Easter Vigil in Lecce

Spring break is always the week after Easter.  Monday is a national holiday, Pasquetta, little Easter.  This year we decided to explore the heel of the boot in Puglia.  I loved Lecce, with it's unique Baroque architecture.  Matera was magical and Bari was surprisingly enjoyable.

The most memorable experience was the Easter Vigil at the Duomo in Lecce.  We strolled by hoping for a peak inside.  We saw people coming in and stayed for the beginning of the service.  The main entrance is at the side of the nave but once inside we could see some activity at the main doors at the end.  We sat in the last row of extra chairs near the door so we had an excellent view of what was to come.  We just didn't know.  The church was dimly lit, but as the service was about to start the lights were turned off and the priest and deacons processed in toward the back.  The main doors were opened.  It was past sunset, but there was a bit of light still in the sky.  We saw a fire lit in a brazier just outside the door.  Amidst prayers the candle was ceremoniously lit and the procession slowly advanced down the center aisle.  As the priest and others approached the congregation they stopped and other candles were lit from the main one.  These in turn were used to light candles of those in the congregation.  It was beautiful.  As the procession moved forward the lights of the cathedral were turned on and the light spread.

This part of the service was not long, and we left as it ended, but it was beautiful.

I knew nothing about the Easter Vigil, but was we watched and listened I thought about what a vigil is and how it was being celebrated.  To me it is a time of waiting, watching, and enduring.  Perhaps solitary and sad, in despair or distress.  I thought of loved ones and grieving.  In Italy Christmas Eve is also referred to as la Vigilia, the vigil.  In both of these cases it is a ceremonial vigil, waiting and praying through the night, in anticipation of the coming of Christ, either his birth, or his resurrection.  

In this ceremony the light of the fire and candle represents the light of Jesus Christ dispelling darkness from our hearts and minds.  It was powerful to watch the light of a single candle be shared with others and see it spread among the parishioners.

As we waited in the dark I was reminded of the Book of Mormon story where people were waiting for the sign of the birth of Christ.  A prophet, Samuel, far from Jerusalem had prophesied years before of the coming of Jesus Christ and that there would be signs of his coming, including "a day a night and a day as if there were no night".  The unbelievers had assigned a day that the believers would be killed if the sign was not seen.  I imagine this was a very dark and dangerous time for the believers, waiting, watching, and enduring in faith.  As the day came near, Nephi prayed and heard a voice saying, "Lift up your head and be of food cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world..." (3 Nephi 1:13)  That night the sun set, but there was no darkness.  In the morning the sun rose and from that time there was a new star in the heavens.

There are times that are dark, but there are also good things ahead.  In the Bible Paul refers to Jesus as an High Priest of Good Things to Come.  With faith, patience, and humility was can pass through the vigil to the peace and light at the other end.

 

Weekend in Naples

My sister in law's visit corresponded with a weekend My Girl was scheduled to be out of town for a soccer match so we took advantage and headed to Naples.  The team plans changed so My Girl got a little practice at adulting on her own.  Good practice for the future.

Naples has been inhabited for three millennia and has an interesting and complicated history.  It started as a Greek colony, then grew to be a major city, Neapolis, in Magna Grecia, part of ancient Greece.  As Rome grew it took over the area and eventually all of what had been Greece.  The coastal areas surrounding Naples were the playground of the wealthy, peppered with palaces of the Roman elite.  

After the fall of Rome, the area was ruled by a tangled string of foreign powers, but remained somewhat independent.  It changed hands between the Byzantines, Ostrogoths, and Lombards.  Later the French Angevins took their turns with what was then the Kingdom of Naples.  Under the Norman King Roger II, the area was wealthy, fairly peaceful, and cosmopolitan.  More wars, more occupations, and more kingdoms later... During the period of Spanish rule in the 16th century, Naples was a wealthy and sophisticated Baroque capitol in part because of its central location for Mediterranean trade.  After the area was conquered by Napoleon and united with Sicily into the Kingdom of the two Sicilies, Naples retained its shine for while, but was soon left behind as trade routes shifted and Northern and Western Europe became more industrialized.

Really.  So complicated.  I tried to sort it all out and get a solid time line of who controlled what when, but gave up.  The short story:  Naples was a big wealthy center of things twice, but both very long ago.  The history is much like the city.  Kind of cool and kind of a mess.

In 1860 Naples was forced to unify with the North into the Italy we recognize today.  With industry and wealth now concentrated in the North, the agricultural South suffered.  A power vacuum was filled by the mafia which is still present today.  Naples had once been Italy's wealthiest city, but after unification poverty prevailed and many residents emigrated to the United States and other countries.  This is why the Italian American culture we know in New York and New Jersey is distinctly Southern Italian.  

