This Umbrian town of 20,000 people is a jewel of Roman ruins and medieval fantasy! Spoleto is also the host of two world-class music festivals each summer that puts this village on the world stage. But for now, we have the city to ourselves!
Today was market day in the Umbrian hill town of Spoleto. This was good news because we wanted to pick up our meals for the next two days of our stay here. Last night we had dinner in "Piazza del Mercado" which used to be the old Roman Forum in Spoleto. Spoleto is an ancient hill town that was first settled by the Umbri people and then built up by the Romans. We figured Piazza del Mercado would be where the public market was held, but all we saw were safety fences and scaffolding around the buildings. I don't know if there was a restoration project going on or if there were ongoing repairs from last Octobers 6.2 magnitude earthquake. In any case, it was clear that there would be no market here today.
Down The Scala Mobile
We asked an elderly gentleman who looked like a Spoleto resident where the market was. He gave us these weird directions that involved "moving stairs" and elevators; he kept saying the market was very far away. We were so confused! We were instructed to head to "The Rocca" which was the giant castle Albornoziana at the top of the town and all would become clear the gentleman said. So we trudged uphill to the Rocca and saw a sign pointing to the "scala mobile" and headed towards an entrance that disappeared underground. Buried deep beneath Spoleto, there is a series of moving sidewalks and escalators that get people use to get around this incredibly steep hill town: ALL FOR FREE! It's so great for people with baby buggies, mobility issues, shopping carts-you can even bring your dogs on the ride.
Scala Mobile System
So the #2 green line tunnel popped us out halfway down the hill on the edge of town. From there it was a short stroll across the bridge to the market. This market sold everything; produce, clothes, jewellery, cheap electronics and much more. We got a bunch of great local produce for the next few days including some delicious walnuts grown just outside the city! I also bought a toque because it was cold and smelled like snow again. We did our shopping with the locals and "took a coffee" as the Italians would say; which means slam down an espresso at a local bar.
After our caffeine fuel up we decided to walk up the hill to get to our palazzo via the scenic route. There is a lot of history to see in Spoleto with its Roman ruins, Medieval architecture and fabulous Churches. Walking through the village was fascinating with its ample amount of arched alleyways and stone cobbled streets. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Spoleto was the capital of its own Duchy, and there were many palaces for the wealthy here. Much of the stone and marble the Romas had used to build with, were repurposed at this time. There are so many beautiful little details that make Spoleto intriguing.
Spoletium's Amphitheatre
Eventually, our uphill meander brought us to this place: the Roman Amphitheatre built in the early part of the first century. This 2000-year-old amphitheatre was so well preserved because it was basically buried by Medieval buildings constructed over the top of it; including the monastery of Saint Agatha, pictured here on the right. The monastery of St Agatha became a prison until the 1800's and now it houses the National Archeological Museum. The big deal about this Roman amphitheatre is the stage which still has the original marble with an inlaid pattern called "Opus Sectile" which is not mosaic, but inlaid pieces of thinly sliced stone and marble imported from all over the Roman Empire. The theatre has been recently restored and is one of the ballet and dance venues of the "FESTIVAL DEI DUE MONDI" or FESTIVAL OF THE TWO WORLDS.
Festival Dei Due Mondi
Another amazing venue for the Spoleto festival or Festival dei Due Mondi and the Spoleto Jazz Festival is in front of Spoleto's beautiful Duomo. This Romanesque Cathedral was built in about 50 years from 1175-1225 after the original Duomo was sacked by Barbarossa in 1155.
