, solo un ambiente intatto e magie naturali; terre alte, le Alpi, l’Adriatico e il vento.
…UNICO
perché più che un Prosciutto è una cultura.
Il segreto del San Daniele è San Daniele w w w. p r o s c i u t t o s a n d a n i e l e . i t
Life is a combination of pasta and magic
Carola Traverso Saibante
Stokkete - Flas100/Shutterstock.com
Life is a combination of pasta and magic
T
otò in the movie “Fear and Sand” (1948) asked: “Regarding politics, what about eating a little something?!?”. The Prince de Curtis replied four years later with the great binge of spaghetti in the movie Poverty and Nobility: even in the ears, in the coat’s pockets, dancing on the table. So, which sauce can season the Italian food of movies if not the one that made the village of Amatrice famous in the world? The protagonist of this country dish is the “guanciale”, a Traditional Food Product and the original version is the white one.
Alberto Sordi in “An american in Rome“
The spaghetti that Alberto Sordi eats back from holidays in the movie “Where are you going on holiday?”(1978) is unforgettable too as well as the “Spaghetti a mezzanotte” (1981) starring Lino Banfi, with his Fleming invasions of all sorts of pasta starting with the “maccheroni”. The maccheroni alla chitarra are superb, it’s eggs made pasta coming from Abruzzo, it’s worked by using an ancient tool called “chitarra”, a sort of rectangular beech wooden frame that contains very thin strips of brass at a distance of 2 millimetres from one another.
Totò in “Poverty and nobility“
Life is a combination of pasta and magic
Bucatini alla matriciana Ezume Images/Shutterstock.com
Life is a combination of pasta and magic
A wheat field in Sardinia Lois photo/Shutterstock.com
A scene from “Big Deal on Madonna Street“
Nourishing pasta, cherishing chickpeas F
ellini used to say: “Life is a combination of pasta and magic”. But pasta is not only made of shapes and dressing: the raw material is crucial mainly the whole wheat. Why not choose the old, nourishing, three-coloured variety like the “Senatore Cappelli”? It goes back to 1920, it’s featured by high quality nutrients and its original cultivation area is Sardinia. The recipe of the “Ciciri e tria” comes from Puglia and it was brought by the Arabic people that used to reign in this area, it’s the version from Salento of the pasta with the chick peas. The most famous movie version is the
one of the movie “Big Deal on Madonna Street“ (I soliti ignoti) a movie from 1958 where the unlucky thieves who are the protagonists of the masterpiece by Mario Monicelli, instead of reaching the treasure of the Monte della Pietà (the pawnshop), come out of an anonymous kitchen and take comfort by eating this popular dish. According to the tradition, it sounds being a sort of tagliatella that is partially boiled and fried then is mixed up with the stewed chick peas. Don’t leave Puglia and let’s taste another special version of the trio Italy-food-movies.
Life is a combination of pasta and magic
Ciciri e tria Fanfo/Shutterstock.com
Life is a combination of pasta and magic
Julia Roberts at the premiere of “Eat, pray love” Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com
Angelo D’Amico/Shutterstock.com
The beauty and the beast C
an you remember the beautiful Julia Roberts eating pizza at the timeless restaurants of Rome in the movie “Eat, pray, love” (2010)? If she was in the Gargano area she would eat the “pizza a Vamp” that means cooked with the “vampa” (heat) of the wood oven. It’s a sort of focaccia-bread that was already known in the year 1500, it has a long shape, that’s why its local name is Paposcia meaning slipper and it’s dressed with the oil produced by the massive olive trees of Vico del Gargano, an amazing village set between the sky, the forest and the sea that is ni-
cknamed “the village of ancient love”. If we mention the pizza we can’t miss the tomatoes. Actually the cherry tomatoes! They have a peculiar feature, they are cold outside while they are like a “fireball of 18thousand degrees inside!!!” (Il secondo tragico Fantozzi, 1976). How hot could the Winter cherry tomatoes from Tuscany be? Bunches of smooth long-shaped orange cherry tomatoes that are hung in ventilated rooms and they keep their freshness until Christmas, sometimes until February… “You don’t want to spit it here, do you? Fantozzi: go out!!!”
Life is a combination of pasta and magic
Dave Minchin/Shutterstock.com
Paolo Villaggio and Ugo Bologna in “the second tragic Fantozzi”
La vita è una combinazione di pasta e magia
BACK TO THE SUMMARY
A scene from “Bicycle Thieves“
Big mozzarella cheese and thin paté T
hen it’s the mozzarella’s turn. Which is the most famous of the screen? According to us it’s the one that travels on a coach and makes the water in Brunos’ mouth, the little boy protagonist of Bicycle Thieves (1948) before another child who can afford it. Do you know the mozzarella cheese from the Sila mountains? It’s a local limited production from Calabria which is related to the Summer cattle driving along the dry meadows from the Ionian coastline towards the mountains. It’s fat, pasty and more nourishing, it’s wrapped in the rush stems and in the bracken. And finally we just have to start our Gran-
de bouffe (1973). The paté de fois gras stands out among the dishes that were made by Ugo Tognazzi for the movie where he’s the protagonist together with Mastroianni, Noiret e Piccoli. Its production is luckily forbidden in Italy: the “gavage” that is the agonizing geese force-feeding has been forbidden by the law for around twelve years. There is a similar Italian product that is the goose liver paté (it isn’t fat!) coming from Lomellina, an area near Pavia where the geese have been bred since the Middle Ages when a big Jewish community used to live there and they didn’t eat the pork meat.
