The Italian Medieval New York

San Gimignano, the “town of towers”, stands majestically on a hill straddling Val d'Elsa and Val d'Era at 334 meters above sea level; its walls and fortified buildings forms a unique horizon nestled in the heart of the Etruscan territory. San Gimignano, situated along one of the Via Francigena, was once a renowned stopping point for pilgrims traveling to and from Rome; to its name it’s related a curious legend.

The story goes that on January 31st a young man of Colle Val d'Elsa, who was in Modena, attended on that day the solemn funeral for the death of Bishop Gimignano. Being dazzled by a large ring on the dead bishop’s finger, the young man decided to stole it taking advantage of a moment of confusion in the crowd. Unfortunately, the ring did not came off, letting him to pull it so hard that the jewel came along with the entire finger. The boy then came back to his village but, still terrified by what he had done, took refuge in a country church. There he remained for three days and three nights, but when he decided to leave, he noticed that the door was locked and he had lost the gift of sight. It is said that, to his first responders the boy appeared destroyed; he returned the stolen finger, regaining the sight, and broke into tears of repentance. Both the ring and the finger are still part of the assets of the reliquary Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Assunta in San Gimignano.

The village of San Gimignano that originally belonged to the jurisdiction of the bishops of Volterra, gained its independence in 1199, the year of the proclamation of its first mayor. The city, known as the independent municipality of San Gimignano delle Belle Torri, experienced a long period of economic splendor, which was due mainly to the trade of fine local agricultural products such as saffron also sold abroad, in France, the Netherlands, to Syria, and to the activities of financial speculation. Thus was born an urban aristocracy, the city was in fact ruled by two great rival families, the Guelphs Ardinghelli and the Ghibellines Salvucci, who were in constant struggle trying to prevail over one another through the construction of towers. The tallest tower symbolized the most powerful faction; in total 72 tower-houses were built, but just 14 of them have come to our days, which are:

 •    The Devil’s Tower, which was named after a curious event, occurred to its owner it is said in fact that after returning from a trip, he noticed with great surprise that his tower was taller than when he had left it. This strange event was immediately connected to a diabolical participation and so the tower become connected to the Devil itself.

•    The Tower of Becci and the Tower of Cugnanesi.

•    The two towers of Ardinghelli, a noble Ghibelline family.

•    The twin towers of Salvucci, a noble family at war with the Ardinghelli family.

•    The Tower of Pucci, a truncated tower leaned on Palazzo Tortoli. It is characterised by mullioned windows in Gothic style.

•    The Tower of Pellari.

•    Tower Chigi, one of the most beautiful, but the lowest, of towers.

•    The “Torre Grossa”, completed in 1311, and built entirely of travertine. It is almost 54 meters high and is located on the right of the Town Hall, in Piazza del Duomo.

•    Torre “Rognosa”, it name is due to people who were affected by scabies and inhabited the tower that was once a prison.


With the considerable economic resources gained, the city began the construction of major public works. The town was in fact divided into four districts, each corresponding to a main door: that of Piazza di Castello, of St. Matteo and St. Giovanni, and it even hosted Dante Alighieri as an ambassador of the Guelph League in Tuscany.


But the independence and the glory lasted only until 1353 when San Gimignano, after having been decimated by an epidemics of black plague, was subjected to the Republic of Florence. Since that date, the city’s economic, cultural and architectural growth ended, but despite this period of decline, a large range of artistic initiatives were carried out. In the late nineteenth century, the town has seen a progressive revival thanks to the increasing flow of tourists who came to admire a centre that has preserved intact its original architectural beauty. San Gimignano is today a UNESCO world heritage site.

Saletta di Costanzana

Saletta is a small village located in the province of Vercelli, and it is a small fraction of Costanzana. The name Saletta has clear Lombard origins, like other similar place names with the same ending, such as: Salasco, Saliceto, Saluggia and Salera. The term “Sala” was used to indicate the most important place of the “Curtis”, which was usually the residence of the most important members of “Fara”(Lombard military organization).