Santa Maria Assunta
With its glorious golden mosaics and 8 rose windows on the facade created in 1202, this Duomo dedicated to the Virgin Mary was considered very modern for its day. I so wished we had time to peek inside because there are amazing pre-renaissance ceiling frescoes by Filippo Lippi, a bust sculpted by Bernini and a letter written and signed by St. Francis of Assisi inside. There are only two signatures of letters signed by St. Francis in the world, the other is in the Duomo of Assisi. Lippi himself has a tomb inside the Duomo, but the remains of this great Italian artist had been stolen. It is a whole other crazy story that should have a movie written about it...or maybe a blog post 😏
Rocca Albornoziana
The sun came pouring out from behind the clouds so we thought this would be a great opportunity to walk all the way up to the Rocca to take in the view of the town. The Rocca Albornoziana sits on top of Saint Elia hill and was built in 1359 after the whole mess of the Papacy moving to France. When the Pope returned to Italy, he wanted a series of fortresses built to defend the Papal territories. The Cardinal in charge of the region of Umbria was Cardinal Albornoz, a tough Spaniard who ordered the massive castle to be built. Six square towers with 2 internal courtyards and a great wall of defence below it. This was also home to the Pope's daughter; the infamous Lucrezia Borgia in 1499 when she was made the governess of Umbria by her Dad. If y'all watch the television series "The Borgias" you will know all about the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and her numerous plots of love and murder. There is even a story about a secret escape tunnel built under the Rocca that Lucrezia used to sneak her various lovers into the castle.
Ponte Delle Torre From The Rocca
The views from up on Saint Elias hill of Spoleto, Mountelucco, the Ponte delle Torre and the valley were incredible! The air was thick with the sweet smell of Ash fires, and a thin blue haze hovered over the church spires. Somewhere on Montelucco, a church bell began to chime and starts a choir of bells in the town below us. Noon. I was hoping to have more time to tour inside the Rocca and to visit the museum of Spoleto inside it. The Rocca was completely restored in the 1980's after it was used as a prison for almost 200 years. I figured if the Rocca looks this great after 700 years, it will surely survive until our next visit to Umbria. For now, adventure (and lunch) calls us North towards Assisi to explore more Roman hill towns on the Via Flaminia!
Tuscany is the King of red wines with it's Chianti, Brunello and Super Tuscan. But Umbria has a secret weapon; Sagrantino di Montefalco!
Montefalco is a hill town in Umbria, Italy, a Region that borders Tuscany. Unlike Tuscany, Umbria is much more Mountainous with the Apennine range running through the East of this Region, creating a colder climate for grape growing. Montefalco and it's neighbouring towns like Bevagna 7 km away grow Sagrantino grapes that become the famous Sagrantino di Montefalco.
Sagrantino Grapes
Sagrantino has been made in this region of Italy for hundreds of years. In fact, there have been grapes growing in this area since Roman times; we know this because the Romans wrote down EVERYTHING. Pliny the Elder (same dude who wrote about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius: see blog) wrote of "Itrida" and "Piceno" grape varieties in this area. "Picenum" is a Greek word for the Roman territory that is now basically the Marche Region of Italy. Here's the deal, though: the Sagrantino grape does not share any commonalities with any other grape variety grown in central Italy. There is some speculation that the Greeks brought this grape variety to Umbria via the indigenous Piceni people that were famous traders, and made a brisk trade with the Greeks.
Can I Get You Guys Some Wine?
Another story is that monks brought it from Asia Minor (perhaps Syria or Turkey) after the fall of the Western part of the Roman Empire and the Capitol changed from Rome to Constantinople, which is now modern Istanbul, Turkey. The Sagrantino vine could also be a vine of local origin like maybe Dionysus planted it there... The word "Sagrantino" comes from Latin roots: "Sacer," meaning "sacred," and this wine was used as a sacramental wine for the altar. The Italian word "Sagra" from the same Latin root means celebration and used to refer to religious ceremonies in church and homes. This is probably why Sagrantino grapes were grown INSIDE the city walls of Montefalco, keeping the vines preserved over the years; the Holy Vines from the Holy Lands needed to be protected to make the Holy Wine. There are also theories out there that St. Francis's disciples brought this grape variety back from the Holy Lands in the 1200s and that they are the ones responsible for creating the Sagrantino wine. Well then, bless them thoroughly! The first mention of Sagrantino grapes being cultivated by monks was 1549, and these guys really knew their stuff. The monks realized there was a very high sugar content in these grapes and that they had a real rot-resistant nature. The Sagrantino grapes were tiny, and there was not much of yield compared to other varieties. But the monks were clever winos and knew exactly what to do with this grape to produce a fantastic product.