La vita è una combinazione di pasta e magia
Philippe Noiret, Ugo Tognazzi and Andréa Ferréol in a scene of “Grande bouffe”
HQuality/Shutterstock.com
Foodio/Shutterstock.com
craiweb.it craiweb.it
d n e k e e yw
d e e Gr
Luca Sartori
twitter.com/LucaSartoriIT
Weekend in the land of Mantua
Ducal Palace, Mantua gkordus/Shutterstock.com
Piazza Ducale, Sabbioneta Amy Corti/Shutterstock.com
T
he province of Mantua is one of the richest soils of the Padan Plain. The environment around these areas of water and land is unique and the director Bernarddo Bertolucci decided to shoot many scenes of his masterpiece “Novecento” (1900) there. Winter, mainly the period of the year leading to Christmas is particularly charming. The fog sometimes discloses magic villages, amazing art treasures and natural views of rare beauty where the soil meets the water, the plain sounds borderless and the horizon is always a perfect line between the endless fields and the sky. The old little towns and the villages look like islands coming out of the fog. The Etruscan civilisation mixed with the Roman one, the history of Matilde of Tuscany meets Virgilio’s one and the fields, the villages and the city of Mantua come together in a province which is an open air museum spread with architectural treasures and special cooking traditions
like the pumpkin ravioli (pasta filled with the pumpkin) and the Sbrisolona cake. Our week-end will start in Sabbioneta. This village is entirely surrounded by the walls dating back to the 16th century and it belongs to “the most beautiful villages of Italy” organization. This area belonged to the Gonzaga family, it was rebuilt between 1554 and 1591 by the will of the Prince Vespasiano according to the classic architectural ideals and it became a very important Renaissance art centre and it was afterwards called the “Little Athens”. A stroll around the village will lead us to the restaurant Al Duca in Stamperia street, in the historical centre where we’ll order some local culatello (special raw ham), a hot dish of risotto and the delicious roast Guinea fowl. After strolling around at night we’ll reach the elegant hotel Giulia Gonzaga, located in a building dating back to the 16th century in the historical centre.
A local delicatessen poludziber/Shutterstock.com
Sabbioneta tokar/Shutterstock.com
Saturday around Sabbioneta and Mantua T
he awakening is sweet at the Atena sweets shop where you can taste the sweets and the typical duke’s pearls, a particular creation to pay homage to Vespasiano and his wives, they are delicious crunches with a flavour of citrus fruit and spiced apricots. Our morning is dedicated to the treasures of Sabbioneta, starting with Palazzo del Giardino (the Garden Palace), the private residence of Vespasiano Gonzaga that was built in 1584. It features a straight external façade while the rooms are full of frescos and stucco decorations. Then we’ll visit the Gallery of the Ancients, it’s 96 metres long and it’s featured by some layered arches. We’ll also stop at the Doge’s palace which is richly decorated with some frescos belon-
Gallery of the ancients, Sabbioneta Diego Bonacina/Shutterstock.com
ging to the Mannerism and precious carved wooden ceilings. The view of Sabbioneta that most catches our attention is the Ancient Theatre or Olympic Theatre designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi. It features some beautiful frescos belonging to the Venetian School, it was built to host the shows and the concerts dedicated to the Court of Vespasiano. Our visit will end at the Neo-Classical Synagogue which is set in the old Jewish district, a worship place for the local community. After visiting the historical and architectural wonders we fancy a tasty stop in the countryside so we’ll stop at the restaurant Corte Bondeno where we’ll order a tasty roast culatello with honey. The second destination of our week- end is going
Mantova RAFFOSAB/Shutterstock.com
to be the beautiful city of Mantua, the city of the noble Gonzaga family, it’s an important city of art and it’s surrounded by the river Mincio and it’s particularly lively during Christmas. It’s Viergilio’s hometown and it’s spread with artworks thanks to which it is considered one of the most interesting cities of Lombardy from the cultural point of view. The silhouette of this city is exciting, as soon as you get there you’ll praise the castle of Saint George, the domes, the spires and the Medieval towers. We are going to spend our afternoon at the discovery of its historical features, attracted by its beauty. There are three main squares in Mantua, piazza delle Erbe, piazza Broletto which takes its name from a building dating back to the 13th century decorated with a statue of Virgilio and Sordello where the Gothic cathedral designed by Giulio Romano with its front side dating back to the 18th century and the Doge’s palace stand out. Piazza delle Erbe features lively arcades full of locals and stalls on one side and the Clock Tower dating back to the 12th century and Palazzo della Ragione where once the justice was administered on the other side;
a covered walkway connects the building with the 13th century Palazzo del Podestà. The Rotonda di San Lorenzo enriches the square, it’s a church wanted by Matilde of Tuscany in the 11th century. The nearby Piazza Mantegna is featured by the beautiful front side of the church of Sant’Andrea, designed by Leon Battista Alberti, it’s majestic inside. After such a wonder, we deserve a tasty dinner. The Osteria dell’Oca will cheer our mouth up with some good salami, pancetta, coppa, cotechino (a big sausage), a little giardiniera (pickled vegetables) and the “gras pistà” which is the fat with sausages, parsley, garlic and hot polenta. We intend to continue with the appetizers and have some good Grana cheese with some apple mustard then a grilled steak seasoned with some rocket salad Grana cheese accompanied with some good Doc local wine, the Lambrusco from Mantua. A stroll around the narrow streets in the cold Padan night can’t be missed before retreating at the elegant hotel Broletto, in the heart of the city at a stone’s throw from the pedestrian area between the Doge’s palace and Piazza delle Erbe.
