FAENZA Tour
November 2014
as seen from Brisighella
Acknowledgements: participants Credit:
A 5-day Tour based in Faenza and visiting Ravenna, Rimini, Cesena, San Marino, San Leo, Dozza and Bologna
◆◆◆ E. V. Borg & M. Attard: layout & design E. V. Borg: text M. Attard: photography
◆◆◆ Front Cover: Back Cover:
Mary Attard E.V. Borg Frank Borg Monica Depasquale Jane Frendo Victoria Lyttleton Joseph Spiteri Gonzi Maria Micallef Matthew and Fortunata Cassar Michael Vella Lucienne Zahra Stanley Zammit E. V. Borg: tour leader L. Zahra: organization and co-ordination M. Attard: photography
BRESCIA &
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FAENZA Tour
November 2014
A Cultural Tour: Faenza and surroundings led by E. V. Borg, Historian and Art Critic 31 October – 5 November 2014
San Marino
Enjoying a drink close to the castle in San Marino
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FAENZA Tour NOVEMBER 2014 We considered ourselves lucky, to say the least, as the sun was shining brightly overhead in a blue sky with the occasional cloud for all the duration of our five-day tour while all around us was raining intensely. The temperature during the day was around 20 ͦ C, considered mild by comparison. We could feel the sun warm on our back and since we were mostly in open countryside with negligible traffic and in fresh air, the tour was an elixir, primarily therapeutic, relaxing as if we were living in the land of the ‘Lotus Eaters’, in the tranquillity, serenity and peace of open spaces. The food was excellent as the Romagna boasts of traditional plates with delicately tasty food, scented and aromatic, fresh and organic with delicious choices of hams, salami and cheeses. The Emilia Romagna region is alluvial flat country with terraced fields and rolling hillsides covered with vines in geometric formation, meticulously planted and carefully taken care of with age-old husbandry. It is so rich in agriculture that fresh products enter the town every day. Samanta’s 72-year old mother still sells vegetables in the Faenza open market trice weekly. Using Faenza as a point of reference or hub we travelled radially in Emilia Romagna visiting small ‘borghi’, hill-top towns and mountain fortresses. We found the region enchanting and were caught under its spell. Since we travelled widely we found so much to compare and contrast. The most obvious were the floating space in San Vitale, Ravenna and in San Stefano, Bologna; the colourful open market and florists in Bologna with bustling crowds and in contrast the dazzling but cold jewellery, leather and souvenir shops,
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Portico of Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna
gaudy but artificial in San Marino; mountain peak fortifications like San Leo and San Marino; medieval ‘borghi’ like Dozza and Castrocaro Terme both defended by huge castles or ‘rocca’; a Renaissance grid-planned city like Terra del Sole (Oliopoli) with fortified corner-turreted bastions not unlike Sabbioneta, Palmanova, Pienza and Zamosc in Poland. Perhaps the best comparison is the light and airy portico of Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna to shelter pilgrims and the double portico on the side Piazza della Libertà, Faenza
of Forlì Basilica. But the most elegant, outstanding with balanced rhythm is the ‘loggiato communale’ a pattern of arches ‘a tutto sesto’ resting on delicate columns lining the Piazza della Libertà, in the main square of Faenza Cathedral. Yet these arches frame in a wonderful way the town’s main fountain, the jewel in the crown of Faenza entwined in myth and fable. In the period previous to Cesare Borgia’s domination of Romagna, Caterina Sforza, grand lady of Forlì used to send her spies to Faenza as the two towns were frequently in opposition and conflict. Caterina’s spies camouflaged as villagers used to loiter and mix with the town’s people on market day in the centre of the piazza where the fountain was later sited. There they overheard attentively the daily news and gossip and often feigned distraction asking pertinent questions with a certain stunned surprise. Such spies were nicknamed ‘i smari’ or ‘gli smarriti d’Caterinuccia’. As a direct reaction and to pay back the Faentini, the Forlivesi used a disparaging phrase: ‘ L’ha una bòta d’Fènza’ meaning that such person was of dubious moral rectitude. This anecdote is taken from Giorgio Vasari’s writing about Caterina Sforza. The high bell tower next to the fountain is not as original as the fountain that although restored several times has survived intact.
