Colosseo

The Colosseum is another of those must-visit-places. Then again, it seems as though Rome is full of places which can't be missed. Construction was begun in 72 AD by the emperor Vespasian and completed in 80 AD by Titus, both members of the Flavian family, Hence, its original name, the Flavian Amphitheater. It is the largest such amphitheater in the Roman empire. It was built on the site of a giant, man-made pond which was part of the humongous palace of emperor Nero. As suggested yesterday, when the Romans didn't like someone, they wiped out all signs of him in a BIG way. Thus they buried parts of Nero's palace, referred to as the Golden Palace, and built on the site of much that was left. The structure was nicknamed the Colosseum due to the colossal gilded figure of Nero that stood in the adjacent square.

The structure itself is a testament to ancient Roman engineering skills and understanding of people. It could seat thousands of people, allowing them to enter and exit with ease which would be envied by modern stadiums and arenas. Evidence suggests that it was hung with a giant canopy, manned by sailors, which provided shade at all times for the wealthiest patrons and their guests. The existing ruins, impressive as they are, are but a shadow of the former majesty.

The interior of the amphitheater is more a suggestion of the skeleton of the structure rather than the finished building. The central floor, now gone would have provided a platform for all manner of games and entertainment: fights with beasts, reenactments of major battles, public executions and gladitorial combat. Some evidence suggests that the area was even flooded for the reenactment of a naval victory. The intricate network of corridors and rooms is now exposed to view. These would have been the holding pens for humans and animals alike as well as the machinery to hoist them onto stage. There were also places for butchering animals so that the fresh meat from the slaughter could be distributed to the people of Rome.

Below is a picture taken looking down into what would have been below the lowest seating level.

A panoramic view reveals the elliptical shape of the building.

The exposed skeleton gives direct evidence of the broad passages which were been used to move people around the building.

Finally, a picture of Amy, taken on the second level of the Colosseum, with the Arch of Constantine in the backgraound.

Foro Romano

It pretty much goes without saying that any trip to Rome and perhaps even to all of Italy isn't complete without a visit to the Roman Forum. The forum was the focal point of life as a citizen. That was where temples as well as civic buildings stood and where every important occasion was marked. The original forum became so crowded that later rulers built their own forums adjacent to it, such as Trajan's Forum.

Romans throughout the ages have had an interesting relationship with their architecture. It was quite common for one ruler to tear down buildings or monuments dedicated to other rulers and to reuse the materials in their own creations. Or, if they needed the land and had no concern for the previous use, they simply leveled it into a pile of rubble and built on top of it. Imagine Rome of a hundred and fifty years ago. The forum area was used to graze sheep and all that was visible was the top of the highest features around poking up from the ground. In excavating the area which is now the archeological site, they had to make a conscious decision about how far back to scrape away, ending up some 20 feet below the current surrounding level of Rome. Even as little as a few decades ago, Mussolini created the Via dei Fori Imperiali by blacktopping a stip from the new Victor Emmanuel monument to the old forum with little regard to what else he might have been compromising. In a swing the other direction, modern Rome's attempts to create a comprehensive subway system have been stiffled at every turn by their recognition that they must preserve their heritage as they dig through the layers.

For many years, the forum was free to visitors. There were still only a few entrances since much of the excavation is significantly below ground level. A couple of years ago they fenced the entire perimeter and instituted a fee for entry in order to help with the costs of preserving the area. Below is the view as you enter through the main gate.

One result is that many places you could wander and/or climb have now been placed off limits. I noticed this even across the 15 years since I first visited. One example is the Basilica Julia to your right as you enter. Where before you could wander, now there are fences.

One of the favorite places for visitors is the Temple to Caesar. Many mistakenly think that this marks the location of Caesar's murder. Rather, the temple was built on the site of his cremated remains. Visitors leave flowers year round with many more on the Ides of March.

One benefit of the admission fee is that the forum is now used for educational exhibits. This fall they had a major overview of Emperor Nero, he of the fiddling while Rome was burning. It was housed primarily in the original Roman senate house. Below is a frieze that would have adorned an altar on which animal sacrifices were offered.