Piazza Sordello, Mantova poludziber/Shutterstock.com
Sunday in Mantua visiting the Sanctuary of Beata Vergine delle Grazie M
antua offers us a Royal awakening. You can enjoy it on foot especially during Christmas time when the historical shops are beautifully decorated like the Azzali jewelry shop, the Tragni hat shop and the Caravatti sweets shop. The Christmas market is held in piazza Virgiliana, you’ll get lost around the stalls that display the handicraft objects and the delicious local specialties, you’ll breath the warm atmosphere at the end of the year as well as the history and the old traditional tastes. We’ll reach one of the wonders of this town surrounded by the glittering Christmas decorations, the sweets shops and the shop-windows displaying beautiful warm Winter clothes: Pa-
lazzo Te, the 16th century Giulio Romano’s masterpiece the Gonzaga family used as a villa to enjoy their leisure time. The artworks and the architecture come together to create amazing effects. The Chamber of the Giants where the titans sound pulling the main pillars down, the Chamber of Cupid and Psyche, the Chamber of horses with six life-sized frescoed horses, the Chamber of the Zodiac feature a route of feelings around these amazing painted rooms. We’ll have lunch at the restaurant Carlo Govi where we’ll taste a warm gurnard salad, the typical tortelli (home-made pasta filled with the pumpkin) with butter and we’ll sip the Merlot wine from the hills of
TORNA AL SOMMARIO
Grazie di Curtatone Marino A/Shutterstock.com
Sbrisolona anna.q/Shutterstock.com
Lake Garda then we’ll taste a savoury pork loin with mustard from Dijon and the apple caponata. We’ll spend the afternoon in the nearby Curtatone where the Sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie is located in the district called Grazie. It was built between 1399 and 1406 by the will of Francesco I Gonzaga, and it was used as the set for some scenes of the movie “Novecento” by Bernardo Bertolucci. It’s featured by a brick façade, a long arcade where a Renaissance gateway and a fresco stand out. Inside, the apse and the presbytery clearly belong to the Renaissance period, there are works
Pumpkin tortelli Luigi Bertello/Shutterstock.com
by Giulio Romano dating back to the 16th century, statues and wooden balconies and a curious stuffed crocodile hung under the aisle. For our “last supper” in Mantua we’ll chose the restaurant Tiratappi in the town centre where we’ll have some rice with the sausage sauce, a grilled beef filet with home fries seasoned with the rosemary and we’ll finish our meal by tasting the delicious Sbrisolona cake. The freezing cold will lead us along our last stroll of the week-end while the night lights will be warming us up with the poetry of this city lying at the Court of the Gonzaga
Grazia Gioè
linkedin.com/in/grazia-gioè
Chianalea. Scilla radar60/Shutterstock.com
Calabria, a stage in a region
P
lenty of movies have been shot in Calabria, in the villages that are surrounded by beautiful landscapes and the echo of millennial narrations. It’s the Magna Grecia where the Normans, the Byzantines, the Greek, the Romans and the Albanians have marked their presence along the centuries and have inspired many movie genres: dramas, comedies, fiction, documentaries and ads. Since
Le Castella, Crotone Riz Images/Shutterstock.com
the years of the silent movies the locations spread around the region have been steadily increasing and they have become charming “movie routes” for the tourists featured by unique landscapes. They represent a specific cultural identity related to the tiny villages and they underline a neorealist movie narration far from the “dark” mood Calabria has been too often identified with.