The original version of Sagrantino the monks made was a sweet wine in the passito style. "Passito" is a style of wine that is known as "straw wine" or "raisin wine." It involves drying the grapes for 2 months before pressing. In the old days, the grapes were dried on straw so that the grapes are halfway to being raisins. This is an ancient technique that was recorded by the Ancient Greeks as far back as 800 B.C.E. We would call Passito adessert wine, and the traditional Sagrantino di Montefalco Passito is still popular and sold by many vintners today. See, the monks also knew that the Sagrantino grapes have a high tannin content, which is not easy to balance. So drying out the grapes balanced the tannins by concentrating their sugar content....and made a VERY delicious wine; a smooth, sweet, nectar of the angels. So good in fact, it became a bit of a legend in its own time.
Mommy's Little Helper
This Sagrantino wine became THE wine in the local churches of Umbria for Holy Communion and other religious ceremonies. Local farmers also drank this Sacred Wine on religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter. The wine was even used for spiritual healing. There had been a local priest in the Middle Ages that specialized in exorcisms using Sagrantino wine. In fact, he exorcised the demons out of a local woman by getting her to drink a bottle (or three) of Sagrantino wine. I bet you money she was the mother of multiple teenagers. I wonder if you can get a prescription for Sagrantino? This is where vintner Azienda Agaria gets his label name "Scacciadiavoli." "Scacciare" in Italian means "to banish" and "Diavoli," is you know, The Devil. Nowadays, Sagrantino is made "secco" or dry. It is a DOCG wine since 1979 made out of 100% Sagrantino grapes. The wine must be aged for a minimum of 37 months; 12 of those must be in Oak barrels. To me, it tastes like: berry.spice.raisin.smoke. Yum!
Glass O'Vitamins!
There is some fantastic truth to this healing power of Sagrantino. A study done recently on this odd variety of grape shows that compared to 25 other common types of grapes, Sagrantino contains DOUBLE the amount of polyphenol concentration. Which means this wine is off-the-hook with anti-oxidants and anti-bacterial. Yup, twice that of Cabernet Sauvignon, which was known to be the highest in anti-oxidants! Start drinking a glass of this every night as a "tonic." I know many people say things like "Sagrantino di Montefalco is super astringent because of its tannins," Or "you can only drink this while eating heavy red meat like beef or lamb," and "you must decant Sagrantino for 12+ hours. It needs to age a million years before it is easy to drink." Don't let them scare you, I say "you must exercise your demons" because Scacciadiavoli is one of THE most smooth and easy-drinking wines I have tried in Umbria. There is also the Montefalco Rosso, which is also a DOC wine blending 60-70% Sangiovese, 10-15% Sagrantino and the rest a blend of Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. It's aged for 18 months, but you can also get a "reserva" which is aged for 30 months, 12 of those months in wood barrels. You can get Scacciadiavoli Montefalco Rosso in the Ontario LCBO for about $20, and it ages super well. Salute in Italian is equivalent to "cheers" when drinking wine, it literally means "to your health." These Italians KNOW a few THINGS!!!
Driving on the Via Flaminia we come to the fantastic ancient Roman hill town of Spoleto, our home for the next three days. The town has a castle and we are staying in a former palace-we are living in a fairytale!
Luke, Sara and I are driving North again on the Via Flaminia, following the road built over 2000 years ago by the Romans. Having had a late lunch in Narni we decided we better get going to our final destination of Spoleto before twilight since Spoleto was up in the mountains and there may be snow. The regional road SR3 took a sharp turn left at Terni (which is the birthplace of Saint Valentine) and headed North into the foothills of the snow-capped Apennine Mountains which run the length of Italy. We are now on the eastern branch of the Via Flaminia; the western branch ran through San Gemini where you can see some amazing Roman ruins atCarsule.
Ponte Delle Torri With Fortilizia dei Mulini On The Left
Pulling into Spoleto the first thing you notice is the beautiful Rocca Albornoziana, the castle fortress of Spoleto and the highest point of the town.