The story of Saletta of Costanzana, officially begins in the Middle Ages, but there are several stories and unconfirmed reports that gives reason to believe that this place was inhabited since ancient times, in the era in which giants are said to have existed. In the book of Genesis (VI, 4) it is written that the earth before the flood was inhabited by giants and the historic, Giovan Battista Modena, who lived between the sixteenth and the seventeenth century said he found the bones of a giant in the area adjacent to Saletta of Costanzana. Precisely in 1622 came the discovery of a skeleton of gigantic proportions; the historian described it as "a giant body, with an unspeakable height and thickness that I have ever seen, measured". It is said that the bones were so old that they become similar to the stone.

This story has no real historical foundation, but it was found that the area between Saletta and Tower, was once a glacier and that between the nearby hills of Monferrato is possible to find fossils of shells ... according to this theory, the story of the giants in Saletta di Costanzana might have a grain of truth.
Let’s move to the Middle Ages, here we found a first mentioning of the village in 1148 AD and then a second one in an 1152 diploma of Frederick Barbarossa. At the end of the thirteenth century, the family Saletta, owner of some structures of the village, donated all their possessions to the Monastery of San Martino in Lagatasco who later sold them for 625 Imperial Lire  to the Abbey of Sant’ Andrea. In 1481, the fief of Saletta passed to the Marquis of Monferrato, who in turn sold it to Roger Ponzoni of Milan, but it is only in 1625 that the property become possession of the Marquis Giovanni Francesco Mossi. The Marquis Mossi wanted to turn the complex of Saletta into a modern agricultural complex optimizing the harvest and focusing on the development of the social aggregation of the peasants. The project was entrusted to the architect Casale Vitili. In 1829, after the death of the last person of the Mossi family, Saletta of Costanzana passed to the Pallavicini family letting a series of eerie legends begin, especially with the birth of Giuseppe Pallavicini Mossi.
Conceived by an affair between an archbishop (Mossi) and a woman of the Pallavicini family, the child was placed in an orphanage. At age 15, while he was to pick cherries on a tree he was given the good news that he had become, by hereditary right, the owner of the large estate of “Saletta di Costanzana”. The boy contemptuous of the life and legacy uttered this sentence: "It was better than I had died when I was born". It is said that a gypsy, hearing the sentence pronounced, predicted the extinction of the race Pallavicini Mossi within four generations, and indeed, some year ago, the last Pallavicini-Mossi exponent died.

Not much is left of what it has said to be a cursed village. The village today can be divided into three principal parts : The Castle, The Church and “Il Tempietto”.  However, let’s start from the beginning…  and try to summarize the many, written and oral stories, that found place in people imaginary and sometimes even a small space on the sidebars of local newspapers.

The Church
Dedicated to St. Bartholomew, this is the first structure we meets leaving the road and it’s possible to park right in front of it. Its existence has been reported since 1280 and we know that the church belonged for a period to the abbey of St. Andrew, coming later under the diocese of Vercelli.
The structure is fairly preserved, and the access door is today locked to prevent access to the vandals who plundered it in the past. At its core, worthy of note, is a board which is believed to come from the School of Lanino and which depicts the enthroned Virgin holding its child, crowned by two angels, to her right we see San Bartolomeo on her left San Sebastiano.
Locals tell of rather gruesome events related to this church...

It is said that before the bolting of the door, the place was regularly used as place to pursue black masses and demonic rituals; the church was commonly believed to be place of worship of a specific religious sect, who adored the statue of a bull or goat with red eyes, preserved inside the church. This rumour, never confirmed, may have been inspired by the decoration of the tympanum of the church that shows a series of cow skulls in relief. What is known for sure is that the black masses went on regularly inside the church; to discourage the followers, periodic checks were scheduled by the police. In an article of "La Stampa", dated 8 December 1991, appeared some curious testimony, of local children who said to have witnessed these alleged rituals.

Adjacent to the church there is a small cemetery, which only access road is blocked by a big locked iron gate.

The Castle
Its first appearance dates back to a 1272 document, though probably its construction may dates back to an earlier period. Located nearby the church, the castle is formed by a central body surrounded by the ruins of several houses. What once was the structure of the castle, no longer exists, the structures have changed over the years and today it looks more like a farm; it is today uninhabited.