A scene from “Black souls” Francesca Casciarri - Cinemaundici srl
A scene from “Anime nere” (Black souls) Francesca Casciarri - Cinemaundici srl
A set of stones, between the sky and the land
T
he biblical views of Cutro (Crotone) in the movie “The Gospel According to St. Matthew” by Pier Paolo Pasolini, with the “hills that sound the dunes imagined by Kafka and the sunset that sounds pink-blood sails” became the city of Gerico in this movie which is considered the “most beautiful movie about Jesus ever shot ”. The famous caverns of Casabona, in the valley of Neto (in the province of Crotone) were the perfect location of the movie “Il brigante” (The Brigand) by Renato Castellani, while the fairy village of Le Castella, so full of history and legends became famous because of the movie “L’armata Brancaleone”
(For Love and Gold) by Mario Monicelli. The ruins and the stones that feature the old abandoned villages of Calabria represent a unique landscape. There is Cirella (Cosenza), where “L’ultimo re” (The last king) by Aurelio Grimaldi was set, then in the heart of Aspromonte there are the villages of Africo and Casalnuovo (Reggio Calabria) where the movie “Anime nere” (Black souls) by Francesco Munzi was set. Lastly in the area of Greci di Calabria, Pentedattilo, a village perched on a rock with the shape of a cyclopean hand with five fingers was the background of the story of “La lettera” (The letter) by Luciano Cannito.
Cirella island RudiErnst/Shutterstock.com
Pollino National Park Filippo Cirri/Shutterstock.com
A beach near Tropea leoks/Shutterstock.com
The landscapes of cinema
I
n the relationship between landscapes, the cinema from Calabria is a real protagonist, very often a merciless one. From Pollino to Aspromonte, from the lakes to the sea, the nature and the landscapes have always been related to specific cultural and geographical identities aiming at being used for some specific movies genres. The “landscapes of contemplation”, also called the landscapes of “experience” can mainly found in this region and were used
in some interesting movies. We can mention a few examples. The lucky RAI fiction “Gente di mare”, was shot in Tropea (Vibo Valentia) and Scilla (Reggio Calabria), the movie “L’uomo che sognava con le aquile” (The man who dreamt with eagles) starring Terence Hill was set in the mountains of Aspromonte, another famous RAI fiction, “Artemisia Sánchez” taken from the homonymous novel by Santo Gioffré was entirely shot between Sibari, Bivongi and Palmi.
A scene from the movie “A ciambra” Academy Two
Castle of Oriolo Calabro leoks/Shutterstock.com
Calabria and movies
C
alabria keep astonishing thanks to its thousands facets, its magic and its imagination and it has become a true “diva” of the big screen in the third millennium. Its amazing landscapes have been used by the old and the new movie industry and the natural sceneries, the cities and the villages have become the added value in many important famous movies. The villages of Scilla, Palizzi, Diamante, San Giovanni in Fiore, Oriolo, Rocca Imperiale, Roseto Capo Spulico, Riace, Gerace and San Luca featured many movies: “Un ragazzo di Calabria” (A boy from Calabria) by
Comencini; “L’abbuffata” (the binge) by Calopresti; “Lure of the Sila” by Coletti; “Le nozze di Laura “ (Laura’s wedding) by Pupi Avati; “Il volo” (the flight) by Wim Wenders; “L’ultimo padrino” (The Last Godfather) by Marco Risi and “Outlaw Girl “ (The bandit Musolino) by Camerini. Moreover, Reggio Calabria and Gioia Tauro (Reggio Calabria) left their influence in some intellectual awarded movies like “Fabio Mollo “ (South is nothing) by Fabio Mollo, “Il giudice meschino“ (The indolent Judge) by Carlo Carlei, “Asino vola” (Donkey flies) by Marcello Fonte and “A ciambra” by Jonas Carpignano.
Malcesine | Lago di Garda | Veneto
Nicoletta Toffano
facebook.com/nicoletta.toffano
Statue of Robert “the Bruce� and Wallace Monument in Stirling (Scotland) Ignatius Tan/Shutterstock.com
Crossborder: Oltreconfine: GreatFrancia Britain
Action: Great Britain
The Monty Python with Carol Cleveland The Cinema Museum - facebook.com/TheCinemaMuseum
Crossborder: Great Britain
La statua di Re Artù di Rubin Eynon, Tintagel, Cornovaglia hbproshutterstock/Shutterstock.com
T
here’s an archaic tie between Great Britain and cinema: just think that the first moving images that were displayed on a celluloid film were made in London, at Hyde Park in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor who patented the technique in 1890. From that debut, a long history of stories, faces, environments started to spread around and they became the protagonists of the seventh art. We decided to go deep into it between England and Scotland by choosing four famous movies in order to feel the moods of the places that were captured and told by the movie directors.
To do so, we must start from the Cinema Museum, a London institution based at 2 of Dugard Way, in Lamberth (a wide district of the Big London that was born 1965), in the workhouse where Charlie Chaplin lived. It’s a unique collection of “memorabilia”, from the origins to the present time that includes the equipment, the movie posters, the art déco furnishing, the objects and an archive of hundreds of books, millions of photos and more than 5thoousand kilometres of film. The indoor pub is the end of this exciting route, it’s one of the best locals of Kennington.