In spite of, or perhaps because of, the centuries of outside control and influence Naples is a unique city of chaos.  My guide book says that Italy intensifies as you go south.  So true.  Florence is clean and orderly.  Rome is chaotic and a bit dirty, but still has a level of sophistication and charm.  Naples is a distinctly gritty city where everything is big and loud and more is more is more.  Did I like it?  Yes, for a bit, but I think the Roman middle ground is about right for me.  It I had come here fresh from the US I think it would have been too much.

We only had a short time to scratch the surface of Neapolitan cuisine.  It is so different from Rome, more similar to Sicily, but still uniquely its own.  Notably it is the birthplace of pizza, so we had to try a few of the local versions.  It is cooked hot and fast.  I like a bit of char on the crust and a middle that isn't too soupy.  A full pizza is considered a single person serving, but if you choose well it isn't overwhelming.  Simple is usually better.  Multiple heavy cheeses can be a lot.

One of the big differences was the desserts.  Roman desserts, except for gelato, range from forgettable to not good at all.  It is different in Naples.  The years of colonization were good for their food.  Sugar came from North Africa to the south and years of control by the German Lombards, French Normans, and Napoleon also helped.  For good dessert culture I think you need to be far enough south that you got sugar from the Arabic people or far enough north that you are on the far side of the butter/olive oil line.  Naples, surprisingly, got both.

Lemon cake typical of Sorrento

Outside view from our hotel

Inside Galleria view

Inside view from our room

We stayed in a charming hotel tucked under the eaves of the Galleria Umberto I.  It is a shopping center built in the 1890s and still going today.  Umberto I was the second king of Italy (1878-1900), the son of Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy and his wife Maria of Austria and queen of Sardinia. There are shops on the ground floor and offices and apartments above.  Our hotel was likely a series of apartments or servant's quarters back in the day.  The strangest feature was the coin activated elevator.  During business hours you need a 10 cent coin to activate the elevator going up or down.  No coins were required after 7pm or on the weekend.  Thankfully, the hotel provided us with two coins each time we left so that we could get down and back.

Near the port is one of three castles in Naples.  This is the New Castle built around an existing church at the end of the 13th century by Charles of Anjou, the Angevin king from Northwest France.  The Medieval Angevin Empire included England, Ireland, and parts of present day France.  A century and a half later it was rebuilt by the Aragonese (Spanish) rulers and the style shifted from Medieval castle to Renaissance fortress.  We didn't get to go inside, but we did get to see the base of one of the towers in the new metro station.

On our first day we spent most of our time in the National Archeological Museum.  All the bits and bobs from Pompeii and Herculaneum are on display.  When you visit the archeological sites you can see the buildings, but they are mostly empty.  All the loose items and even pieces of wall frescoes and mosaic floors are in the museum.

Fresco detail

We started on the top floors with the frescoes and mosaics since that is what we were most interested in.  We ran out of time and energy before we got to the marble sculptures on the bottom floor.  I guess I'll just have to go back another time.

I really like the detail on the frescoes.  Such beautiful artistry.  It's pretty amazing how vibrant the colors are even after nearly 2000 years.  I can appreciate that the panels were removed to preserve them indoors, but it is quite a different experience to see them in place.

Fresco detail

Ancient glass bowl

There is something about ancient glass that fascinates me.  There are both colorful and clear pieces.  The colored pieces look rather modern in spite of being some of the oldest.  The clear glass can have an iridescent sheen that is quite beautiful.  I can just imagine the little bird shaped vials filled with precious scented oils.

The glassware was displayed among housewares which included items made of bronze, silver, and glass.

Gladiator helmets

Floor mosaic detail

I just love mosaics and birds, so bird mosaics are just awesome.  These water birds were particularly elegant looking, even though the duck above is a little derpy.

There was a section of the museum where the floors were ancient mosaics that had been removed and placed in the palace turned museum in a different time with very different attitudes toward historical items.  This was a special section displaying items from Magna Grecia, Greek Southern Italy before it was Roman.  We enjoyed both the floors and the items on display.  It was a little strange to be walking on these ancient artifacts, but they are floors after all.  The only concession to their history and value was that we were asked to wear protective booties over our shoes.

Magna Grecia exhibit with ancient mosaic floors

Pottery from Magna Grecia - Eye cup

I was interested in the different motifs that we saw repeated.  One was the protective eye.  Sometimes it is called an evil eye, but it was really meant to protect people from harm.  In the museum I first noticed it painted on ships in frescoes from Pompeii.  It then appeared on the eye cup from Magna Grecia and then in a floor mosaic.  We were trying to figure out what the image was in the floor mosaic below the castle walls.  It took a minute to recognize the bow of the ship and the eyes.  It helped that I had noticed a similar image in a fresco that was much clearer.  