Spoleto like Narni is far more ancient than the Romans who conquered here in 241 BCE. The original Umbri tribes lived here since the 5th century BCE and built walls around their settlements that are still visible around the city. The Romans called Spoleto "Spoletium" and evidence of their presence is everywhere; especially in the "Ponte Delle Torri" or Bridge of The Towers which is the symbol of the city. Along with this aqueduct, there was a Roman Forum, many temples and an amphitheatre. After the fall of Rome Spoleto became the capital of its own Duchy of Spoleto until it joined the Holy Roman Empire. There is so much history in Spoleto I could spend days exploring!
Our beds for the night lay in a former palace in the "Centro Storico" or historical old centre of Spoleto. TIP #1: ZONA TRAFFICO LIMITATO means you need a pass to enter into this zone otherwise there are fines of €100 or more! There are traffic cameras that photograph your licence plates and you will get fines mailed to you at home. Luckily, because it was Christmas holiday time we were allowed to drive up towards the castle and take a sharp right into our narrow lane Via Monterone that spits you out by the Porta Monterone where we had to find parking. It sounds easy but it is like a one-way roller coaster. This part of Spoleto was very damaged by the earthquakes in August and October of 2016, and scaffolding and braces hold up the ancient city walls.
Living Room
Bedroom Ceiling
Upstairs Dining Room
The Airbnb house we rented in Spoleto was off the hook! It is called "Romantic Flat In A Medieval Tower Of Spoleto" and it was restored by the owner who painted the details by hand! It was an accident that we were here; our last booking with Airbnb was cancelled suddenly by the host 3 weeks before our trip so Airbnb helped us pay for this upgrade. It had a slipper tub in the bedroom and a huge eat-in kitchen with a private outside terrace! We could not let the beauty of this palace go to waste so we planned a photo shoot for Saras PoppyPants and my Gypsy Dream Padma skirts. But now that we had settled into our palazzo, it was time for dinner.
Hangry Face
There was a small grocery store up the street called Sabatini's, but it was closed for the night. So we decided to head uphill to the see what was available for a small meal at an enoteca. We passed through another gate called the Arco di Montarone that was built by the Romans around 241 CE. Along with the porta at the bottom of the Via Montarone, these gates could seal off the neighbourhood should there be an attack. Through the arch and turning uphill again we followed Via Arco di Druso and passed what looked like a big Roman temple. It is actually a Romanesque church of Saint'Asano that has been built atop a Roman temple that has the crypt of Saint Issac in the bowels. Saint Issac was Syrian refugee that arrived in Italy in 519 CE. He was a monk and a prophet and became the hermit of Monteluco. In Latin, lucus is a sacred wood and Saint Isaac founded a hermitage on Monteluco called Abbey of Saint Giuliano.
Exorcise The Demons!
Walking onward the road levels out and becomes Piazza del Mercado, where the Roman forum used to be. We found our own sacred place in the enoteca "Il Mio Vinaio" or "My Vintner" in English. Wow, an amazing selection of local wines and lots of food choices on the menu.
In Tuscany, you have the famous wine: Brunello that comes from the hill town of Montalcino. In Umbria you have it's rival, Sagrantino di Montefalco. Sagrantino is made from 100% Sagrantino grapes; a variety that is only grown in Montefalco and Bevagna. This wine is one of the things I so desperately wanted to try in Umbria. It tastes like: cherry.raisin.pepper.smoke! The brand "Scacciadiavoli" literally means "Cast out the Devil". SO GOOD! TIP #2: IF YOU FIND WINE YOU LOVE IN ITALY; BUY IT! Chances are you can't find it at home. You can find this label in Ontario, but not the Montefalco Rosso which is a blend of Sagrantino and Sangiovese grapes.
Donkey Balls Anyone?
You know what goes well with this wine? Pork and truffles! Oh yes my friends, these two are King of the Umbrian kitchen. We started with a charcuterie of various cured pork products: salumi, prosciutto, soppressata, mortadella, donkey balls, cinghiale sausage, 2 kinds of local cheese and local honey. Wait-what? Donkey balls? Luke freaked right out, even though we assured him these were not balls of any kind, let alone donkey. Bale d'Aso is named for the way this sausage looks like when it is being hung and cured; a pair of donkey balls. In northern Italy, this sausage is made with a mix of beef and pork, but the Norcia version is all pork baby! My favourite was the "Corralina di Norcia" that has a piece of lard in the centre and smoked over Juniper wood. Yum!