Il Tempietto
“Il Tempietto” construction is linked to the history of an unlucky couple of lovers.
The story goes that once a young girl, who belonged to the Mossi family, desperately fell in love with a knight of the “Torrione”. The man did reciprocate her love but unfortunately her family did not accepted their union, that was the reason why after being hindered in many ways they decided to kill themselves to live happily their love in the afterlife (just like Romeo and Juliet).
It so happened that one night in May the two committed suicide, leaving the Monsignor Mossi so shocked that he decided to build the actual “Tempietto” right where the two killed themselves. It is said that many have reported seeing the spirits of the two lovers appearing right next to the “Tempietto” in the night of May.
However, let’s talk now about the actual story…
Also called the tabernacle of San Sebastiano, “Tempietto” is located about fifty meters from the church and can be reached by passing a field, hidden by vegetation; its shape begins to glimpse when you are close enough to the grove. It is thought that the current structure was built on a more ancient temple dating back to the Romanesque. “Tempietto” is round shaped with twelve columns and a high base, with stairs that connect it to the ground; on the inside there was once an altar which is now completely destroyed.
On the back of the temple, at its base, we can find an opening. Looking at its inside, you can easily see a staircase that descend in the basement which has thrust function for the entire structure. Legends which dates back to the '70s, tell of an intricate network of underground which unravel from the temple to unknown directions.
We know that in the Vercelli area the average length of an underground passage ranged from 1 mile to 2, with exceptions with peaks of 7 km, as well as a few tens of meters.

According to the average distances, the Castle Tower (2.3 Km), but also some church or the castle of the nearest Costanzana, would have been a good chance to be the exit of the tunnel. The problem is that there is no input in this tiny room of “Tempietto”, moreover, along the side walls there are no signs of restoration or post masonry of any kind, while at the center, where we assumed a trap door, there is nothing but clay and earth.
Although there was a widespread fashion to bury the tunnels when they were no longer needed, there is the remote possibility that the current flooring was made up of the debris used to enclose access. It is much more likely that the tunnel had an input in the nearby church or castle, rather than under the tabernacle of San Sebastian. We still haven’t find traces of these underground today.

The Path of the Gods

Legend has it that once Gods of “Monti Lattari” used to follow a path across the hillside parallel to the sea, to go and admire the beauty of the Sirens of the gulf of Naples and to enjoy their bewitching songs while bathing in Positano’s waters;  this ancient path was called “The Path of the Gods”. Its name derives probably by its location, the path is in fact situated half way at the foot of Mount St. Angelo a Tre Pizzi you can admire one of the most spectacular landscape in the world, which is the western part of the Amalfi Coast from Praiano to Capri. Along the promenade, you can cover all the typical features of the Mediterranean, from the flora with herbs and aromas of traditional local cuisine, to the fauna characterized by the presence of weasels, foxes and hedgehogs in a place where the clear sky is dominated by peregrine falcons, swallows, owls and crows. The route can be made in both directions but generally, the departure is from Bomerano (you can also enter along the path from Praiano passing the Convent of St. Dominic) and you come up to Montepertuso.

The most striking part of the path is for sure the one that goes from “Grotta Biscotto” to Nocelle, which is exceptionally interesting and scenic from beginning to end. The first one is a natural cave an exemplary site of rare geological effect, full of stories that invigorate the beauty of these places, it treasures in fact, well-preserved ruins of ancient artefacts used as animal shelters and deposits. Nocelle is on the other hand, a characteristic small village, which was once linked to Positano Village only by a long staircase.

Left behind the remains of ancient settlements in the rock of “Grotta Biscotto”, you will soon meet a majestic amphitheatre of horrid crags, and then the spectacular "Pinnacolo”, on which we see what is left of a plaque in memory of Giustino Fortunato, who seems to have given its name to this path. Keep on following the path we reach the fork to Colle Serra, there, in a blue landscape, it will be possible to admire the breathtaking landscape formed by Li Galli Island, the Vetara rock and the ridges of Mount San Costanzo which gently slopes towards Punta Campanella. The vegetation at this point changes quite radically and you pass by a few shrubs and grass at a spot full of dense oaks, arbutus, heather and rosemary. Along the trail are steep some places, there are ravines, abandoned terraces and empty houses. All this brings us back to a bygone world tied to the hard work of the earth, but was relieved by the mild climate and the beauty of the Amalfi.