The eyes on ships may have been painted on, but stone eyes have also been found in ship wrecks and harbors.  There are a couple theories about why the eyes appear on ships.  They could have been used to make the ship a living thing like Jason's Argo from Greek mythology.  Perhaps they represented the eyes of a deity who could watch out for the ship and sailors, or they may have been symbolic protectors against evil and envy, much like the blue glass eyes common in Greece.  In any case, the overall idea was good fortune and protection.

I was also curious about all of the dolphins.  In ancient artwork dolphins symbolize romance and are connected to the goddess Venus, since she was born from the sea.  They do seem to pop up everywhere in these ancient seaside towns.  They are also repeated in a lot of Baroque statues that depict Classical themes.

Floor detail - Back of boat with eye designs

View of Vesuvius across the bay of Naples

I thought we would spend a few hours at Herculaneum, but we spent most of the day exploring the ruins.  Herculaneum is a town that was destroyed in the same volcanic eruption that buried Pompeii, its more famous neighbor.  Pompeii was covered in ash, but Herculaneum was buried in superheated mud that turned to stone.  As a result the ruins were preserved differently.  The main difference is that a city was built above Herculaneum, but not Pompeii.  For this reason only part of the city has been fully excavated.  Instead of exposing more of the ancient city, 19th century archeologists carved tunnels beneath the newer city above to continue their exploration.

Another big difference is that the wood didn't burn in the same way.  Hot embers set Pompeii on fire.  In Herculaneum there are wooden beams, doors, and even a boat that were carbonized, but are still remarkably intact.

I loved seeing the frescoes on site.  It really helps in visualizing what the rooms might have looked like.

The city is now further from the sea than it was in 79 AD.  You can see the sea wall and the villa that would have had amazing water view.  I can imagine the beautiful people of Herculaneum lounging in the evening watching the sun set over the sea.

On our last day we decided to ride a funicular up a hill and see a castle/fortress perched on top.  We wandered around a bit and stopped in a few shops to escape the rain, including a shop that sells coral and cameos.  These are both quite traditional for the area.  The work is beautiful and the older shopkeeper entertaining and the perfect salesman.  It is still a family business which I love.  They have a couple of workbenches set up in the shop, one for carving and one for settings, so that you can see the process.  Most of the cameos are carved by artisans around the city and surrounding area.  It was interesting that they had a tray in a corner specifically for LDS items with images of Christ and LDS temples.  The most traditional cameos are white figures with a darker background, but there were some that were quite interesting with layers of light and dark mother of pearl.

After the cameo shop we headed into the Castel Sant'Elmo, a star shaped castle fortress on top of one of the highest hills in Naples.  It was interesting to see how it was built, a combination of carving into the hill and using the removed material as bricks to build the structures above.  The 16th century fortress was built on top of and around an existing 13th century house under the direction of a Spanish viceroy.  After that it served many purposes, including miliary prison, before becoming a museum.

There are cannons pointed right in my direction

Certosa e Museo di San Martino below the fortress

Naples and Vesuvius - Pano shot distortions

View to Capri

The Spaccanapoli

From the side looking into the city you can see the Spaccanapoli, one of the main streets from the old Greco-Roman city.  This is where you find most of the old churches and historical sites.  We didn't get to explore this area.  I'll just have to come back.

Steps all the way down

The funicular ride up was deceptively short.  The walk down the steps reminded us just how high we were above the town.  We descended the hill into the Spanish quarter.  It is another step up in chaos and congestion.  The streets are narrow and crowded but straight.  The street grid is the only orderly thing in the whole neighborhood.

The Spanish Quarter

Neapolitan purses

It was fun to look in windows at fashions.  It is a riot of color and texture.  I can appreciate it, but personally, the further north I go the more I like the clothes.  The Netherlands was good.  Sweden might be better.

My sister in law and I are great travel buddies.  There are friends and then there are friends you can travel with.  It is a rare find.

P.S.

Playing soccer, but not at Naples

This picture was taken by a teammate's brother and is from a couple weeks ago so it isn't from the game in Naples.  It's a great action shot from a game against a very physical team.  I also particularly like the Dazzle stripe uniforms.

Seeing Assisi

 

Santa Chiara

I decided to go to Assisi for a couple of reasons.  I had read about Giotto's frescoes in the Basilica of San Francesco in my art history class a year or two ago.  But before that, many years before that, I sang in the student choir of the LDS Institute in Logan and we sang a version of the Prayer of St Francis by John Rutter.  Sadly, even though it is often referred to as the Prayer of St Francis we don't know who actually wrote it.  The Franciscans call it the Simple Prayer.