Polenta With Truffle
For our main meal, we ordered traditional fare all made in-house with the famous "Tartufo" or truffle. Luke had meat ravioli with fresh black truffles grated on top, and I had polenta with black truffle oil and fresh truffle grated on top. The polenta was a super heavy dish almost like a cake, but WAY denser. Truffles are a mainstay in the Umbrian diet, and there are 2 varieties; black and white. The black truffles are in season twice a year; the winter truffle from November to March and the Summer truffle (which is less aromatic) from May to August. Truffles only grow underground in mountain forests, usually under Oak, Linden and Poplar trees. The truffles are "hunted" with the use of truffle-sniffing dogs. White truffles are SUPER expensive and hard to find.
Spoleto Duomo
After that delicious and heavy meal, we decided we were in need of a little stroll to take in the view of the Rocca and the Ponte. The temperature had dipped outside and it smelled like snow so our walking pace was quick. A peek at the beautiful Duomo of Spoleto and it's poor crooked Christmas tree, then over to the base of the Rocca for an incredible look at the Ponte Delle Torri all light up. The cold was getting to us but we couldn't wait for daylight to come the next day so we could continue our exploring of this beautiful town. Tomorrow we delve deeper into Spoleto and tonight we dream about exorcisms and donkey balls! Scacciadiavoli!
Heading North from Rome along the Via Flaminia to the rustic hill towns of Umbria. Ancient Roman ruins dot the countryside of this mystic region known for producing the most Saints in Italy. The hilltown of Narni is like stepping through the wardrobe into a medieval wonderland. I hope we get to meet Aslan...
Lil' Red Micra
It was time to say goodbye to the Airbnb flat in Rome. I met up with my friend Sara for an Umbrian road trip. We took a taxi to the Vatican city where our Hertz rental car shop was located. TIP #1: BOOK YOUR CAR FROM HOME; ITS WAY CHEAPER. I usually rent cars with Europcar, but a Kayak.com comparison search showed that Hertz had a special deal on, so I booked with Hertz this time instead. It really pays to shop around. Most car rental agencies in Rome are located in Termini train station. I try to avoid Termini as much as possible, it's super busy and stressful with long waits, and the roads around Termini are a busy nightmare. Click here to read about my last car rental experience heading to Tuscany. At this small office across from Vatican City, there was no lineup, and our car was ready and waiting for us when we arrived. They didn't have the Fiat 500L that we reserved, which was a bummer, but the man at Hertz threw in the chains we required for free. Wait-what? Chains, for like, snow? Oh great!
Via Flaminia- We Took The Pink Route On The Right
The Via Flaminia is another ancient Roman Road like the Via Appia that connects Rome with ports along the North Adriatic like Pesaro and Rimini (Pesarium and Ariminum in Latin). This was no easy feat because between Rome and Rimini are the Apennine Mountains. The modern road still follows much of the same route built by Gaius Flaminius in 220 B.C.E. The Via Flaminia technically starts in Rome at the Porta del Popolo in the Aurelian Walls of Piazza del Popolo. That's where we hooked up with the Via Flaminia and headed North on the Strada Regionale 3 or SR3. On the way out of Rome on the Via Flaminia, you pass by the Villa of Livia, the famous first lady of Rome's country villa. Much work has been done excavating and restoring Villa Livia, and it is one place I would love to check out some time.
Escaped Piggies!
Very quickly, the city gave way to farmland and then we were in the highlands above the Tiber River valley that flows to Rome. The hills were so green and forested, dotted with olive groves and villas on ridges with fantastic views. Following the SR3, we sharply dropped down to the valley floor in a series of sharp switchbacks and crossed the Tiber river, which is the regional border from Lazio into Umbria. Umbria is known as "The green heart of Italy," and the pig (and truffle) is king in Umbria. Here the pig farms free range their pigs on ranches, so the pigs can eat nuts, berries and mushrooms that grow in the forests. There were also many hunters out in their camo gear and pick-up trucks hunting cinghiale or wild boar. We saw a recently shot cinghiale loaded into the back of the pick-up truck on the side of the road. It was SO big; it took up the whole box of the truck with its legs sticking out! The locals tell me the cinghiale do a lot of damage to their farms and vineyards, utterly devastating whole rows of grapevines overnight.