Searching for Elisabeth in Southern England
“E
lizabeth – The Golden Age” is the colossal of 2007 directed by the Pakistani Shekhar Kapur. The work is dedicated to the life of Elizabeth I. There’s a great care for the reconstruction of the historical environment although, as it often happens, the original places were replaced with different ones: for instance the Ely cathedral in the Est Anglia built in 673 became the Whitehall palace, the residence of the Queen while the Gothic Winchester cathedral was used as the background of the sequence that shows the Queen pushing her people to take up arms against the Spanish King. The
Ely Cathedral BBA Photography/Shutterstock.com
majestic country-house belonging to the earl of Salisbury (already used in Batman and Lara Croft movies) in the Saxon village of Hartfield was used to set Mary Stuart’s apartments. Saint John’s College in Cambridge was used as the background of the scene showing the first meeting between Elisabeth and the adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh. It’s a series of amazing locations that are the perfect starting point at the discovery of Southern England whose attractions include some Medieval villages, some seaside resorts, the Portsmouth harbour and the car museum of Beaulieu.
Crossborder: Great Britain
Clive Owen, Cate Blanchett, Abbie Cornish at the gala of the premiere of “Elizabeth - The Golden Age“ Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com
Palace of Whitehall Kamira/Shutterstock.com
Portsmouth vchal/Shutterstock.com
Winchester Cathedral Colin Burdett/Shutterstock.com
Crossborder: Great Britain
A scene from “Billy Elliot“ Arts Council of England , BBC Films, Studio Canal, Tiger Aspect Productions, WT2 Productions, Working Title Films
Durham Kaca Skokanova/Shutterstock.com
Crossborder: Great Britain Dancing with Billy Elliot
in the Durham County
“B
illy Elliot” is a movie released in the year 2000 written by Lee Hall and directed by Stephen Daldry which took inspiration from the true story of the dancer Philip Mosley. The background is the miners’ strike of 1984 in Northern England. Many scenes were shot in the Durham County in a number of villages that shared the same fate: they were born to host the heavy industry’s workers mainly the miners and they were almost wiped out when this economic sector went through its most serious crisis. This area still keeps some true treasures like the little town of Durham, its Norman
Durham Cathedral Kaca Skokanova/Shutterstock.com
cathedral and its bridge, both dating back to the 11th century that were both entered in the Unesco Heritge. Billy’s house is at 5 Ashtin street in the village of Easington Colliery while the scene on which the boy is dancing in the street was shot a few miles away in Dawdon Embleton Street. The suspended bridge captured in the scene that shows Billy while he’s going to the audition with is dance teacher is in Middlesborough, it’s the Tees Transporter Bridge whose construction dates back to 1911, it’s still the only bridge of this kind that can be used in Great Britain.
Tees Transporter Bridge, Middlesbrough Nigel Rusby/Shutterstock.com
Balmoral Castle CLICKMANIS/Shutterstock.com
The princess’ castles
“T
he Queen” is a movie released in 2006, directed by Stephen Frears which is about the facts that happened after the death of Lady Diana. This movie was almost entirely shot in Scotland and it contributed to build the success of some amazing castles and their ghosts. The first two locations used in the movie are in the county of Aberdeenshire: the first one is the Balmoral Castle, it was used as the setting of the Royal residences, it dates back to the 14th century. The second one is the Fraser Castle, a fortified construction dating back to the 15th century. The legend goes that a murdered prin-
cess wonders at night and plays the piano. If we move to Southern Ayrshire we’ll see the Castle of Culzean which is another movie setting: it’s the sandstone construction that is perched on a rocky cliff overlooking the Firth of Clyde. According to the legend there are at least seven ghosts in this castle among which a pide piper. The tour of the region also includes the village of Ayr where the Tam O’Shanter Inn is set between the towers and the bridges. It was opened in 1749 and it was mentioned by the writer Robert Burns in his novel, it’s the most ancient pub of Scotland.
Crossborder: Great Britain
Culzean Castle Scotdrone360/Shutterstock.com
Helen Mirren receives the Best Actress Oscar in 2007 for her performance in “The Queen� Featureflash Photo/Shutterstock.com
Lady Diana, Princess of Wales, 1997 John Mathew Smith
Fraser Castle Tony Zaccarini/Shutterstock.com
Crossborder: Great Britain
The Scottish Highlands Kanuman/Shutterstock.com
Mel Gibson in a scene of “Braveheart“ Wikimedia
Crossborder: Great Britain
National Wallace Monument Craig Duncanson/Shutterstock.com
The Highlands’s brave heart
“B
raveheart” was a movie released in 1995, acted and directed by Mel Gibson. It’s the story of William Wallace, the famous Scottish hero. The best way to “be part” of this colossal movie is wearing your trekking boots and walk around the untouched charm of the Higlands, a wild land where the glaciers have shaped the highest peaks of the island. In the range of a few kilometres there are many villages related to the life of William Wallace that were used as the setting of the movie. The first village is Elderslie, the hero’s homeland which is a district of Glasgow nowadays, in this area there are also the ruins of the Auchenbathie Tower that belonged to the Wallace family. In chro-
nological order the second village is Lanark, at the foot of mount Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Great Britain where the young William spent his childhood. The village of Stirling can’t be missed, it’s the place where the hero defeated the English army, an episode that is documented by The National Wallace Monument: a museum tower where you can see the memorabilia among which the real sword that belonged to Wallace. Lastly the huge castle of Dumbarton stands out on a bluestone dome. It’s the most ancient island’s fortress and it was also the prison where Wallace was jailed before being moved to London where he was sentenced to death.