One of the things I think about is how I would paint or draw a place or thing, what pigments or paper color I would use etc.  While Siena was most definitely siena, both burnt and raw, Assisi is pink, specifically potters pink, a muted earthy pale pink that I quite like.  The color comes from the local pink and white limestone used to build the town.  The colors are especially noticeable in the striped walls of the main churches.  Along with the pink the new spring grass was especially vibrant this week and contrasted with the muted blue green of the olive trees.  Many of the other trees were still bare from the winter so the olive trees stood out.

Santa Chiara and olive orchard on pink

I couldn't find my hotel at first so I stopped in at a shop to ask about the address.  I didn't see it because the entrance was up an adorable set of stone stairs.  The room was basic, but the location was fantastic.  I smiled every time I climbed the steps.

After checking in I walked down the street looking for lunch.  It was a little cold and rainy, but some places had their doors open.  I could smell something amazing so I stopped.  The place was an Indian Italian fusion restaurant.  The only other guests for lunch were an older American couple who live in town.  The chef was doing double duty since the owner was out jumping through bureaucratic hoops.  I completely enjoyed eating chicken curry and chatting with the American woman.  It would be such a different experience to live in a small hill town.  These towns are charming, but so small.  There are language schools and summer music festivals, but it's pretty quiet except for the Franciscan pilgrims.  There is a large expat community, but they are mostly seasonal visitors due to Schengen visa limitations.  I can see the appeal with the slower pace of life and the relationships you build with neighbors, but I'll stay in Rome.

View from my window

Assisi was a Roman town and an important stop between Venice and Rome.  It is was a wealthy place in the middle ages, but the world passed it by and as a result it is a fairly well preserved Medieval town that celebrates it's most famous former inhabitants, St Francis and St Claire.  Rick Steves has a walking tour recording for Assisi and the Basilica of St Francis.  

St Francis was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant.  He was popular and aspired to the nobility.  He joined the local army during a war with nearby Perugia hoping to advance his social position.  He was captured and imprisoned for a year.  After his release he joined a crusade, but did not make it far from home.  He returned home after receiving a call to a religious life preaching a message of poverty and peace.  He soon attracted followers who organized themselves into a religious order, the Franciscans.  One of his followers was a young noblewoman from Assisi named Chiara (Clare).  She followed him into the religious life and founded an order of religious women, the Poor Clares.

Basilica of St Francis

St Francis preaching to the birds

Upper Basilica of St Francis

I came to Assisi to see the frescoes in the Basilica of St Francis.  They are stunning and historically quite important.  There are actually two basilicas, a lower older church and a slightly newer, but still old, upper church.  We weren't allowed to take photos, although I did sneak in a couple, but they did have post cards available to purchase.  It was interesting to see how much emphasis is placed on the saints in the Catholic church, especially in a place like this were everything centers on such an influential person.  The frescoes depicted Francis' life as parallel to Christ, placing him as a near equal.  For a person whose life was about poverty and preaching about peace through Christ, the churches seemed a rather incongruous.  They are opulent glorifications of the saint and secondarily about God.

Buttresses on Santa Chiara

Pink Romanesque lions - San Rufino

I visited San Rufino on a rainy morning.  It is very typically Romanesque, which makes it austere compared to the Baroque I'm used to in Rome.  It is beautiful in it's own way.  The interior has had some of the usual updates that take away from the original, but they did a great job with the underground.  If there is ever a church that charges a euro or two to visit the crypt it is almost always worth the visit.  San Rufino did not disappoint.  There is a well restored warren of chambers down below.  You can see remnants of an earlier church as well as a Roman cistern and other old Roman bits as well as a library and painting exhibit.

Assisi embroidery from the hotel breakfast room

The walking tour mentioned Assisi embroidery, a Medieval style characteristic of the area.  I've been playing around with Blackwork, a related style.  These are both counted styles which are done today on even weave linen or on aida cloth, like cross stitch.  In both cases there are more traditional Medieval patterns and motifs, but people have adapted the techniques to more modern designs as well.  I even found a woman who researches old paintings and recreates the stitching patterns from the clothes of the Medieval and Renaissance nobles.

My own birds in Blackwork

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my quick weekend in Assisi.  I walked up and down the length of the small town many times, talked to some interesting people, and enjoyed beautiful art and scenery.  Although enjoyable, I'm reaching my fill of Tuscan and Umbrian hill towns.  It's time to explore something else.  I'm curious about the South.  It just isn't as accessible and I still have a few things in the North on my list.