Under The Duomo
We found Aslan!
Our little regional road, which is the path that Roman troops trudged along 2 millennia ago, crossed under the ultra-modern A1 Toll highway that heads to Florence. We pass by ancient Roman towns like Otricoli and Vigne, and the road starts to wind and climb again up into the misty mountains towards a village called Narni. Narni is the geographic centre of Italy, and its Latin name is Narnia, the same Narnia that C.S Lewis names his classic children's book series "The Chronicles of Narnia" after this historic town. Now we HAD to see this place. Besides, it was time for the "pranzo prowl"-we needed some lunch! TIP #2: In small towns in Italy, lunch is served in RESTAURANTS from noon until about 2:00-2:30. THEY DONT OPEN AGAIN UNTIL 7:00 FOR DINNER. In many small towns during holiday or offseason, there is only one place that serves lunch, so one must be mindful.
Ponte d'Augusto in Narni
Suspended on the cliffside above a high valley, medieval-looking Narni is much older than the Roman remains here. There is evidence in nearby caves that this town was already inhabited in the Neolithic age! Records of a people with their own individual language living here in their village called Nequinum go back to 600BCE; until the Romans conquered them. Emperor Nerva was born here in the year 30C.E. Narnia was an essential outpost in Roman times, and the most significant arched bridge constructed by Romans crossed the Nera river here at Narni. The Ponte d'Augusto has been standing in Narni for 2010 years! Only one arch remains today, and even this piece is damaged by the constant earthquakes Umbria seems to be dealing with.
We found a big carpark overlooking the Nera River valley and took the elevator up to the main Piazza level in town. Yup, many hill towns in Umbria have elevators or escalators to try to make the villages more accessible. Narni looked like a medieval warren of stairways and cobbled alleyways with one flat main street down the centre. There are many OLD Romanesque churches here that you can tell were built directly upon Roman Pagan Temples. The main street is Via Giuseppe Garibaldi; it veers sharply off the SR3 at the peek of town and goes under the loggia of the Duomo! It then flattens out to a wide street that was once the Roman Forum. All the buildings and streets were made of grey stone, the colour of the December sky today. It all looked a bit harsh and foreboding.
Il Prespio di Padre Matteo
There is a beautiful fountain in the piazza that had a little presepio in the water. A Prespio is a nativity scene, and every Umbrian town has one in the main centre, which is in their own style or character if you will. This fountain made of bronze dates back to 1303, probably a repurposed statue of a Pagan Emperor or God. The presepio was invented by Umbrian native St. Francis of Assisi in 1223. A sign told us that the presepio in the fountain was a tradition that started here in 1240 by Padre Matteo, a disciple of St. Francis since 1219! Amazing! An odd thing about Narni was there were Christmas carols (sung in English) BLARING over loudspeakers throughout the main street in town. Was this to deter loiterers like at the 7-11 stores in Canada? Well, it was working because there was not a soul in sight. We decided to grab a table at a local restaurant before it was too late to eat lunch.
Pasta With Speck
We went to an excellent local restaurant or Osteria. An Osteria is a place that sells wine and simple food. We found a haven at Hosteria La Bottega del Giullare. The dishes here are traditional local fare, all made from scratch. We shared a carafe of the local house red wine, which was SO delicious. I had a tagliatelle pasta with fresh porcini mushrooms and speck. Now, "speck" in Germany is a type of bacon. Here in Italy speck is dry-cured, lightly smoked ham. In the pasta dish, the speck's saltiness balances the juiciness of the mushrooms, and the light creamy sauce pulls it all together so well. I am actually drooling as I write this, I remember every delicious bite of my lunch in Narni.
The Liberated Hen!
