Fascination with the dead?

Friday, October 28th

While Neil was working and Alex and Eleni were having their Halloween party at school, I was gallivanting around Rome in the Catacombs with my Art history class. Ever since I learned about these tunnels in highschool, I've always dreamed of visiting them. Finally, twenty-five years later, here I am.

Like many history students, I was incorrectly informed about their purpose. The romantic story that the catacombs were secretive and Christians hid there to avoid persecution is alluring, but incorrect. Their location was on a major highway of the time, the Appian Way (the first part was built in 312 BC) and it would have been hard to hide anything along the major route in and out of Rome. Also, by law, you had to bury your dead outside the city and there were several pagan graves here, too.

Despite the dispelled legend, it doesn't take away any of the imagination thinking here: there are 60 different catacomb areas in Rome and in this particular segment, St. Sebastian's, there are seven miles worth of empty tombs mixed with the graves of 80,000 bodies that are still here! Many of the empty tombs that we passed were empty as their remains had been buried elsewhere out of respect or their remains has been stolen and passed off as relics of saints.

Pause.

It did cross my mind, as I descended into the catacombs, how much my enthusiasm this year has been tied into visiting final resting places of the dead. I'm not sure I should read anything into it except that there are so many clues about history here, but does make me pause a bit.

The current St. Sebastian's Church is from the 17th century, but beneath it lies remnants from the 1st century BC. In one area, you can see 4 centuries in one glance: 1. 1st century BC - an old Roman quarry (the word catacombs actually comes from this particular spot - cata is by and combus is quarry), 2. 1st century AD Pagan burial rooms (see below),

3. 3-5th century AD Christian burial spots, and 4. The base of the 4th century Church that was built here (this photo here looks down on the photo above).

The photo above is right next to the space that archeologists believe St. Peter and St. Paul's bones were hidden for some years. There are thousands of pieces of graffiti left requesting the Saints' help. Among these pieces, you can see the signs of the fish (acronym for Jesus Christ, Son of God the Savior and looking somewhat like IXOYS) and the sign of Christos (an X and P together). It's extremely hard to see things here and the catacombs are not for the claustrophobic; there were traffic jams within the small spaces as tour groups were swarming from all directions. Not so different as their counterpart roads above in Rome.

You can just see a group of family graves here.
I was fortunate in being with my Art history teacher who had some connections and the key to get into an old Roman villa from the time of Augustus! We had to be careful as we walked around due to the archaeologists' tools lying about. We saw beautiful old rooms, but I only took a photo of this small space decorated in green and red.
Above, the Church houses the remains of St. Sebastian. Like so many churches in Italy, it's a treasure trove of artwork. Pope John Paul II and Mother Theresa visited here and there are some unexpectedly huge paintings of them, as well.

But mostly, there are several pieces dedicated to Saint Sebastian. Arrows abound. It's all in the theme of his martyrdom of death by arrows (or, was that his death? The story that artists do not depict is that after this Roman soldier was found out, tied to the stake, shot with arrows, and taken for dead, he was nursed back to health and he tried to convince Emperor Diocletian to convert to Christianity, but that idea was rejected and instead Sebastian was clubbed to death). His remains lie behind this sculpture.

So, after a huge dose of death, we walked along the Appian Way to another dose of death. This time we visited the tomb of a pagan woman who lived during the Augustus years, noblewoman Cecilia Metalla. Not much is known of Cecilia, except for Lord Byron's doting wonderings about her and this "stern round tower" in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. Her tomb lies as a remnant of what once lined the Appian Way (that and the 6,000 slaves who revolted with Spartacus and were crucified along the same road thanks to her father-in-law, Crassus).
Her tomb is empty now. It was used as part of a fortified castle that demanded toll be paid along the Appian Way during the 14th century. Inside, you can see a latrine (the top hollowed out bit was on the third floor and you can see where it went to on the bottom floor).
There are all sorts of artifacts lying about...
...and pigeons flying about!
Under the castle, you can see what is left of the quarry where they got the stones for the Appian Way. I took this photo more for the cat house and bowl of water for cat on the lower left.
Home to Viterbo where my children were all about Halloween. Perhaps it is just the time of year to be fascinated: Halloween, the Day of the Dead, All Saint's Day and the whole month of November is dedicated to visiting your ancestors' graves in Italy.

