Crowning Artists at the Corona

Two very different artists continue their exhibition at Bagni di Lucca Ponte a Seraglio’s Corona Hotel until August 13. See it while you can…it’s the last day today!

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Morena Guarnaschelli, well-known for her evocative water colours of African life, has branched from her realist approach to something more symbolic. Traces of art-deco, Victorian silhouette and mandala patterns find their place in her stylistic change of pace. The linear style, the seductive curves and those esoteric hints draw one into inner reflection and supernal elegance.

My own little ciclamino mat now seems to have taken added significance…

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Deenagh Miller, particularly noted for her drawings which for me suggest those studies which Italian renaissance masters would draw in preparation for their canvases, expands her impressionist-like phase with some large scale landscapes of Bagni’s stunning scenery.

Hints of Bonnard and a touch of Renoirian social world enter into such canvases as this one reminding one of typical scenes at that conversationalist hub of Bar Italia,

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Could there be any more different recreation of our socio-natural world by these painters? Yet the two magisterially fluent artists come together in a celebration of life and freedom in this age so distraught by ecological and epidemiologic issues and which finds healing difficult.  

Soul liberation through mandala meditation, landscape contemplation, reconnection with the human world through social intercourse, remodelling of inner consciousness, and transfiguration of conventionalities all so expertly rendered in the finest draughtsmanship and in an ecstatic blaze of colour are primal themes which unite these two creative forces which Bagnioli are privileged to host and which buoyantly help mend our own fractured universe in these strange semi-alien times.    

Poetical Flowers

The Prato Fiorito, that mountain presenting its grim fortress-like appearance in the Lima valley

shows a completely different and gentler look on its northern face.

It’s the difference between a scarp and a dip slope: gone are the steep rock buttresses known as ‘le ravi’ and, instead, a wonderful Elysian field spreads out containing the most varied collection of flora found anywhere in Italy.

Why is the mountain not wooded like so much of the Apennines?  Clearly there was a time when trees covered its slopes. They were felled centuries ago for fuel and construction and the cleared land given over to sheep and goat grazing thus preventing the regeneration of new forests. Instead, the calcareous soil has given birth to hundreds of flower species including some of the rarest orchids.

In May the Prato Fiorito’s slopes are covered with myriads of ‘Narcissus Poeticus’ or the ‘poet’s daffodil’.

It’s a most apt name for not only does it bring to mind the Greek legend of Narcissus and Wordsworth’s lakeside golden host but also Percy Bysshe Shelley’s own visit to the mountain while staying at Bagni di Lucca, which inspired his poem ‘Epipsychidion’ (trans: ‘concerning or about a little soul’) especially those lines beginning.

 Of flowers, which, like lips murmuring in their sleep
Of the sweet kisses which had lulled them there,

(For more of the Shelley connection see my post at

https://longoio.wordpress.com/2013/06/07/the-elysian-fields-of-prato-fiorito/)

I had meant to go the Prato in mid-May to see the wonderful display of Narcisi but was told that everything was late flowering this year, particularly on the Prato. May was so full of rain that I delayed my visit until yesterday and then it was a little late for the full display which only lasts around a week. It was a slight disappointment, perhaps, but still a gorgeous morning to spend in this paradisiacal place.

As with all lovely things there is a dark side to Narcissus Poeticus – as Shelley’s contemporary Keats writes ‘Ay, in the very temple of Delight Veil’d Melancholy has her sovran shrine’. All daffodil species are poisonous but this one is more poisonous than any other and eating it will give rashes, vomiting and severe headaches. However, just sniffing its perfume remains seductive and in the Netherlands and southern France Narcissus Poeticus is cultivated for its essential oil used in the making of perfumes where it combines the fragrances of jasmine and hyacinth. Two perfumes brands, ‘Fatale’ and ‘Samsara’, are based on this oil.