There are lots of things to do in Narni; fabulous museums, ancient churches with incredible frescoes that date back to St Francis's time, and Narni Underground tours, Another great place to explore is the Rocca Albornoz of Narni. The Rocca is a big castle on the very top of the hill above the town. Also, just out of Narni, there is the Benedictine Abbey of San Cassiano, which dates back to the 10th century. Narni has a branch of the University of Perugia, so it seems to have lively and youthful energy even when most things are shut down for the Christmas holidays. There is a performing arts theatre in the main square and lots of funky restaurants and art installations all around town.
Nera River Valley
Narni is a place I will return to one day to explore the rich Umbrian history. I just wish it were as simple to get to Narni as stepping through an enchanted wardrobe.
Have you been to Narni? Tell me your impressions in the comments...
I thought a night stroll through Rome's most visited tourist destinations could not get any more Romantic. I was so wrong. At Christmas, thousands of twinkling lights dazzle the iconic piazzas of The Eternal City making it a magical experience. This night walk is always a highlight of our visit to Rome... and it's 100% FREE!
Heading Out In The Night
Every time we have been to Rome we make a point to stroll through the "Centro Storico" after dark. Luke links together a few Piazzas and monuments and creates a loose route that we (more or less) follow. Most of the iconic monuments in Rome are within an easy walk from each other, and you can link them up by an offline map app on your phone like Maps.Me or with (gasp!) an old-fashioned paper map. The best part is when you become a little "lost" and you make serendipitous discoveries. Check my March 2017 Gypsy Monika post about a night stroll to the Vatican.
After a super stormy afternoon, we caught an evening break in the rain and decided to venture out of the Airbnb flat in the Campo dei Fiori district and check out the Christmas vibe in Rome. We decided on our usual stroll route: Campo dei Fiori to Piazza Navona, to The Pantheon, to Trevi Fountain and then to Piazza Venezia to see if Rome decorated its beloved "typewriter".
Campo dei Fiori
In our own little neighbourhood of Campo dei Fiori, the lights twinkled on and off above our heads and lead you on the path to the main piazza of Campo dei Fiori which was has a young and lively restaurant and bar scene at night. This ancient neighbourhood is fun to prowl around in and you find all sorts of interesting places. Along Via Giulia is a very old church from the middles ages that had a cemetery on the banks of the Tiber River. We noticed there is an alms box carved into the marble by the front door that reads: "Alms for the perpetual lamp of the cemetery". The monks from this church would go around and collect bodies of the unknown or abandoned dead found in the city and in the Tiber river and give them Christian burials.
Creeptastic!
Now, this may sound nice and kind at Christmas time, but this church's plaque with the skeleton pictured here says: "Hodie mihi; cras tibi" meaning: "today me, and tomorrow you". Yup, these dudes are Capuchins! This is the famous church Santa Maria dell'Orazione et Morte or Saint Mary of the Prayer and Death. There is a side chapel in this church that is made out of human bones! The chapel contains candelabras made of bones and a cross made from human skulls. I bet you The Ghost of Christmas Future took Ebenezer Scrooge here to scare the bejesus out of him!
For more of our adventures with the Capuchin Crypt in Rome click: Gypsy Monika post from March.
Piazza Navona at Christmas
We scurried away from this church in a hurry and made a bee-line to Piazza Navona. At Christmas, Piazza Navona has a lively Christmas Market that is geared towards children. There was a Midway; stalls selling candy, games and an old-fashioned carousel playing accordion music.
By this time of night, all the small children were in bed and the only vendors really open were selling hot mulled wine. I couldn't believe it was my third night in Italy and I have not had a gelato yet! There were gelaterias open, but the only people buying any were tourists-it was far too cold to be thinking about ice cream!
The only way to stay warm was to keep on moving, and our next stop was my favourite building in Rome. The Pantheon.
The Pantheon was lit up in all her glory, as per usual. There were teens playing soccer, a few tourists taking photos and students hanging out talking under the giant portico of the pantheon. I was surprised to see the restaurants around the Pantheon had set their tables out in the piazza with gas heat lamps and blankets on the backs of the chairs. Mind you, there were not a lot of diners out after the storm earlier today. The scene looked so inviting I wanted to stop and grab a table for a wine and a wee snack. But the threat of rain dampening our walk kept pushing us onward...