A surprisingly large number of busts of Nero have survived. I say surprising because he was NOT beloved by the people and, upon his death, much of what he had built was demolished. There were apparently four major types of Nero figures. Some of them are illustrated below. In the right foreground is an obvious adolescent. In the background, also to the right, is a bust in the Hellenistic style. The features of that bust are quite interesting because after Nero's death it was refashioned into the bust of another emperor and then a few hundred years later converted back to being Nero.

A second advantage of the entry fee is that they have been opening parts of the forum that were not previously accessible. That is the case with the area dedicated to Vesta. Below is the courtyard of the House of the Vestals. There were six Vestal Virgins. Girls between the ages of 6 and 10 were chosen from prominent families to be keepers of the sacred fire of Rome. They spent a total of 30 years in service to Vesta: 10 years in training, 10 years as keepers of the flame, and 10 years training another generation of girls. As reward for their service, they were very well provided for and were accorded many rights not usually given to women such as the right to own property without a male guardian. They were required to be celibate during their 30 years of service, thus the virgin part, but were allowed to do as they pleased, including marry, once their time was up. Below is the courtyard of their compound.

It was ringed by statues, now and in ancient times, which were effectively the Vestal Virgin Hall of Fame.

They had a separate enclosure at the end of the courtyard with individual chambers.

Another interesting feature of the forum are the arches. These triumphal monuments were built at various entrances to the forum. Below is the Arch of Titus.

It is known for its depiction of the Sack of Jerusulem. Note the soldiers carrying away the menorah from the temple in the frieze below.

Another area undergoing extensive exploration is at the side of the forum facing the Colosseum where they are excavating the site of some Roman warehouses.

Marion Does Rome

As I write this my Mom and her husband Jim, our second pair of visitors, are on the first leg of their trip home, flying from Rome to Madrid on their way to Boston. While they visited, we did many things, but the highlight was probably spending two nights in Rome on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The trip began early on the first day as we caught the 7:56 AM train from the Porta Romana Station, a few hundred meters from the Porta Romana and a relatively easy walk from our apartment. The step up to the train posed the first obstacle, but Mom handled it with relative ease, setting the tone for the rest of the adventure.

The train to Rome begins in Viterbo so there were no passengers onboard when we boarded. The trains were running a normal schedule in spite of it being Christmas Eve, but unlike Amy's and my previous trip, it didn't fill to overflowing as it progressed. The train is a double decker and we settled in the upper portion, all facing forward on the side of the train with the best views.

We took the train all the way to its terminus at Ostiense and then transferred to the subway at Pyramide for a two stop ride to Colosseo. We walked the quarter mile to our hotel for the night and, as our rooms were not ready, left our luggage at the desk. The information we had was that the archeological sites would not be open on Christmas Day, so we made our way back to the Roman Forum and made our way down. For a long while, the forum was free to enter, but several years ago they fenced the whole area off and began to charge admission to generate more income to maintain the site. The most economical way to see it is to get a combined ticket for the Forum, Colosseum and Palatine Hill. Unfortunately, they have closed most of the Forum off for general wandering about, but they have also opened a number of sites that were not accessible before. Here Mom exits the site of the House of the Vestals.

Next up was the Colosseum.

With the standard picture of the picture taker.

Our tour of the ruins took several hours and once it was over we made our way back to the hotel for a well deserved lunch at a restaurant around the corner. After a brief rest, Mom and Jim headed out on their own for parts unknown. They were out walking for over four hours during which time they managed to find the Trevi Fountain, find but not climb the Spanish Steps, wander past the Tomb of the Unknown at the Vittorio Emmanuel Monument, circle the Forum, pass the Circus Maximus and then come back past the Colosseum. They managed to get lost, but also managed to become found and made it back to the hotel without even considering resorting to the cell phone we gave them to ask for us to find them.

While Christmas Eve had been overcast and drizzly, Christmas Day was postcard perfect. We began the day on one of the bus tours which circles through the city in order to get an overview of the sites we had yet to find. We had planned to get off at the Vatican on the second time around, but the crush of the crowd at St. Peter's for the Pope's address put a damper on that. Mom was able to view the basilica from the end of the road, but didn't make it in to the actual church. I suspect she is saving that for next time! After a very nice lunch in the Jewish Quarter we struck out to walk to an evening appointment for cocktails with the family of a student. On our way we passed the Largo Argentina, a collection of four temples which also serves as a subterranean cat sanctuary, which caught Mom's eye.