Recently, Narcissus Poeticus has returned to many gardens as part of the search for heritage horticulture. Its simple form, contrasted with the standard rather showier common daffodil, has produced a hybrid known as ‘Narcissus Actaea’ which has won a Royal Horticultural society award and can be now found in several garden centres such as this one:

https://www.rhsplants.co.uk/plants/_/narcissus-actaea/classid.2000008267/

Of course, even in Italy there are several mountains brimming over with fancy waves of this beautiful flower in May and June. Monte Linzone in the Bergamo Pre-Alps is famous for its crop of Narcissi and is a favourite excursion spot for those staying in Milan (as I used to do). Monte Croce which is near us, in the Garfagnana, is even called ‘Monte delle Giunchiglie’ (jonquils) and has what many regard as even more spectacular displays of this delicate flower.

You can read my post on Monte Croce at:

Elysium on Earth

And more of the Prato Fiorito at:

A Perfect Shelleyan Day

Narcissus Poeticus has even helped save a heroine and her pet from the depth of Outer Space where ‘no-one can hear you scream’. It was the spacecraft ‘Narcissus’ which enabled Ellen Ripley (acted by Sigourney Weaver) to escape with her cat Jones in that cult film ‘Alien’

and I managed to get off the Prato Fiorito in time yesterday morning before rumbling thunder proclaimed another afternoon of dramatic cosmic storms.

Mining Magnates of Tuscany

I recently received a whatsapp message from my friend Giovanni Ranieri Fascetti, well regarded for his books on local history, his guardianship of the fortress of Vicopisano and his full moon conducted tours to the temple of Minerva. Giovanni and his partner have a property at Montecatini Val di Cecina, not to be confused with Montecatini Terme, and have become much involved in the history of this picturesque town.

The message attached a photo of the memorial plaque to Francesco Sloane who was instrumental in contributing the major part of funds required for the marble facade of Florence’s Santa Croce Church in the nineteenth century.

Sloane became rich by managing the Caporciano copper mine at Montecatini Val di Cecina for its Russian owner Count Dmitri Boutourline. Born as Francis Joseph Sloane to an expat Scottish family he bought the Medici Villa Careggi, part of the hospital where I had my heart operation last year, and got it restored by an architect called Niccolò Matas, the designer of the Santa Croce marble facade.

Another Russian family, the Demidoffs, employed the same architect to build for them the massive palazzo San Donato (not to be confused with the Villa Demidoff at Pratolino). The palazzo, badly damaged during World War Two and for long neglected, was restored in 2018 to its former glory by Florence City council.

Matas also restored Napoleons villa in Elba used by the Demidoffs as their holiday retreat. Matas designed many other buildings including the Porte Sante cemetery surrounding San Miniato sul Monte and it is here where, among other illustrious Florentines including Franco Zeffirelli, Francis Sloane lies buried. Matas himself is in Santa Croce. Bagni di Lucca has its Demidoff connection with the hospital which the great philanthropist had built and which is now an holistic well-being centre.

There is an interesting relationship between the Demidoff chapel at Bagni and the Demidoff chapel in Florence: with their round domed shape and columned porticoes they are both inspired by Rome's Pantheon.

I’m glad that my friend sent me that note about Sloane. It goes to demonstrate how interconnected people could be in the 19th century: Francis Sloane, the principal contributor to Santa Croce`s facade; Matas its designer and builder of the Demidoff palace and the strong connection between the great Russian family and Bagni di Lucca. As precursors of modern-day philanthropic magnates like Bill Gates and Elon Musk they show how they managed to give something back to the communities which had made them so rich in the first place. As Francis Sloane so aptly put it:

“We are not called to do extraordinary  things, but we are bound to do ordinary things extraordinary well.”

The Magic of Equi Terme

I have translated the following article by our friend Giovanni Ranieri Fascetti, an authority on the area.

The article first appeared in ‘Toscana Today’ magazine, a very interesting publication dealing with Tuscan events, history and places. Here is the link:

Il segreto di Equi Terme

We love this area and have done many fine walks there. In addition, we have taken part in the living Christmas crib, described in the article, on several occasions. All photographs in the translation are mine.