That same evening (Friday 31st Ocrober 2014) we enjoyed the beauty of this architectural gem: Piazza della Libertà we hired a driver and van that took us to San Biagio Vecchio about 10 km outside the city on a hill at Via Salita d’Oriolo, N 13 to celebrate our arrival in a special restaurant where we eat homemade pasta, meat, fish, salad, pizza and dessert. We had already tasted the delicious food at this restaurant before but confirmed once more the delicacies offered there. In Faenza we ate in the best restaurants available: at Trattoria Marianaza, Via Toricelli, 21; Ca’Murani, Vicolo San Antonio, 7; Zingarò, via Campidori, 11. At Brisighella we ate at La Grotta, Via Metelli 1, a natural cave with a large marble wash-hand basin possibly antique and a ‘mascherone’ as a water spout. The place is enchanting and magical. In Bologna we ate at Il Calice, Via Clavature, 13/a. The tour was extremely interesting as large historic towns like Bologna, Rimini and Ravenna were in stark contrast to smaller towns like Faenza, Forlì and Cesena and more quaint and spellbound were the ‘borghi’: Dozza, Terra del Sole, Castro Caro Terme, Brisighella, San Marino and San Leo. Some of the latter ‘borghi’ serve also as a ‘belvedere’ as they are situated on hilly or mountainous ground and we could see the wonderful panorama below us, open spaces in the countryside till the eye could see. Such open space serves as a palliative, as therapy for the mind and heart of man.
La Grotta, Via Metelli 1, Brisighella - a natural cave with a large marble washhand basin possibly antique and a ‘mascherone’ as a water spout
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Rimini & Ravenna
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It was a splendid day with a bright wonderful sun and a blue sky on our second day in Faenza. We arrived quite early by minibus at Rimini and parked easily near the Ponte di Tiberio. Looking back, the towns we chose were closely related: historical, with a classic past and an early centre of Christianity. When we got out of the bus we went straight to enjoy the spectacle of this Roman masterpiece of architecture (14-21AD) whose five arches ‘a tutto sesto’, in Istrian stone, produce a perfect circle when seen reflected in water. Andrea Palladio in his study on architecture described it as ‘the most beautiful and most worthy of consideration’. The bridge is decorated with pedimented blind windows or edicules and surrounded by the Parco XXV Aprile with lush turf-covered banks and glacis surrounding the Porto Antico, a kind of inland port with the Marecchia dry river bed improvised into bicycle paths. Rimini is the cradle of history with Etruscan, Umbri, Gauls inhabiting the land and Romans capturing the area in 268BC. It later became a centre for Christianity and chosen as the venue of the Concilio in 359AD. Later it was fought over by the Ostrogoths and Byzantines until Ravenna became the capital of the Roman Empire under Justinian. Later it was dominated by the House of Malatesta
and particularly embellished by the Renaissance Prince Sigismondo Malatesta. Then it became part of the Papal States. Rimini has a 15km stretch of sandy beach, has become an international centre for swimming, yachting and sport and regards Federico Fellini as its son. Our tour of the town centred around three squares: Cavour, Tre Martiri and Ferrari. We walked first to Piazza Cavour essentially the political hub and meeting place dominated by the medieval and
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monumental Palazzo dell’Arengo with Gothic pointed arches and Romanesque windows (1204) on the first floor. It housed the People’s Council while bankers and notaries served their clients under the ground floor arches. Under these arches are preserved the portal to the Monte di Pietà and the measurements used in the Rimini area. Next to it lies the Palazzo del Podestá built in 1330. In the centre is the frontal, bronze statue of Pope Paul V on an elegant plinth and nearby the Renaissance, heraldic Fontana della Pigna (1550’s) with the aweinspiring Pescheria (1747) on the left. As a backdrop to the Pope’s statue there is the neoclassical facade of the Galli state theatre designed by Luigi Poletti (1857).