Next up was a visit to the Pantheon. It is closed on Christmas which is a bit unusual since it is a functioning Catholic church. However, you could still take a picture of the outside!

A few block from that is the Piazza Novona. Below, Mom and Jim pose by the main fountain in the center of the square which represents the four major rivers of the world (known at the time of the fountain's creation). The figure in the background with a draped head is an allegorical representation of the River Nile. The head is covered since the source of the Nile was not then known. The picture is remarkably deceptive. It would seem like Mom and Jim are the only people around in an otherwise deserted piazza. Nothing could be further from the truth. There was a huge Christmas Market ongoing (well worth the visit) and several thousand people milling around. The miracles of perspective.

We spent a second night in the city and made our way back to Viterbo the following morning. It was interesting, but exhausting. For those of you keeping count, Mom covered 8-10 MILES walking across the two days.

Me, Again

Hello!  We're still here. 
Having a fun time, seeing the sights and meeting new friends.  Have had several celebrations.  Last evening it was dinner with Keith and Carolyn at their apartment.  Carolyn, unfortunately, broke her ankle and they will not be able to make a much anticipated trip to the states for the holidays.  So, Amy and Warren cooked a lovely meal for them, and we enjoyed much chatting and drank much wine.  Jim was even able to help with a computer problem.  He is truly a world class consultant! 
Did I say that it is all uphill to get home?  Well, even after you get in the house, it is all upstairs to get to the apartments.  I am sure that Warren has spoken about the architecture here, where the first floor is storage, garages, or stores - and he didn't lie!  So, everthing is uphill and upstairs!
Today we will be getting organized since tomorrow we will be taking the train to Rome for Christmas.  We plan to attend Christmas Eve service at St Peter's square.  Perhaps you will see us on TV!
From all of us in Italy - "Buon Natale!"

Ciao

 Hello from Italy!  Jim and I arrived on Friday and haven't slowed down yet..  We have already attended 2 parties.  Warren's advisees were having a fondue party at the house when we arrived and last evening we went to an enormous holiday gathering at the school.  Between parties, we walked and walked all around Viterbo.  It was fun to see some of the sights Warren has been so beautifully describing.  We enjoyed a stroll through the Saturday market and visited the Pope's Palace and San Lorenzo Church.  It seemed that everywhere we went, we had to go uphill to get home.  We also enjoyed delicious coffee twice at the friendly neighborhood coffee bar!  It was a new experience to find gluten free products in a nearby pharmacy.  It seems that in Italy, wheat intolerance is a condition which doctors can write prescriptions for, so that most gluten free foods are purchased by prescriptions and paid for on the national health plan.  Well, time for showering and dressing.  Company, friends of Warren and Amy's will be arriving for a visit soon.  Must say that everybody we have met so far has been friendly and most welcoming.  Ciao - Mom

Ho, ho, ho...

On our way back from Matera, our GPS decided to take us to the autostrada via Bari, a city on the Adriatic. As we were driving through the olive groves (Puglia produces tons of olive oil), Warren noticed a woman sitting in an overstuffed, easy chair by the side of the road. Since it was 9:30 on a Sunday morning, he wondered if she was waiting for a ride to church. Then I saw another woman seated by the edge of the groves. The next woman we saw was pulling up her black lace boy-shorts, the only article of clothing on her lower body. Then it clicked. We were driving along the prime rural prostitution route in the area! Apparently, this sort of thing occurs throughout Italy, even in our region. I guess the police just look the other way. I'm sure those "abandoned" trulli in the groves are seeing some action by special Christmas elves.

Metaponto

On our last full day of the long weekend we decided to pay homage to the gods of mathematics and trekked to Metaponto, south of Matera on the coast. There we wandered the ruins of a temple to Hera built on the site of the home and school of Pythagoras after he was exiled from Croton. The ruins themselves are literally out in the middle of a field off of a service road to the highway that separates it from the coast. There is a tourist stop adjacent to it which looks as though it has been closed/abandoned for months. Fifrteen of the original columns are still present, although they appear to have undergone some restauration at least 40 years ago if the graffiti scratched into their surface is any indication.

Our second stop of the day was at Metaponto Lido, i.e. the beach. Even though the air temperature was near 70 and the water temperature seemed no worse than the Gulf of Maine in the summer, the beach was deserted save for a handful of recreational fishermen. The small town was also devoid of almost all life. So, after a leisurely stroll down the beach along the water we headed inland to find lunch.