BACK TO THE SUMMARY
Crossborder: Great Britain
Castle and rock of Dumbarton TreasureGalore/Shutterstock.com
Antonella Andretta
facebook.com/antonella.andretta
e c a l p out of
S Y A D I HOL Guinness theatres and ghosts on stage T
he magic of cinema is undeniable but there’s another one that’s even
older and unique each time: it’s the theatre.
DigitalMagus/Shutterstock.com
OUT OF PLACE HOLIDAYS
Guinness theatres and ghosts on stage
Concordia Theatre in Monte Castello di Vibio teatropiccolo.it
I
taly is the cradle of the modern theatre: actually the Western theatre was born in Greece around 25 centuries ago but the modern theatre was born in our country between 1700 and 1800. It’s the horseshoe-shaped theatre, the stalls, the balconies divided according to their order and the perspective backstage. We don’t intend to talk about the posters, the festivals or the big theatres but we just intend to highlight some details that can be considered a good reason to discover our villages. So let’s start with a peculiar thing: the pocket theatres! One of these theatres is located in Barlassina, in the province of Monza-Brianza, it’s the Anto-
nio Belloni Theatre, 98 seats dedicated to the opera and the classical music. It was an important furniture factory in the past that belonged to the Belloni family and it’s a theatre nowadays that offers a very interesting programme. Another famous theatre is the little one of Vetriano, a tiny village on the hills near Lucca that deserves a visit. It was built at the end of the 20th century then it was acquired by the FAI (Italian Environmental Fund) in 1997. It’s around 71 metres wide and it contains 60 seats and it was entered into the list of the Guinness Book of records as the smallest historical theatre in the world. The theatre of Concordia of Monte Castello
Guinness theatres and ghosts on stage
OUT OF PLACE HOLIDAYS
Antonio Belloni Theatre Roby Zimmermann - teatrobelloni.it
from Vibio is really tiny too, it’s in the province of Perugia, in a village that deserves being discovered by strolling around its streets sided by beautiful stone houses. It was inaugurated in 1808, it keeps all the features of the theatre of Goldoni, it’s a perfect precious miniature that was reopened in 1993 after a careful restauration. Another Italian tradition is the theatre of puppets: Alcamo is a village in the province of Trapani that keeps ancient Arabic origins and you can see the puppets on show inside the castle of the Earls of Modica, a Medieval castle featured by an interesting architecture and history (it was a prison in the 19th century). In Cal-
OUT OF PLACE HOLIDAYS
Guinness theatres and ghosts on stage
Castle of the Counts of Modica martin garnham/Shutterstock
tagirone (Catania), famous for its wonderful staircase of Santa Maria del Monte (142 steps of painted pottery tiles) there is the Museum of the Sicilian Puppet Theatre where you can see the room where the shows are held, a collection of more than seventy wooden puppets dressed in precious silk, velvet, brocade clothes and handcrafted metal armours. The stage is equipped with some hand-painted wall paper: one thing is sure, not only kids will be captured by the heroic deeds of these chivalric epics. Who loves and knows the magic of the theatre also knows that you don’t need a theatre to “do theatre”: just think of the street theatre, of the shows
Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte Joao Paulo V Tinoco/Shutterstock
Guinness theatres and ghosts on stage
OUT OF PLACE HOLIDAYS
OUT OF PLACE HOLIDAYS
Guinness theatres and ghosts on stage
Cea beach Andrew Mayovskyy/Shutterstock
OUT OF PLACE HOLIDAYS
in unusual or natural spaces. In this regard let’s remind the Theatre of Silence, a non-theatre in the open air that exploits the shape of the hills near Lajatico, the Tuscan village in the province of Pisa where Andrea Bocelli, the creator of the initiative was born. Every year a stage and the stalls are put on (there are around 8thousand seats) and only one show is held then the place gets back to its silence from which it takes its name. Just one tip: book much in advance since the tickets sell like hot cakes! Lastly, here are the ghosts! They are not just the protagonists of the plays and the performances (who hasn’t seen, at least once, the “Canterville Ghost”?), they are spooky. Among the several le-
gends related to the stage ghosts, we can tell you one story related to a village: the village is Tortolì (Nuoro) where the S. Francesco theatre is set, it was built in the place of a church (never consecrated) where it seems that the ghost of a monk materializes from time to time, haunted by the guilt after having killed a girl with his confreres and buried her in the walls of the monastery. And if you are there but you don’t like the supernatural don’t miss a visit at the Nuraghe di S’Ortali ‘e Su Monti, a beautiful archaeological site you can visit with the local guides and enjoy the beach of Cea in Summer at Bari Sardo, famous because of its red granite cliffs that pop up from the water.