bronze statue of Giulio Cesare. We relaxed in this splendid ambience and drank ‘una spremuta d’arancia’. After taking a group photo we left the Piazza to visit the Tempio Malatestiano: San Francesco, a masterpiece of architecture by Alberti. The façade
The Via Emelia crosses the town through the Piazza Tre Martiri until it reaches the Arco d’Augusto. This monumental arch is the symbol of the city. It was built in 27BC but its large opening indicates the Pax Romana ushered by Agustus proclaimed Emperor that same year. In Roman times the ‘cardo’ and ‘decumano’ used to cross at right angles in Piazza Tre Martiri. Actually this piazza serves as a parlour or open meeting place to the city embellished by palazzi, an elaborate Clock Tower, cafes and a
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Surgeon’s tools
(1447) is an interpretation of a monumental Roman Triumphal arch with three portals. The main ispiration was the triple Arch of Constantine in Rome and the Arch to Agustus in Rimini In the interior there are several masterpieces by Agostino di Duccio (sculptor), Giotto and Piero della Francesca. Since there was a church service at 11.00am we were prevented from entering the edifice. Time was against us but we managed to find the Domus del Chirurgo in Piazza Ferrari that opened to the public in 2007. A unique excavated site with several layers but quite rare is the house of a Roman surgeon: Eutychus who operated on wounded soldiers in the 2nd century AD. Archaeologists found 150 bronze instruments used in his profession as surgeon, some simple, some elaborate. The house probably collapsed after a fire and almost everything was found intact including mosaic floors, frescoed walls and the whole layout with foundation walls and some division ones. After visiting the site we entered the state Museum to see the surgical instruments and a ‘spaccato’ of the surgeon’s house, a scale model based on the actual site.
Watching a model of the Surgeon’s house
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In Ravenna we visited some of the most important monuments such as Sant’Apollinare in Classe, the Mausoleo di Teodorico, San Vitale and the tomb of Galla Placidia. We crossed the town through Piazza del Popolo in the historic centre, then Piazza Garibaldi, saw the shrine to Dante and finally arrived at the entrance of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo as the doors were closing and the attendants were requesting the last visitors to leave the premises. This was a bitter disappointment.
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Perhaps the jewel of this town is the tomb of Galla Placidia. Who was buried in the tomb does not matter as the place is a kind of refuge from reality. It is a kind of treasure cave, a magnificent abode covered in multi-coloured diamonds: the mosaic ‘tesserae’. The Christian symbolism, the allusions to scripture fade into insignificance when compared to the emotions kindled by the sensual coloured glass. San Vitale with its floating space and divine light dwarfs the effects produced by the tomb of Galla Placidia. Just imagine hearing Gregorian chant in this divine space and literally heaven would descend to earth on rays of light. Nobody cares
whether the mosaic is original or restored, nobody worries whether the house is of God or mammon, nobody dares ask if the place is Christian, Islamic or Jewish. Who cares if the atmosphere is of heaven, the mood celestial and sublime, and the character divine. The Mausoleo di Teodorico is a heavy, strong edifice to protect the buried remains of an Emperor. The stone roof made from one huge stone slab is a world wonder engineering feat and the whole edifice a watershed in architecture. Sant’Apollinare in Classe is in a class of its own. In the interior you never tire. You would like to stay forever.