Lunch occured at a small restaurant in the town of Bernalda, perhaps most famous as the home of Francis Ford Coppola. Then we returned to Matera for our third and final night in a cave.

Trulli of Alberobello

If there was a theme to our recent southern journey it would probably be the interesting housing we encountered. Alberobello is famous for stone houses, unique to the region of Puglia, called trulli. They dot the countryside around the town, singly and in small clusters, until you arrive at the historical center to discover hillsides covered with hundreds of them. The original trulli were made without mortar. The hypothesis being that when the tax man came, given enough warning, the house could be reduced to an untaxable pile of rubble and then susequently reconstructed. It seems like a lot of trouble to go through since building one of these places would involve days, weeks and perhaps even months to complete. As we walked about the town, many of the trulli we encountered were very old, but they all have a sense of permanance. The exterior walls are mortared and the insides are finished surfaces. While the roof seems to continue to be constructed of unmortared stone, there is often a cap at the peak which is permanantly fixed in place. The typical trulli roof has a certain conical symmetry, even if it is placed on a quadrilateral building. The picture below is of a "trulli out standing in a field".

There are two concentrations of tulli in Alberobello. The western hill is shown below. A large fraction of the tulli there are either shops or can be rented out by the night, week, or longer. Yes, you can sleep in a trullo if your heart truly desires it.

The trulli on the eastern hill are mostly privately owned. There is a small public park/belvedere on the eastern side from which one can view the western side. The eastern area is behind Amy.

The largest trullo in town is called Trullo Sovrano. It isn't actually all that old, having been initially built in the late 1700's. It was built for the parish priest of the church it is directly behind. What is cool about it is that it is the only double decker trullo in existance. There is conclusive evidence that the building was not built all at once but expanded organically over time. The roof is not one single cone but instead, is a group of melded cones.

Originally, you could walk around on the roof of the trullo as the stairs in the picture below suggest. Windows on the stairway to the second floor reveal small rooftop terraces and walkways. However, the stairs to the top are now blocked and it is clear they don't encourage visitors.

A nifty feature of Trullo Sovrano was this hole in the bedroom wall to the left of the main entrance. It served the dual function of allowing the owner to see who was at their door and, as the shape suggests, to greet them with a gun if they weren't welcome.

The trulli of Alberobello and the Trullo Sovrano are on the UNESCO World Heritage list. A visit, if you happen to be in the area, is well worth the drive.

Matera

We spent three nights in Matera over the weekend and used it as our locus of activity. I have posted about our hotel in the caves; here are some observations about the rest of the town. The Sassi is an incredible maze of twisted, narrow alleys and winding stairways. There is only one driveable road which loops through the cave dwellings and even that is an adventure. With the exception of a couple of lots which are always packed, parking is done by pulling as far onto the sidewalk as you can and then ignoring your vehicle. Getting lost, even with a reasonably detailed map, is a given. Once you exit the Sassi, you are in a modern city. In the Piazza Pascoli and along the Via Ridola we encountered a sprawling Chirstmas market. There were only a few stalls, but they were more to my liking than the ones in Viterbo. We munched on some fantastic local cheese and had a nice discussion with a local winemaker. He brought out the good stuff for us and we enjoyed it enough to bring home a bottle of the local "Primitivo", a variety related to zinfandel, and a rosato (rose). The main gathering point for the city is the Piazza Vittorio Veneto. They have excavated some of the old ruins under the square as a museum and have a nice fountain which was all lit up in green and red for Christmas.

Near the Piazza di San Francesco is the Chiesa Purgatorio whose doors are decorated in an interesting skull and bones motif.

This is a skull and hourglass post standing beside the main door which we found interesting.

We were somewhat dismayed to discover that dinner time in Matera begins at 8 PM and even then they look at you sort of funny but tolerate you anyway when you show up to eat. Dinner really isn't at 8, that is just when the restaurants open. They take their time getting around to you. However, our hunger was marginally diffused by the magnificent passeggiata which took place on the Corso and along the edge of the Sassi. The passeggiata is the evening walk. There were hundreds of people out in the street. Families, children, couples all just taking in the evening, meeting their neighbors and enjoying life. This passaggiata takes place everywhere in Italy including, to a lesser extent, Viterbo. However, our main walk is down in the center of town and Amy and I seldom go.