Guinness theatres and ghosts on stage
BACK TO THE SUMMARY
Teatro del Silenzio with the sculpture “Presences” of the Naturaliter group wiktord/Shutterstock.com
Ivan Pisoni
facebook.com/pisoni.ivan.7
Legends of locations between horror and fairy places
Bomarzo Luca Lorenzelli /Shutterstock.com
Legends of locations between horror and fairy places
Villa Clara ilParanormale.com
The mysteries of Villa Clara T
here’s a deserted house in the province of Bologna. It’s a house with a long history and many names. It’s a house that the inhabitants of the surrounding area avoid. It was wanted by the Earl Carlo Cesare Malvasia and it was built in 1624, Villa Malvasia or Casino del Trebbo or Villa Alessandri or Villa Clara, as it is known nowadays (you can read it on a plate), is a deserted crumbling place. It’s often shrouded in thick fog and it’s not enlightened. It’s a cursed house. A little girl used to live in this house, Clara. They say she could foresee the future and her father was
so afraid of this ability that he decided to bury her alive inside the house’s walls. A young woman called Clara used to live in this house, they say she had an affair with a subordinate of the noble family, her behaviour pushed the noble man to bury her alive inside his house. It doesn’t matter if she was an innocent child with strange powers or a young loose morals woman because the legend goes that she was buried alive there and her ghost is still wandering around in the house. Many witnesses declare they heard the noises, the screaming, the cries and the reque-
sts for help coming from this house. You can sometimes hear the sound of a piano or see the lights on although it is deserted and there’s no power in Clara’s house. It seems that her ghost also wanders around in the park and she tries to interact with the ones who can see her. Sometimes the electronic devices stop working in a mysterious way. Sometimes the people who visit this place faint or they get into a trance state and there have also been strange death episodes related to two
Legends of locations between horror and fairy places
A scene from the teaser of“Clara“ Francesco Longo - Youtube.com
workers who were working for the restauration of the house... and even a child who fell into a secret trapdoor in 1999. Villa Clara and its mysteries keep catching the attention of the audience thanks to the release of a horror movie by Francesco Longo, a special effects expert who’s paid homage to the legends, the mysteries and the fears that are gathered around one of the most mysterious houses of Italy. If you like this type of movies don’t miss the teaser.
Legends of locations between horror and fairy places
The legend of the Blue Fairy’s house D
ealing with legends I often read some episodes that are not particularly iconic until I find a detail that turn these stories into a real legend. You know, there may be some truth in the legends, they are passed on from mouth to mouth and everyone enriches them with their own colours and a story can become another one, very often a legend. I’m talking about the Blue Fairy’s house, a floating deserted house on
the edge of the Mare Piccolo in Taranto. According to the “legend”, the director Luigi Comencini chose this location in the 1970s to set the Blue Fairy’s house played by the actress Gina Lollobrigida in “The adventures of Pinocchio”. But, unfortunately, it’s a fake news. It’s not known exactly who started spreading this “legend”. Anyway it seems that an episode of the TV show “Linea Blu” let this news reach all the houses of the
Ponte Punta Penna Pizzone and the alleged Blue Fairy House Massimo Todaro/Shutterstock.com
BACK TO THE SUMMARY
area of Taranto in 2014 thus giving it some sort of credibility. Although it looks like the real house of the TV series that is located by Lake Martignano (Rome), the floating house near Taranto was never visited by Comencini and by the beautiful actress. Maybe it was visited by other Fairies? This episode is now so rooted within the popular culture that a lot of people go near this house and they are as charmed as kids and although they know that it’s not true they
keep thinking it’s the true fairy’s house. Nevertheless this stilt house is always a really charming location, lonely in the silence, faded in the sun. It’s a magic atmosphere. They say the seagulls start screeching when someone approaches the house as they wanted to warn someone inside the house, they want to warn that someone is crossing in imaginary border. As if a Fairy really lived there. It’s true? It’s false?... In any case, what’s wrong with dreaming?
Legends of locations between horror and fairy places
Gina Lollobrigida is the blue fairy in ‘’ The adventures of Pinocchio ’’
Ivan Pisoni
facebook.com/pisoni.ivan.7
Did you knwo that...
malamooshi/Shutterstock.com
Did you know that... curiosities about Italian movies
T
he passion for the Italian movies was born at the time of the Lumière brothers. First they were the documentaries (the first one was ordered by the inventors of the big screen) then they became movies. The Italian movie industry was born at the end of the 19th century and the first “feature film” that lasted 10 minutes was “The capture of Rome” (1905), directed by Filoteo Albertini. In 1912 the Italian movie industry had already released more than 1.100 movies shot in Turin, Rome and Milan. Pope Leo XIII in a frame from the oldest Italian documentary Wikipedia
F
antozzi changed the way of speaking Italian. Paolo Villaggio, through his most iconic character Fantozzi shaped our language forever. The character was born on the pages of the magazine Europeo in the column “Fantozzi’s Sunday” then it became a series of books then a funny series of movies that left the expression “Fantozziano” in our language, it was even entered into the dictionaries. There’s more than this. Pasolini praised Villaggio for this new expression and the way it changed our language starting with the use of the adjective “pazzesco”... (crazy). Who hasn’t experienced such an event in the style of Filini?