Following a very tortuous and full of ups and downs path, we finally reach “Vallone Grarelle”, with its caves and deep coves, and later the little village of Nocelle.

From the little village you can get off on Coastal Route making about 1500 steps and arriving in Arienzo, or continue up to Montepertuso reaching Monte Gambera site of the legendary battle between the Virgin Mary and the Devil. Traces of this mystical fight are today visible and are said to be: the imprint in the rock of Lucifer’s tail, traces of the Madonna and the girl, by her lit, footsteps, as well as the highly visible and famous hole, which is said to have been stamped in the mountain by the index finger of the Madonna.

Legend has it that the noise of the controversy was so intense, that the brigands who used to live in the surrounding caves were awakened in their sleep and watched astonished the battle. It is also said that from that moment on, the earthly personification of the Devil, the brigands, stopped to live there and abandoned the caves of Montepertuso. It is right here in Montepertuso that ends the Path of the Gods, and is from this point that you can reach the center of Positano.

Marina Grande and Villa Tritone

 

It has been a month since the re-opening of the wonderful piece of art and history, which is Marina Grande Ancient Gate. The site, which once was the only way to access the port, dates back to roman times and is linked to the devastating Turkish Invasion in 1558, which almost destroyed Sorrento city. In fact, the story goes that a traitor, slave of the Correale family, opened the gate during the night of the invasion, allowing pirates to plunder the city. The ancient gate, which often figure on Sorrento’s postcards, was threatening to collapse, reason why important recovery activities have begun. During the intervention, the expert restorers discovered a secret ancient passage, which dates back to the sixteenth century, and that allowed entering and exiting the gates of the ancient city, from Marina Grande. Endless tunnels, long hundreds of meters , dug without delay "offering up" a "hidden path ", a route to take when the city gates were closed in times of: war, bloody battles and sieges, and which is said to emerge near the cave of St. George in Villa Tritone.

The mansion has always been considered one of the most prestigious property of Sorrento also for its position, one of the most beautiful of the Sorrento Peninsula. In fact, as an eagle, the villa overlooks the village of Marina Grande, which was the natural set of the famous movie "Pane, Amore e ..." with Sofia Loren, from a two hundred feet high ridge of tuff, which is dominated by the triangular Vesuvius. Former residence of Agrippa Postumus, grandson of Augustus, the villa became in 1200 the convent of cloistered nuns, violated by the Saracens in 1558. Rebuilt by the Dominicans, the property was honoured by the presence of Torquato Tasso visiting prior to the friar in 1577. Abolished as a monastery in 1799 it passed to the Jesuits in 1835 and was later purchased by Baron Calabrian Labonia who built his house on the ruins the Roman villa of Agrippa, passing later in the hands of the publishing magnate William Waldorf Astor who built the magnificent garden full of exotic plants.

Among the years, the Villa has had several owners, among them the publisher Astor in Geertsema with whom the property definitely took the name of Villa Tritone. In addition to its unparalleled beauty, which we have already talked about earlier, the Villa was made famous also for having given hospitality to: tycoons, intellectuals, aristocrats and artists, in the immediate post-war, among whom figure the philosopher Benedetto Croce during the bombing of Naples in 1942. During those years, the Villa also became the Reference point as well as the counterpart of Villa “La Rufola”, owned by the Marquis Ruffino Benzoni, who for years played host to the death to Gaetano Salvemini, returned from long exile in the United States.

In the sixties, Rita and Mariano Pane bought Villa Tritone, making it recover its past splendour forgotten during the years. Many were the improvements: the reorganization of the apartments, the care of the garden full of exotic and local, some of which are higher than the building itself.  In the Villa we also find many archaeological finds, all of rare beauty, and then basins, grassy paths, areas of greenery, hundreds of steps towards the sea, secret caves and huge tanks, which were in the Roman period, nurseries for fish. When Mariano and Rita began to live at Villa Tritone, they used to receive and accommodate some of the greatest exponents of the international culture, allowing sharing the beauty of this wonderful place to the knowledge of many.

Villa Tritone is today the only Villa in southern Italy, which has been included in the prestigious volume of “Giardini d’Italia” of Marella Caracciolo Agnelli and Federico Forquet.

Regina Giovanna

Best Picture ever for the best place ever!