Matera is situated at the edge of a gorge. The cave dwellings take advantage of this natural setting. Across from the town there are additional dwellings and a series of cave churches which can be visited. These rocky cliffs were the location for filming portions of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. The locals would love it if you would pay them for a guided tour but, having a car and a map, we set out on our own to explore. The belvedere (viewpoint) at the edge of the cliffs gave a remarkable perspective on Matera. Directly in the middle of this picture is our hotel. Our room was around to the left and up a short flight of stairs, all of which can be easily seen, but not when the picture has been compressed to put on the webpage.

To the left of our hotel is the beginning of a large stretch of abandoned caves. It is my understanding that the Italian government took it all over when they moved out the cave dwellers decades ago and now owns all of it. Our hotel has a 30 year lease from them with an option for 30 more years after that. At the top of the picture you can see the beginning of the modern town which directly abuts the Sassi.

Of course, every once in awhile I need to put on a picture to show that we really were there!

Caves of Matera

Thursday, November 8, was the Immacolata or Festival of the Immaculate Conception. This is essentially a national holiday. There were no classes and few shops and restaurants were open. Italians traditionally use this day to decorate their Christmas tree. Since the holiday fell this year on a Thursday, the director of the school decided to extend the break by cancelling classes on Friday as well, giving the students time to be with their host families and/or to travel independently. Amy and I along with our traveling companions, Keith and Carolyn, took the opportunity to travel for a 4-day, 3-night stay in Matera, located on the "instep" of the Italian boot in the Basilicata region, some 6 - 6.5 hour drive from Viterbo.

Matera has been inhabited for thousands of years. People have been dwelling there in caves since long before the Romans, Greeks, etc. Matera is famous for its cave dwellings, or perhaps infamous would be a better description. The abject poverty of this region was referred to as the "shame of Italy" (vergogna d'Italia). Even as recently as the mid to late 1960's, families of 8-10 were living in single room caves with their animals with no electricity or running water. Malaria was rampant and the infant mortality rate stood at more than 50%. Beginning in the mid-1950's, the Italian government undertook the more than decade-long project of moving people out of the caves and into more acceptable housing. Ironically, since poverty led to them being passed over for development, the caves are now a source of fascination and a tourist draw to the town. The Sassi or "rocks of Matera" have been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We stayed in a boutique hotel called Hotel Basiliani created from some of the cave dwellings. The construction of such a dwelling was interesting. The rock in the area is tufa, a variety of limestone, which is very soft and can actually be easily cut and worked with when first removed from the ground. It hardens over time when exposed to air. Thus, the caves did not need to be naturally occuring dwellings, although they might have started that way. Instead, they were dug out of the mountain. The dug material could be fashioned into blocks and used to build walls within the cave or, if there was level space available in front of the cave, exterior walls could be built to expand the "cave" without needing to dig as far into the side of the mountain.

The interior of one of the "raw" caves is pictures below. The white powder is some sort of chemical used to help with pest/insect control now that the caves stand empty.

Visitors can explore a typical cave dwelling which has been recreated in collaboration with the family that actually lived there. Below are pictures of the kitchen alcove and main room of the cave. While you get a sense of the space constraints and living conditions, I don't think one can ever fully appreciate what it must have been like living in an unlighted, unheated cave with a bunch of farm animals (and their manure).

That brings us to our hotel. Each room is different as it uses the existing rooms of the varous cave dwellings in a perfectly located spot at the edge of the cliffs. You don't get any sense at all of living in a cave since it has been completely redone with all the modern conveniences. The floors have been leveled and there is the electricity and plumbing you would expect in a luxury hotel. There was even free, high-speed WiFi! The main room was so large, we could have danced the tango in it. Below is the sleeping area, which is a small part of the main area.

Next is the wardrobe area, down a few steps from the main room.

The bathroom, complete with toilet, bidet and shower/bathtub (not shown to right of picture) was off the wardrobe area.

There was one reminder of the original space. A glass covered opening allowed us to look down into the very large cistern below the dwelling which would have been used to hold rain water collected through a series of specialized drains and channels from the mountain above.

We would HIGHLY recommend this experience to anyone who finds it intriguing. More of our adventures and the cities/towns we visited to follow over then next few postings.