Akhmad Dody Firmansyah/Shutterstock.com
T
he adventures of “Attila flagello di Dio “ (Attila, the scourge of God) were not shot in Segrate. Although in the movie the cheerful company of “sbabbari” comes from Segrate (a district of Milan), the locations of the movie are all in Lazio. Starting with the castle of Saturnia in Vulci (used by Monicelli too in “L’Armata Brancaleone”) then there’s the Saracen tower in Ladispoli and the bridge of devil in Tuscia (it was used in the “Brancaleone’s Army” as well), not to mention the unforgettable rice-field where the Barbarian women used to harvest the rice near Caldara di Manziana (Rome). Diego Abatantuono: Ardarico “Attila” Wikipedia
BACK TO THE SUMMARY
S
ophia Loren was frightened by Jayne Mansfield’s nipples. There’s a picture that shows the beautiful woman from Ciociaria (an area of Lazio) before the “discreet” décolleté of the American diva. This picture was described as he “perfect image of envy” but it’s not like that. Sophia Loren stated on an interview «I’m staring at her nipples since I’m afraid they will burst and will fall into my plate. You can see the fear on my face». The picture recalls a Paramount event in 1957.
Wikivisually.com
Mauro Vestri and Paolo villaggio Wikipedia
B
enigni’s dream was becoming the Pope. And the pope called him. After the first episode of “The ten commandments” by Roberto Benigni Pope Francis called him privately. The comic actor was sleeping and they asked the Pope to call again later and the Pope called again. While the actor was talking to the Pope he felt so happy that he disclosed to him that he wanted to be the Pope when he was a child but since everyone used to laugh when he said that he decided to become a comic actor. He replied to the Pope’s question “do you know the good you’re doing?”, Benigni replied «Me? You do good...!».
Roberto Benigni in “Johnny Stecchino“ (Johnny Toothpick) Wikipedia
Did you know that... curiosities about Italian movies
K
eep talking about Fantozzi, did you know that the fearsome movie “The Kotiomkin battleship” doesn’t exist? The colossal that haunts the employees of the “mega-company“ in the second movie based on the life of this funny accountant is related to a movie that really existed but the production never allowed to use the materials or the original name that was “The Potëmkin battleship” (by Sergej Michajlovič Ėjzenštejn, 1925). The production of Fantozzi therefore had to shoot all the scenes of the “fake-colossal” from scratch... Originating - according to Fantozzi himself - to the famous – allow me! - “cagata pazzesca” (crazy shit).
Review
Il paese dei coppoloni di Vinicio Capossela
I
t’s a book which has been pouring down drops of history, anthropology and ancient truths for a long time. “Il paese dei coppoloni” (The village of Coppoloni), published by Feltrinelli, is a work by Vinicio Capossela, a great interpreter of author music, a modern troubadour from the South with a heart rooted in Germany. His original family come from Calatri in Irpinia, Capossela grew up in Germany then he settled in Emilia when his family came back to Italy. This artist’s book can be related to the cinema since it’s the story of a journey through a culture and a village which also became a quite good product for
the movie industry. “Il paese dei coppoloni” became a movie as well. It’s a documentary about the traditions and the ancient rituals. Cairano is the village that has always been called “dei coppoloni”. But it’s not just Cairano. There’s a lot of Irpinia in these pages and in the movie (this full-length film is directed by Stefano Obino). Why “coppoloni”? Maybe because the inhabitants are sheltered by their coppole (the typical hats from the South of Italy) or because they are invaded by the clouds that are seen as “hoods” in the sky, who knows. Fact is that this novel and this movie are worth the journey to Cairano, a charming tiny village. A village which will welcome you with open arms and beyond any rhetorical cult of sketches, you’ll spontaneously indulge at emotions, at this inhabited loneliness, at this experienced detachment. You may think they are evident contradictions. Yes, they are since the departure represents a common destiny that becomes an indispensable
BACK TO THE SUMMARY
Marino Pagano
facebook.com/marino.pagano.3
shared history. On the other hand, the loneliness of the ones who have stubbornly decided to stay is filled with the curiosity of the wanderers and the travellers. Then there’s the experienced departure. If you leave you’ll come back sooner or later. Not only in Summer or on
holidays. This land keeps singing thanks to Capossela. His long-playing is called “Le canzoni della cupa”, a work that is so much related to the magic of the ancestral Irpinia. The same goes for this book which is so linked to such a far-distant land that it still has a lot of things to tell.
Review
Cairano gigadesign/Shutterstock.com