Checking Out The Menu
We wove through the little back streets on route to our next stop of our night prowl. We pass by all sorts of stores that are openly tempting us with Italian delicacies, warm and cozy restaurants that serve true Roman dishes and Italian dessert temples called "pasticcerias" that sell cakes and pastries; all were pretty much empty! What? Where are all the people, all the scooters, all the NOISE? This area of Rome is always bustling with people day and night. It felt eerie.
Then as we walked onward we started to hear the din of a crowd of people. As we approached our next monument of the night we could hear the sound of water over the throngs of people-Trevi Fountain. So this is where all the people have been hiding! Tourists from everywhere with their "selfish-sticks" thrust into the air so they can capture an image of themselves making kissy faces in front of Rome's famous Trevi Fountain to put on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Sapchat etc.
I have no problem with folks taking selfies; hey, I/we do it too sometimes. My issue is this: Your *beloved* sticks are all extended so far into the air that the rest of us who want to get a photo of just the object (like the Trevi Fountain) have nothing but little phones on sticks in the picture. The photo of Trevi Fountain above is super cropped to cut out all the little glowing rectangles on extenders. It's like kids sitting around a campfire with glowing marshmallows on sticks! I even watched people accidentally hitting each other because they were looking into their phone screens and not at what's going on around them, and a fight almost ensued. I really hope this "Narsasis-stick" fad ends soon; because someone is going to lose an eye (or get a pole stuck up their rear end)!
We managed to get close enough to the fountain to do our traditional coin toss into the Trevi. You put your back to the fountain and toss a coin over your shoulder into the water and you are guaranteed to return to Rome. The legend has worked for us so far, and even if you don't believe in magic (because this is a spell) the money recovered from the Trevi fountain daily by Caritas which is kind of like the Catholic version of the Red Cross, goes directly to feeding the homeless and refugees here in Rome...and the money is needed now more than ever.
Elephantastic!
Luke and I wove our way back through the deserted streets until we hit the Via del Corso and then walked south down to take a look at the giant Christmas Tree in front of the Victor Emmanuel Monument. The tree was all light up in soft white lights reflected by the marble of the "Typewriter". So pretty. I wanted to see one more sight that we hadn't seen before in Piazza Della Minerva. This is the piazza in front of the renowned Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva (pictured on left covered by scaffolding) the only Gothic church in Rome built OVER (sopra) an ancient Pagan Temple of Minerva. There are goodies inside this church that I dearly want to see, but that will have to wait until another visit. Tonight the prize is outside: The Elephant and Obelisk by Bernini!
Bernini created the elephant for the obelisk that was unearthed nearby in the 1500's. In that deserted piazza, I went straight up to this beautiful statue that was placed here in 1667 and put my hand on the marble that was carved by one of my all-time fav Art-Crushes. There was no glass and no guards; just me and Bernini. I was in tears, it was a very moving experience that could only happen Rome. Luke disbelieved that a Bernini statute would just be out on display like this; what if someone vandalized it? It happens. In 2016 some arse broke the left tusk of the elephant. Luckily the broken piece was found nearby and restoration work began to reattach the tusk. I could see the crack in the marble where the tusk had been broken.
These pieces of ancient art in public spaces mean so much to many people around the world. To have access to the great masters of art WITHOUT having to pay museum prices is a privilege not a right in today's ignorant, selfie-stick, ego-portrait, hashtag-driven society. Which makes me so sad. In my version of Paradise, ALL art is free. ALL museums, galleries and historic monuments replace churches as temples of worship. Art is what makes us human and access all Art should be a right.
With its glorious golden mosaics and 8 rose windows on the facade created in 1202, this Duomo dedicated to the Virgin Mary was considered very modern for its day. I so wished we had time to peek inside because there are amazing pre-renaissance ceiling frescoes by Filippo Lippi, a bust sculpted by Bernini and a letter written and signed by St. Francis of Assisi inside. There are only two signatures of letters signed by St. Francis in the world, the other is in the Duomo of Assisi. Lippi himself has a tomb inside the Duomo, but the remains of this great Italian artist had been stolen. It is a whole other crazy story that should have a movie written about it...or maybe a blog post 😏