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Equi Terme’s Secret

One can easily fall in love with Equi Terme. What is its secret? Is it the scenery with an abundance of rivers and streams or is it perhaps its inhabitants? Maybe it is the legends attached to EquI dating back into the mists of time. What is certain is that Equi is a special place and offers magical moments for everyone.

How many of you reading this have been to Equi? Many, certainly, have visited the living nativity crib, one of the most beautiful in Italy. It almost seems that the landscape has been specially chosen to create a town so that it would one day become the setting for a nativity scene. At a certain point the villagers chose St. Francis, who invented the Christmas crib representation at Greccio, as their patron.

When in 1986 some villagers decided to create a living nativity crib, they could never have imagined the success that  it would have. The influx of visitors during the four evenings of the Nativity scene reaches up to fifteen thousand persons. In the upper Lunigiana area, in Versilia and beyond, many places began to participate in this tradition. However, despite the competition, the beauty of the Equi living crib remains unsurpassed.

This village of stone houses clings to a steep rock face. Opposite is another very high almost vertical rock face. Eons ago the two were joined together to form a basin filled by a lake fed by a stream descending from the Pizzo d’Uccello mountain peak and by a source flowing from a cave.

This lake has produced a huge waterfall with a powerful beauty when the snows of the mountain melt or when it rains a lot in the Garfagnana. The water flow has caused the collapse of the rock wall revealing a cavity, the source of so much water known as “la Buca”. This crevasse in the rocks with its inspiring beauty releases a gentle flow of clear streams. Thunderstorms and heavy rains swell the underground rivers and the water from the Buca bursts out powerfully with a continuous roar.

The town has always remained tenaciously clinging to the rock face with some houses reaching to the edge of the stream near the Buca. These dwellings used to be mills grinding chestnuts and cereals and those crushing olives.

Equi crowns the valley of the shiny river whose waters, passing through the Aulella and the Aulla, reach the Magra river and from thence to the sea. From the sea, almost as if Neptune wanted to thank them for the gift of water, a temperate air climbs up the corridor of valleys reaching Equi softening the climate during winter. Here, around the Lucido valley, extensive terraces of olive trees are to be found and there is no shortage of vineyards producing distinctive wines like that of Monte dei Bianchi. In winter while the mountains that surround it are all white Equi is rarely covered with snow.

Arriving in Equi in autumn and winter – I recommend that visitors coming from Pisa, Lucca and Bagni di Lucca go by train on the Lucca-Aulla line – one has a vision of the town surrounded by a steamy mist arising from another torrent descending from Mount Ugliancaldo. This evocative steam comes from Equi’s thermal springs and is the origin of its name which derives from Latin ‘Aquae’ indicating the presence of a thermal source. The Roman structure came to light in the early twentieth century; Mrs Vinicia, the grand Lady of Equi now sadly departed, said that one could see the walls and floors of the rooms decorated with black and white mosaic tiles.

(Vinicia and Giovanni)

Equi is truly the Queen ruling the waters that in the Nativity setting with their sound, the waterfall’s noise at its foot and the steamy vapours play a decisive role in enhancing the area’s fascination. These streams give rise to the river called Lucido “because it never gets murky”. Where there is water there is life and in prehistoric times the area was rich in animals: bears would hibernate in the Tecchia, a cave next to the Buca.

A museum near the Equi caves tells us about these ancient events and also about the hunting of these animals by the first men.

Those who leave the town eastwards towards Ugliancaldo, can walk along the Via del Solco which winds through a ravine with vertical walls eroded over millions of years by the force of the waters. The path, of a unique picturesqueness, slips into long tunnels, dug by pickaxes when extraction of marble was first started at the foot of the Pizzo d’Uccello. At one point the path crosses a deep gorge on a bold single-arched stone bridge. After the last tunnel, one faces an amphitheatre made entirely of sparkling white marble which, although a wound inflicted by man in the mountain’s bowels, has all the drama that mining landscapes can sometimes inspire.