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San Marino, San Leo & Cesena
Entering San Leo village
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It is neither practical nor possible to relate San Leo to San Marino though there are some inherent common and basic elements. Both hilly peaks have received the names of saints hailing from Dalmatia: San Marino and San Leo. Both saints sought impregnable haunts for their spiritual life as hermits. Both towns are citadels or a kremlin clinging to cliffs like the eyre of an eagle. Both are historic and political enclaves: one a republic, the other a feudal enclave or seat of monarchical or imperial power. They are breathtaking ‘belvedere’ that offer a bird’s eye view of the panorama or surrounding countryside. The fortress of San Leo nearly 200 metres high overlooks the valley of the river Marecchia and a landscape of woods, rocky peaks and ravines in the Marche. San Marino sought refuge on Monte Titano. Both saints contributed to the advent of Christianity in the Montefeltro region in the 4th century (c.AD 300). They converted the people through their preaching. San Leo and the ancient name of Montefeltro were passed on to the diocese. Montefeltro is derived from the Latin Mons (Mt.) Feretri because according to tradition the current site of the Cathedral (1171) of San Leo was erected on the same area occupied by a Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter Feretius, thus pagan and Christian cultures merged and fused. The origin of the fortress of San Leo is lost in the mist of time as it predates the Goths and Byzantine wars in the 6th century. The primitive centre of the village dating back to the early Middle Ages served Berengarius II, king of Italy as a refuge when he was besieged by Otto I, the German Ottonian king (961-963). Yet the actual fortress so forbidding, solid and strong is the work of the great and famous military architect from Siena: Francesco di Giorgio Martini (also painter & sculptor). After continuous conflict and sieges Federico di Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino conquered San Leo in 1441 and by 1479 the architect transformed and strengthened the medieval
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San Marino San Leo
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A painting we saw at a restaurant of the castle on top of the rock
San Leo castle on top of the hill and a street leading to the castle
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The 11th Century parish church
A 9th Century ciborium at the parish church
stronghold of square towers by projecting the double curtain walls. These joined the circular towers and the defensive wall under which a casement was erected thus making the fortress impregnable from all angles. It is a gem of architecture the way architect and nature connived to make the structure almost natural as it clings to the rock. After it was controlled for centuries by the Medici and the Della Rovere families it finally fell under papal rule and with Urbino formed part of the Papal States in 1631. Even after the Unification of Italy it continued to serve as a prison till 1906. It is actually a museum after prolonged restoration. The ‘pieve’ or parish church, next to the Cathedral (where we dined) is the oldest religious shrine in Montefeltro country. According to tradition the church is built on the site of Leo’s cell where the hermit retreated to pray. The church boasts of a 9th century ciborium though the present structure dates back to the 11th century. San Leo, like a magnet attracted powerful overlords, bishops, saints, scholars and charlatans. The mountain refuge was visited by St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226; Giovanni Bernardone) in 1213 perhaps attracted by Leo’s pious life as a hermit where he founded the Franciscan way of life. Dante (12651321) visited San Leo in 1306 and died in Ravenna where he was buried and now lies in a sarcophagus (1865) in a purposely built shine (that we visited). San Leo is also related to Count Alessandro Cathedral in San Leo
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A charming corner restaurant
Aerial view from San Marino heights
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Basilica dedicated to San Marino
Rocca Guaita Castle
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St John’s Cathedral in Cesena
Cagliostro (1743-1795), alias Giuseppe Balsamo an occultist who studied alchemy, the Kabbalah and magic. He was born in Palermo and as an orphan abandoned in Malta and later married the beautiful Lorenza Seraphina Feliciani and from 1771 they visited many centres in Europe as Count and Countess Cagliostro. As an impostor and charlatan
he even visited Malta, entered the Order of St. John as an auxiliary (donato) and became a physician, philosopher and necromancer. In 1789 he was imprisoned for life in San Leo after imprisoned in the Vatican prisons at Castel Sant’Angelo. In the evening we stopped for an hour in Cesena where we participated in a colourful open market and fair and visited its ancient Gothic Cathedral with a Romanesque origin. We admired the Palazzo del Ridotto and the Capannone, in a Neo-classical façade decorated by a bronze statue of Pope Pius VI (Braschi), placed in a niche in 1791. The morning tour of San Marino and San Leo with the tranquillity, serenity and peace of mountain peaks and green spaces jarred awfully with the hustle and bustle of Cesena’s historic centre in a mixture of old and recent ugly buildings.