Mammoth Madness

Sunday, October 23

Around 20 minutes north of us is a town called Bomarzo. Like many towns around here, it is a hill town held up by tufo and beautifully decorated with the burnt orange roof tiles at varying levels. Beneath the walls, in a wooded area around a mile away is a park called the Sacred Wood or the Park of Monsters.

In the middle of the 16th century, Vicino Orsini had this garden of monsters created in honor of his deceased wife and/or to impress visitors and/or images of his madness. It's the original theme park of monsters, ogres, sphinxes, dragons, lions, dolphins, nymphs and bears. And, that is just the beginning. The statues are attributed to the artist Pirro Ligorio, who must have had quite the time trying to satisfy this Orsini prince's desires. Even though we had a map, we never knew exactly what we would see next in this monstrous and imaginative grove.

Trying to decipher any meaning was challenging, too. Orsini was inspired by literature and ancient mythology mixed with death and promiscuity; there was no real key to this insanity, just shock value.

There are some clues though. This is Orlando Mad, Orlando Furioso; A giant whose heart has just been broken now breaking his opponent in two.

This demon mimics Dante's advice, "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here" with the word reason replacing hope. Neil was making demonic sounds when Eleni jumped out of the mouth of hell here.

Cerebrus guarding the Underworld.

The back of a Fury, (maybe in keeping with the tone here - Lyssa the goddess of rage), lions, and looking straight at us is the Mermaid Echina (mother of many demons).

Of course, Persephone, Queen of Hades! Her mother, Ceres, was close by as well.

The juxtaposition of these innocent cherubs...

In the midst of all of this, it was calming to see some fall foliage. We had a picnic of sorts on a hill in the garden and then some coffee in the playground area. It started to rain just as we were leaving the madness of Bomarzo.

The rain didn't last too long though and we were on our way to another deserted archeological site called Ferento. Someone had already cut the fence way before we arrived! No ticket booth, just one moldy sign.

In these hills across from our bandit-type break in, there is a necropolis. Of course, you can mark this territory as Etruscan. Today, this valley is home to sheep and goats complete with their bleating and constant bell clanging. Atmospheric.

Thanks to the 11th century Viterbesi, who were destructive here and constructive there, this 4th century BC Roman town has little left to show for itself but a load of rubble, a theatre and baths complex.

However, the sites that the under eleven-year-old set were most interested in were the porcupine quills and one ten-year-old wanted to take this bug home with him.

That did not happen. But, pizza love did.
We had such a great visit with Neil's sister and family this weekend. Our two October visits have made such a difference in our children's immersion experience here. These glimpses of their old lives have been invaluable. No madness here.

Some real bandits?

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Neil's sister and family arrived last night. It's their half term break and they are visiting us and then spending the week in Rome. To say that Alex and Eleni were happy to see their cousins would be an understatement.

Alex led them on a tour of Viterbo complete with some climbing on the Awakening statue that is installed in the valley of our town.

Beyond the Giant's face there, you can see the hill that we followed around to visit the Papal Palace. And here is just one of the several photos I took of the glamourous Eleni and Sophie.

Alex's tour took us round our favorite pizza place and a visit to my favorite Church here, the Santa Maria Novella. This time, we visited the cloisters and the crypt. Amazingly, these two sections were just discovered recently in the 1960s. They had been filled in with the remains of plague victims and dirt for hundreds of years. The revealing factor: when the new organ was placed in the Church, it sunk.

Here are some remaining plague bones.

While we were here, the Bishop visited as well. Yes, the same man who blessed Alex and Eleni in the Santa Rosa parade.

The cloisters. All of this was covered over and forgotten. You can see how interested Eleni and Sophie are in this. History fatigue was settling in with the kids, but not with the adults.

But, it was getting time for lunch so we went home and made some pasta. Keeping quiet during siesta time seemed too much of a chore, so we set out in search of some more ruins. Neil had a hand drawn map showing us the way to some more Etruscan tombs, but it was uncertain how far to go in this farmland area. Viterbo has miles of farms. Who knew?