Ieranto Bay and the Myth of the Sirens

Massa Lubrense has always been called "The Land of the Sirens", that's why I got interested in this theme nd started doing some research. Here's to yu what I found Enjoy!

Sirens, mystical creatures of an ancient past who are said to have inhabited Sorrento area since Greek times; statements of sirens existence are mainly found in Greek stories among which the most important is Homer’s “Odyssey”.

Sirens physiognomy changed a lot during their first appearances, in early Greek art in fact, they used to be represented as birds with huge women's heads, bird feathers and scaly feet, turning later into female figures with bird’s legs, with or without wings, who rejoiced themselves playing variety of musical instruments, especially harps. It is believed that their bird element was chosen because of their beautiful voices. According to the “Odissey”, Odysseus was so curious to hear the Siren’s chant that in order to do that, on Circe’s advice, he had all of his sailor’s ear plug with beeswax and ordered his men to tie him to the mast and to not unbid him no matter his begging. When they came to pass near the Island of the Sirens, Odysseus heard their fascinating chant and begged his sailors to free him, but they did not give up to his entreaties.

Once out of the earshot, his sailors released Odysseus. According to popular beliefs, Sorrento Peninsula is strictly related to the myth of the Sirens, and is commonly known also as the “Land of the Sirens”. Scholars retains in fact that, according to Homer descriptions, Siren’s liar would match exactly the morphological appearance described by the Greek poet. It is believed that those mythological creatures found in the mouths of Capri their ideal setting, being related, for the Greek imaginary, to a liminal situation between land and water, and for being those who rule over the elements and in particular to the condition and to the essential elements for navigation.

The story goes that Sirens would have had a temple in the Peninsula, possibly in Ieranto’s Bay, and that their mythical lair would have been the famous “Li Galli” islands “Sirenuse” to the ancients. Some post-Homeric authors stated that the Sirens were fated to die if someone hearing their chant would have managed to escape them, according Licofrone in fact, having failed to attract Odysseus, “Li Galli” island’s sirens, threw themselves into the sea letting the sea carry their dead bodies respectively to Terina (Ligeia), Licosa (Leukosia) and the other one in Naples (Parthenope). From the name of the sirens would derives the name of those places.

Please find at the end of the page the direct link to download a calendar of the available events related to the wonderful Bay of Ieranto and to the story of the Myth of the Sirens.

Italian's Ghost Town - Pentedattilo "The Devil's Hand"

Pentedattilo is an Italian abandoned village hamlet of Melito Porto Salvo in Reggio Calabria. Located about 250 meters above the sea level on the cliff of Mount Calvary, it overlooks the Ionian Sea and the stunning views of the nearby Sicily and Mount Etna. Its characteristic shape resembles a gigantic hand with five fingers, and it’s from this peculiarity that derives its name “Pentedattilo”: Penta + Daktylos = Five Fingers. Unfortunately, some parts of the mountain collapsed down and it no longer represents all of the five "fingers”. The area remains a fascinating place, related to a lots of myths and legends, full of mystery, and it is of course one of the most characteristic of the Area Grecanica. The town has ancient origins, and its foundation dates back to 640 BC.

For the Greek-Roman period, the city was a thriving and vibrant economic center, as well as an important military center, due to its strategic position of control over the torrent Sant'Elia, the privileged path to reach the Aspromonte. With the Byzantine era, for the city began a long period of decline, caused by the continuous looting made by the Saracens and later by the Duke of Calabria. After the occupation of the Normans in the twelfth century, Pentadattilo came under the rule of the Marquis Alberti. To this family, a horrible crime, committed in 1686, is linked.  We’re talking of the famous so-called “Strage degli Alberti”, unearthed by the novel of Andrea Cantadori "The tragedy of Pentidattilo." Protagonists of this story were the members of two noble Calabria families, that of Alberti, Marquis of Pentadattilo, and that of Abenavoli, barons of Montebello and former vassals of Pentidattilo. Rivalry and hatred existed from a long time between the two families; the conflict mainly regarded matter of common borders. Around 1680, the tensions between the two families seemed to be waning for both pressures of the Viceroy, which sought to pacify the area, and because the founder family Abenavoli, Baron Bernardino, planned to take Antonietta, the daughter of the Marquis Domenico Alberti, as his wife.