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ForlĂŹ, Terra del Sole, Castrocaro Terme, Brisighella and Goffredo Gaeta
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We arrived in ForlĂŹ at about 10.00am and stopped at Piazza Aurelio Saffi in the centre of the city to visit the Basilica of San Mercuriale, the double cloister with a light and airy portico and a well, part of this famous abbey dominated by a high Romanesque bell-tower. The basilica was restored at the beginning of the 20th century and the main portal decorated with sculpture was cleaned. The sculpture above the door: the Epiphany with Dream and the Adoration of the Magi is attributed to the Master of the Months who worked in Ferrara Cathedral. The visit was quite an experience as the Piazza was taken up by market stalls and shoppers. I gave the group some free time while I relaxed in a large cafĂŠ under the arches in this large and spacious square. The square is surrounded by grand palaces and opens on to a tree-lined street where the market extends.
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Terra del Sole (Oliopoli), Castrocaro Terme and Pieve Salutare make up three small adjacent towns set in the beautiful landscape in the region of ForlĂŹ. We stopped in Piazza Fulceri in Terra del Sole built in 1564 by Baldassarre Lanci of Urbino, a
great architect for Cosimo I de Medici as a fortified Renaissance town (avanposto), on the periphery of the Tuscan State in those days. In Piazza Fulceri we visited the small Santa Reparata church, built by the engineer Maestro Raffaello di Zenobi di Pagna
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da Fiesole on the request (29.08.1592) of Granduca Ferdinando. The first stone with 12 bronze Medici coins was set in place on the 20th of November 1594. This beautiful town is a perfect Renaissance city that forms a perfect rectangle and a grid plan of streets. It is highly fortified by a 12 metre high perimeter wall and bastions, in places 9 metres thick. At each angle it has a turreted fortress guarding the gate-entrances of the town. The perfection of the street plan and buildings remind us of other similar towns such as Pienza, Palmanova, Sabbioneta and Zamosc in Poland. The only difference is the simplicity of Terra del Sole: a rectangle compared to the star-shaped fortress of Palmanova, and the multi-pointed fortress of Sabbioneta that fits into a square. We enjoyed the visit to the Church and the experience of passing under the double gate of the fortress. The square is surrounded by Palazzi: della Cancelleria, del Provveditore and Pretorio. A really astounding rich piazza with the flag of Terra del Sole: large yellow sun in red painted on the gravel outside.
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In Castrocaro Terme, we visited the ‘Rocca’, a large fortress clinging to the rocks. We had to walk up ramps with a steep gradient, through its gate and into lush grass-covered grounds. The view from its bastions was worth all our pain. The fortress was used as a harsh prison where tradition says Diamantina Ramponi, (una vera strega), was kept. She was from ForlĂŹ and lived in the middle of the VXII century (c.1650). Really she was a harmless individual, a healer who mixed potions from organic herbs and plants. She was ostracised from Forli and went to live on a high hill facing Castrocaro where the locals built her a hut to live in. We appreciated the Romanesque baptistery in the grounds of the castle that belonged to a previous church. We descended a steep ramp through a gate that leads into Castrocaro town and Grand Hotel Terme on the opposite side from where we entered. The town boasts of several baths (terme) decorated in the Art Nouveau style. Castrocaro had seen better days when visitors used to flock in thousands to bathe in the healing streams of the River Montone.
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Before reaching Brisighella, we passed under Castel Raniero on the ‘calanca’, where a popular Romagnola feast of band music is organized annually. We first had lunch in a restaurant: ‘La Grotta’ improvised into a large natural cave, comfortable, unusual serving delicious food. We enjoyed the raised and covered street on a split level used by donkeys carrying calcium from the mountain above. Built in the 12th and 13th century as a defence bulwark it is unique. The town has several bastions of defence: the first is the Clock Tower built in 1290, rebuilt in 1548, damaged several times until it was strengthened in 1850. On the nearby selenite cliff there is the Manfredian Fortress built to control the Lamone Valley. The complex includes the Venetian Tower (early 16th c.) and the Torricino (14th c.) built by the Manfredi family of Faenza. Then there is the Sanctuary of Monticino (18th c.) on the third hill once known as Calvary. I convinced our driver to drive us up the cliff path and could enjoy the majestic view from the top.