In the caves scattered at various heights along the Via del Solco, men from a tribe, well-defined culturally by the objects they used, laid the bodies of their dead. This neolithic human group is called “facies of Vecchiano”. But what does Vecchiano have to do with it?

Vecchiano is a town close to Pisa on the banks of the Serchio. In the caves of Vecchiano hill remains of individuals from the same tribe populating the mountains of Equi have been found. And here is visible the thousand-year-old, unwritten history of transhumance when shepherds followed the flocks that in the cold months left the Apuan area to come and graze in the Serchio, Arno and Era valleys. In the warm season the shepherds returned from the Maremma to the mountains.

Equi holds many stories, both ancient and more recent, and all always surprising. At the spa there is a small monument commemorating the engineer Carlo Tonelli (1855 – 1929). A native of Equi, after completing his studies at the Polytechnic of Turin, Carlo collaborated in Rome with the Mayor Ernesto Nathan in the planning of residential areas and parks that were to give the city the appearance of a modern European capital without distorting the complex and evocative context of historic districts. However, Carlo’s generous heart had not forgotten his native village and he dedicated his resources and skills to Equi’s economic development: the start of marble extraction, the creation of the thermal baths and the construction of the Hotel Radium with its very elegant art nouveau architecture. Tonelli finally conceived the project of getting the Lucca-Aulla railway line pass through Equi, contributing to the design of monumental architectural structures that recalled the grandeur of Roman imperial buildings. In a short time, Equi became an exclusive resort for the thermal holidays of the Roman nobility. Development smiled on the village and Carlo watched over and provided for all Equi’s needs, as when he took over its reconstruction after the 1920 earthquake that affected the area causing considerable damage to Casola, Ugliancaldo and Codiponte.

It was in Codiponte that Tonelli took care of the restoration of the Romanesque church, one of the most beautiful in the Apuan area.

One evening in 1926 Carlo Tonelli was returning with his gig from the town of Gragnola when he found the road blocked by blackshirts. The engineer understood that they were waiting for him and, raising his whip, exclaimed: “Get out of the way, you who have souls darker than your shirts!” Hit with batons he was left in agony on the roadway. Taken to Fivizzano hospital he died some hours later. Why was such ferocity towards such a generous man? I had guessed why and mentioned it in town. I was told it was not what I thought; in an Italy often gripped by taboos it is difficult to speak of Freemasonry but Ms. Vinicia, the dean of the town, who discreetly kept the secrets of the entire community of yesteryear said that the day after the engineer’s death Masonic insignia was found in his safe. After the approval of the law of 25 May 1925, with which the Prime Minister Benito Mussolini had banned Freemasonry in Italy, the engineer had kept alive the “Fiume Lucido” Lodge in Gragnola, thus challenging the Regime. Unfortunately, in the world there are those who build and those who destroy.

Those gentlemen wearing black shirts also provoked war and the war brought the occupation troops of the Third Reich who in the nearby village of Vinca made an unprecedented massacre of the people and then turned to Equi. They blew up every other house, even the house from which a paralytic could not get away. The inhabitants of Equi were shaking, hidden in the basement of the station. They trembled until the Germans hurried off after a comrade’s abdomen had been ripped apart by his own grenade.