The bandits knew. Or, that is what we referred to them as when we came upon their "hideout" at the end of a long winding road. Neil asked the five men who were hanging around the dilapidated aluminum roofed old farmhouses, "Where are the tombs?" Another car showed up with four more men. We were happy to turn around and be on our way. We found the tombs near a cypress tree. There was no ticket office left for us here though. Just a few signs and hope for good imaginations.

We had plenty of that; we all had a great time exploring the empty tombs.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), we did not bring a flashlight so we couldn't see very far. When we had stumbled in as far as we thought it safe to go, Thomas taught me flash photography archeology. We could take photos and then see what was in the tomb.

And, we had the place pretty much to ourselves! We scrambled along in and out of caves following the riverbed below. It was easy to imagine real bandits hiding our here, too. Indeed, there were remnants of campfires.

History fatigue set in again (or actual maneuvering over rocks and weeds exhaustion?) so we set off for our next favorite adventure. I did not take any photos as the baths this time, but did learn that they are mentioned in Dante's Inferno as well. In a much different context, you can find the Bulicame baths in Canto XIV.

"In silence we reached a place

Where gushing from the woods a small stream poured

So red that it still makes me shudder. As issues

That stream from Bulicame that is shared

Among the prostitutes, so this brook flowed

Down and across the sand. It was stone-floored;

Stone lined both banks and margins on each side;

And I could see that this would be our route."

Thankfully, no one of ill repute finished off our day, just pizza and wine.

bandits on the road to hell

Sunday October 16, 2011

I'm struggling through Dante's Divine Comedy. I've read excerpts before and its import in history is obvious, but reading through it, line by line (with the help of marginal notes), is slow going. I'm determined though, because there are so many references to this region.

"In the midway of this our mortal life,

I found me in a gloomy wood, astray

Gone from the path direct: and e'en to tell

It were no easy task, how savage wild

That forest, how robust and rough its growth,

Which to remember only, my dismay

Renews, in bitterness not far from death.

Yet to discourse of what there good befell,

All else will I relate discover'd there.

How first I enter'd it I scarce can say,

Such sleepy dullness in that instant weigh'd

My senses down, when the true path I left,

But when a mountain's foot I reach'd, where clos'd

The valley, that had pierc'd my heart with dread..."

The gloomy wood of the Cimini mountains is thought to be the source of this first line. Yes, the road to hell. It's around twenty minutes north east of us. The ancient Romans were scared of this dense wood, too. In Medieval ages and Renaissance, this was an infamous hide out and trail for bandits.

It was a gorgeous Sunday morning and we walked through this wood near the summit of the mountain. It's harvest time for the beech trees and chestnut trees, and we saw people by the roadside collecting both.
The beech nuts were so plentiful here that I rolled on them and lost my balance, but did not fall five times and fell - spectacularly - twice. Alex and Eleni both had some monumental falls, too.

It was the perfect morning; I was reminded of home in the northeast around this time of year often. We had a snack at the top and then headed down/rolled to our car. It's the season for chestnut festivals now, so we decided to check one out. Soriano nel Cimino was a fifteen minute drive away.

The 13th century Orsini Fortress looms over the town. They've been celebrating chestnuts here for two weeks. They use this opportunity to reenact (over 500 years of this) some treacherous Renaissance moments: In 1489, A disguised Paolo Nardini of Vignanello slipped into the Orsini castle and killed Didaco of Carvajal. In the middle of the night, as Paolo was holding up a torch to signal to his mates to join him at the castle and help overthrow it, an elderly woman (she is referred to as a hag) who was working at the slaughterhouse saw the torch. She got a few neighbors together and together they managed to ambush the invaders, throw Paolo off the high tower, and keep the family's power intact.

We found a good Renaissance style tent to eat in. Neil and I shared chestnut soup that was so simple and so delicious. Then we climbed up and into the Orsini Castle. Here was the view from the top. Viterbo is out there somewhere.

We enjoyed the sun and atmosphere for a while and then headed home. Neil was scheduled to play in the school soccer game (and did so rather successfully!).

As we were leaving, we realized that we had parked our car here - on the Road of the Bandits. Evidently, this place was swarming with them; perhaps they are the Robin Hoods of Italy. Which leads me back to Dante's hell. Where would the bandits be?