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Returning to Faenza we stopped in the bottega of Maestro Goffredo Gaeta (b.1937-), expert of ceramic work, stained glass partitions, bronze and other works in mixed media. He has decorated his large firm with monumental ‘acroteria’ on the roof of his building. The edifice is partly a firm that made paper but next to it is the building that was used as an electricity generating station. The Germans destroyed the turbine before retreating but today the building is intelligently contrived into a large ceramic factory producing art and craft. Goffredo now 77 years old won the prestigious Premio Faenza in 1970. His monumental works include: a low relief in ceramics in Ascoli Piceno cathedral, the 32 metre stele in steel and glass for a private company in the industrial estate in Faenza, the chalice cast in silver and
gold representing the theological virtues preserved in the Museo del Tesoro of Rimini, the bronze doors of the Chapel of the Santissima in Sarsina Cathedral and the Madonna and the Risen Christ, a monumental work for the Cappella delle Ancelle dell’Immacolata in Parma Monumental Cemetery. He has exhibited in several countries and his works are collected by various museums in Belgrade and Kyoto and in the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York. He organized an important exhibition ‘Dal caos all’ordine’ in Faenza to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the DNA molecule and another personal show at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Macchiavelli once wrote about the Romagna: ‘Bella, grassa ma ingrata’ that explicitly refers to the hostility between Florence in Tuscany ruled by the Medici and the Romagna, as Faenza and Forli were separate city states.
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Dozza & Bologna
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We approached from a relatively narrow country road lined by huge, elegant, high pine trees that formed a canopy over our head. The scent of grass and soil, the fragrance of wine coming from cellars and doorways, delicious cooking smells from restaurants and habitations, sheltered cobbled streets with overhanging eaves and a powerful massive fortress or ‘rocca’ transformed by the Malvezzi in 1594 are cocooned in a boat-like construction or enclave: human, idyllic and silent. Dozza is set on the first hills above the Via Emelia between Bologna and Imola. The name Dozza from ‘castrum Dutie’ is probably derived from the early Middle Ages Latin word ‘doccia’ that indicated the rare presence of water-carrying conduit draining into a cistern (cisterna) or tank. The church of Santa Maria Assunta in Piscina and the very old parish church of San Lorenzo in
Piscirano both underline the presence of streams or running water. The former (which we entered) was built in the 12th century over the ruins of an earlier Romanesque structure. Some primitive sculptural remains are still extant and preserved in this small church. We made our way slowly through the narrow streets from the direction of the ‘rocca’ towards the Rivellino which incorporates the 18th century double entrance gate, deep and secure; but before leaving we lingered on a lovely ‘belvedere’ dominating vast stretches of an enchanting countryside similar in texture to that Tuscan with ‘calanche’ instead of ‘balze’ (friable hills). The village boasts the flat ‘piadina Romognola’, the queen of the table that takes the place of bread. The mouth waters in the wide choice of white wines: Albana and Trebbiano and the red Sangiovese.
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In Bologna we stopped in Piazza Malpighi and walked slowly to Piazza San Francesco and entered the Franciscan church (1236-54) in French Gothic style where we admired the unique altar frontal in white marble sculpted by Pierpaolo Dalle Masegne (1388-93). We missed the cloisters but admired the sarcophagi raised on slender columns ending in a pyramid cusp covered in green majolica and the majestic
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heavy marble column supporting the statue of the Assumption similar to that in Piazza di Spagna, Rome. Then we moved towards Via Porta Nova and passed under the medieval fortified gate through to Via IV Novembre, skirted the side of Palazzo Communale and entered Piazza Maggiore.