Finally peace came and returned to the village, now made safe and sound. Vinicia’s husband, Giovanni, a handsome Sardinian financier, and she, as he had promised, made the path from Equi to the sanctuary of the wood, on top of the rocky ridges where the Madonna appeared to a shepherdess in 1600, who was on her bare knees on the stones of the mule track. Trade resumed, the Lupacino tunnel was inaugurated and trains finally began to run on the newly completed track from Lucca to Aulla and vice versa. Tourism developed. The living Nativity crib was born and the future seemed even brighter. However, more recently there has been an economic crisis, the abandonment of the mountains, an earthquake that caused considerable damage in the area, a lack of initiative by the administrators and finally, today the pandemic emergency. Despite all these difficulties, the inhabitants of Equi are resisting and look towards the futured The difficulty of life during past centuries, the river’s incessant flow, the changing of the seasons has taught them. They know how well the Czech people living along the Vltava River realize that “in this world nothing remains the same, the longest night is not eternal”. We wait with them and light will return, as every year, in January Candlemas occurs when, after months of shadow, sunlight filters again from the crests of the Pizzo d’Uccello  to illuminate the stream and announces the arrival of spring and summer.

 

Some of The World’s Most Beautiful Women…

The Uffizi, along with Italy’s other national museums, was re-opened at the end of January. I could not resist going to Florence to pay a visit to one of my all-time favourite art galleries. Designed by Vasari as the Medici’s government offices the Uffizi incorporates perhaps the first comprehensive city street design. From the connecting portico at the end of its two arms there is one of the most memorable views of Florence.

 

And looking across from the other side this is what one sees.

 

In this case it was a river Arno boiling with mud brought down from the mountains as a result of the heavy rains we’ve been continually having. It is this sort of situation that caused the terrible floods in the autumn of 1966. Now, with the new overflow channels and improved weather forecasting let’s trust that these things never happen again to devastate one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

The delight of having one of the world’s greatest collections of renaissance paintings virtually all to myself as if it was my own private gallery was quite marvellous. The Uffizi was originally the Medici’s own personal collection  but in the eighteenth century it was opened to the citizens of Florence to create the world’s first public art gallery.

The Uffizi web site is very comprehensive and well designed. It’s at https://www.uffizi.it/en.

I’ve been to this treasury of all that’s finest in human artistic creation many times so I was wondering what new things would attract me on this visit. I noticed how the display of the Uffizi’s collection has improved considerably over the years; for example, there’s this room starting the museum’s itinerary and displaying the earliest Italian art, including the great Madonne by Duccio, Cimabue and the painter who changed the course of Italian art, Giotto.

The Botticellis remain ever sublime and are spaciously displayed. It was wonderful to be able to admire the great neo-platonic paintings of the Birth of Venus and the Primavera all by oneself!

I was astounded by the new Leonardo gallery and, in particular, by his ‘Adoration of the Magi,’ returned here after a seven-year restoration which has done so much to give back the freshness of this unfinished painting.

This is the painting before restoration:

And this is it after:

 

The adoration of the Magi remained unfinished because Leonardo got an irresistible invite to the court of Milan where, among other things, he painted his ‘Last Supper’. It was left to Filippino Lippi to paint a properly finished version for his commissioners. This painting is also in the Uffizi:

 

Two things in the Uffizi particularly struck me this time.

First, the wonderful representations of nature details in so many paintings. Surely landscape art starts here as part of the background to religious themes. Perhaps the painters, having to depict their sacred subjects according to strict ecclesiastical rules, let themselves go in these beautiful scenarios where they were able to introduce Tuscan landscapes and further display their descriptive skills.

Second, the sublime beauty of the Madonne. These endearing women must have been clearly based on the beauty of the models the painters took from the best-looking women of renaissance Florence. What love affairs and physical adoration must have lain behind these stunning faces!

 

Each one of us will have their favourites but I was particularly transfixed by this face painted by the Sicilian painter Antonello da Messina. I just had to fall in love with her!

But then one falls in love with so much of Italian art. It is just beyond value!

Here is another selection of the photos I took of the  paintings:

The Uffizi museum is open from Tuesday to Friday only. To be absolutely sure of getting admission it might be worth booking ahead. Certainly if the tourist season starts in earnest pre-booking is essential. I could just turn up and got my ticket at 12 euros which is 4 euros less than if you book it.

A caveat. If one is a lover of seventeenth century painting including the Dutch school then one in for a disappointment. Only half of the Uffizi is open. So no Caravaggios or Rembrandts!