It so happens, however, that in 1685 the Marquis Domenico dies and is succeeded by his son Lorenzo, who, a few months after his father's death, married Catherine Cortez, daughter of the Viceroy of Naples. On such a marriage, a long and sumptuous cortege that included, in addition to the bride, the Viceroy and his wife as well as his son Don Petrillo Cortez, arrived from Naples. At the ceremony, the young Don Petrillo had the opportunity to meet Antonietta; after the marriage, Don Petrillo, due to his mother sudden illness was forced to remain in Calabria, having in that way the chance of to date the girl, whom he later felt in love with. After a brief period, Petrillo asked Lorenzo to marry his sister, but, the Marquis Alberti, not knowing his father previous accord, agreed to the wedding. The news of the official engagement between Don Cortez and Antonietta Petrillo Alberti sent on the rampage Bernardino that, hurt in feelings and pride, decided to take revenge overall Alberti family. The story goes that, on the night of 16 April 1686, Bernardino, due to the treachery of Joseph Scrufari, unfaithful servant of the Alberti, introduced himself inside the castle of Pentadattilo with a group of armed men. He first surprised Lorenzo, who was asleep, killing him with two shots of musket and finishing him with 14 stabs. Later, with his men, Bernardino rushed to the assault of the various castle’s rooms, killing most of the occupants including Simone Alberti, the 9 year old little brother of Lorenzo, fatally crashed into a rock. From this massacre were spared only: Caterina Cortez, Antonietta Alberti, her little sister Teodora, her mother Donna Giovanna Petrillo and Don Cortez, taken hostage as a guarantee against possible retaliation of the Viceroy to the Abenavoli. Antonietta and her lover were brought to the Abenavoli castle of Montebello where Bernardino, on the 19 of April, forced Antonietta to marry him. News of the massacre came to the Viceroy Cortez, who immediately sent a real military expedition. The army attacked the castle of Abenavoli, freed Don Petrillo and captured seven perpetrators of the massacre, whose heads were cut off and hung on the battlements of the castle of Pentadattilo.

The Baron Abenavoli, thanks to various tricks and support, managed to escape from the troops of the Viceroy along with Antoinette and, after entrusting his wife to a convent, ran first to Malta and then to Vienna, where he entered the Austrian army. After become an appointed captain, he was killed by a cannon ball during a naval battle in 21 August 1692. Antonietta Alberti, whose marriage was annulled by the Roman Rota in 1690 because it was the result of a violence, ended her days in the cloistered convent of Reggio Calabria, consumed by the pain and anguish, because she felt as the unintended cause of the 'slaughter of his family. Over the time, this tragic story of love and obsessive passion, to the point that blind the human soul, has given rise to many legends and rumours. It seems that the stone towers, which overlooks the town, represent the bloody fingers of the Marquis Lorenzo Alberti and the huge hand that one day will fall on men to punish them for their thirst of blood. It is also said that at night, in winter, when the wind is violently channelled between the gorges of the mountain, you can still hear the screams of the Marquis Alberti. The domination of the Alberti lasted until 1760, but those tragic events were not the only ones to undermine the existence of the small village of Pentadattilo. In 1783 a violent earthquake devastated the town and destroyed several houses. This prompted several families to move to the nearby Melito Porto Salvo, and to call this place "the walking country" just because of the instability of the soil and rock that hosts it.

Today Pentadattilo lives in the memory of those people who know its history and that, with emotion and enthusiasm, do not hesitate to tell others fascinating legends of this charming village that still has much to offer and to tell. Thanks to the passion and commitment of these people, since the early '80s, Pentadattilo was rediscovered by young people and associations who have started a slow path to recovery with the help of volunteers from all over Europe. A concrete result of this voluntary work is the restoration of the church of SS. Peter and Paul, which now houses a church choir. Moreover, every summer Pentadattilo is the destination of the traveling festival "Paleariza", an important event that takes place annually in the province of Reggio Calabria. In addition, between August and September the city hosts the "Pentedattilo Film Festival", an international festival of short films that combines film and territory. Calabria, in which palm lies the ghost town of Pentadattilo, one of the most beautiful and fascinating places of Aspromonte, and from which derives its nickname “The hand of the Devil”.