There we stopped for coffee and enjoyed this marvellous space designed to enjoy fully the façade of San Petronio, the Neptune fountain by Giambologna and the Palazzo della Podestà. We sat in the shade of the arches of this wide ‘porticato’ sipping coffee or orange juice. The Palazzo Communale is decorated with a monumental bronze statue of Pope Gregory the XIII on the Portale dell’Alessi. We then passed near the Church of Santa Maria della Vita that preserves the famous dead Christ by Niccolò dell’Arca (1463) and stumbled into the open vegetable, fruit and flower market, colourful, bustling and noisy. We moved again after taking a lot of photos and arrived under the loggia of the
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Palazzo della Mercanzia, a medieval edifice of great interest and arrived in Piazza Santo Stefano from Via San Stefano that I chose as the most interesting site for the day.
At 5.30pm the driver arrived near San Francesco to drive us back to Faenza. Before we left we wondered at the flying buttresses supporting the monumental apse of the church.
Since the place is a centre for pilgrimage and prayer the atmosphere inside could not but impress us. These seven churches are a replica of the shines in Gerusalem that remind us of Christ and his suffering. The floating space in the centrally planned Santo Sepolcro church in the heart of the sanctuary impressed us with its ancient hallowed nature and the silence in the cloister and in Pilate’s courtyard filled us with a kind of tranquillity, serenity and peace as the complex is cut off completely from the noise of traffic outside. Crossing the Corte Isolani we came into Strada Maggiore with a huge palace resting on strong wooden beams made from enormous tree-trunks. Under the eaves there is an arrow stuck to the wood rafters that relates to a tragic love-story.
Bologna is a dream, a beautiful dream, a city of art and culture. Its University (founded in 1088) made the city like Paris capital of European medieval culture and even today it enjoys great prestige and fame. Secular and politically involved Bologna never allowed religion to impose on the state, a fact that underlines its independent soul and mind. Its golden splendour straddled the 12th century after being invaded by Lombards and Franks. Later the struggle for power continued under the ‘signorie’ of the Pepoli and Bentivoglio. The bronze statue in honour of Pope Julius II mounted during the period when the city formed part of the Papal States after 1513, was pulled down in anger by the people, melted, turned into a canon named Julius to be used as a defence of the city against Papal rule.
The last place to visit in Via Maggiore was the church of Santa Maria dei Servi, a pilgrimage church with a beautiful light and airy portico: shelter for those in need of medication, care and rest. Inside we saw the painting of the Madonna and Child by Cimabue and the delicate and elaborate work in polychrome terracotta by Vincenzo Onofri (1503). On the opposite side of Via Maggiore is Palazzo Davia Bargellini with a portico supported by giant telamon in marble (1638), the house of Camillò Bargellini, actually housing a Civic Museum of Industrial Art. We retraced our steps through Via San Vitale, to the leaning Towers and to a lunch in the street leading to the open market. We took Via Ugo Bassi lined with shops full of goods to reach Piazza Malpighi.
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Closure On the last day we woke up at five as our flight was scheduled at 10.30am. Those who leave things till last packed their luggage in a hurry and then we all met downstairs for breakfast at 7.00am. The waitress in charge of breakfast was kind enough to open the dining room earlier just to give us a good service before we leave. We thanked her for her generosity and left the hotel at 7.30am. Hotel Vittoria on Corso Garibaldi, 23 Faenza is a comfortable and cosy fourstar hotel with a tradition, courteous and discreet going back to 1861. Gabriele D’Annunzio and the
poet Giosué Carducci used the hotel to savour its comfort and luxury. The style in Art Nouveau is elaborate, rich and delicate. It has an elegant façade, a sumptuous foyer and Doric columns in marble supporting a ceiling with highly beautiful flowing, gilded flowering design in Stile Liberty. By 9.00am we had arrived at the airport near Bologna and after going through security prepared for the flight. By noon we had arrived at Malta International Airport much richer in experience than we left.
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San Marino
On the river bank of Tiberio in Rimini
The Vasary Corridor, Firenze