However, surely to be able again to see the Botticellis, the Michelangelos, the Raphaels and the Leonardos is more than adequate compensation for those of us who, in this continuing world health crisis, have been starved of museums and art galleries for so long…

 

Malta’s Old Capital

Before La Valletta became Malta’s capital in the 16^th century the island’s capital was Mdina, Arabic for ‘walled city’ but known in Italian as ‘La Notabile’. Situated in the centre of the island it makes a welcome change from the busy life of La Valletta and entering inside the town’s austere Arab walls we found it very pleasant to wander through quiet, almost deserted streets lined with several noble mansions.

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The cathedral of Saint Paul is Mdina’s most ‘Notabile’ building. Mediaeval in origin it was completely reconstructed after a major earthquake in the late seventeenth century whose epicentre was at Noto in Sicily.  Saint Paul now presents an elegant baroque appearance which is not unduly fussy.

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We also visited the cathedral’s museum with its rich collection of ecclesiastical vestments and paintings.

Malta has a total of 359 churches in a country with a population of just 514,564 inhabitants. Most of these buildings have something of interest distinguishing them. Clearly it would be impossible to see them all. However, of the handful that we visited we remember the following as outstanding:

The parish church of the Assumption (Mosta Rotunda) – Mosta.

St John’s co-cathedral – Valletta (already described in my previous posts on Malta).

The Collegiate Parish Church of St Paul’s Shipwreck – Valletta. Here are some of our photos of this lovely baroque building in La Valletta.

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Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Paul – Mdina (described in this post).

Here is a useful list of some of the best Maltese churches:

9 Of Malta’s Most Beautiful Churches

As a young lad I collected stamps and was particularly proud of my Commonwealth collection especially the section on Malta. In the definitive series of Queen Elizabeth II stamps was this one showing the Mosta Rotunda. It had always been my ambition to visit it and finally I did!

Mosta Rotunda church was built in the 19th century to a design by the Maltese architect Giorgio Grognet de Vassé who believed that his island was a remnant of the great kingdom of the now underwater Atlantis. Its dome, with a diameter of 37 metres, is reckoned to be the fourth largest in Europe and the ninth largest in the world. Clearly inspired by Rome’s Pantheon the building was completed in 1860.

We found the rotunda’s interior very noble with its neo-classical style. The religious devotion of the Maltese must be truly intense to have been able to raise funds in their little island for such a magnificent church.

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Malta is strictly speaking the name given to just the larger of its two main islands. We still had to take the ferry to Gozo, the other island, and discover its very special charms harking back to pre-package holiday times…

Into the Depths of Maltese Prehistory

What are the oldest free-standing buildings in the world? Stonehenge? The Pyramids? Skara Brae? Something yet to be discovered?

So far the oldest buildings found today date from around 10,000 BC and are at Göbekli Tepe, Urfa in Turkey. The Neolithic temples of Malta, however, come a close second as the earliest examples of free-standing architecture that have survived. Of these temples (at seven sites discovered in Malta – including Hafgar Qin, Mnajdra and Tarxien on the main Island and Ggantija on Gozo) we managed to visit Tarxien, perhaps the most elaborate of them. Dating from at least 2800 BC they were discovered in 1914 and excavated in the two following years.

There are four temples on the site and they are distinguished by the quality of their carvings which consist of spirals and friezes of domestic animals including bulls, goats, pigs and a ram. Clearly these animals were raised by the population but they could also have been used as sacrifices to the gods.

There is also a part of a giant stone sculpture of the Mother Goddess which is the first known statue of a female deity and which was originally over nine feet high.

Musing on Valletta’s Museums

There is so much crammed into the compact area of La Valletta. Having admired its old houses from the outside we wanted to see their interiors and get a glimpse of how the Maltese aristocracy live.  The casa Rocca Piccola, otherwise known as the Messina palace, is owned by the Marquis Nicholas de Piro and dates from 1580. It is now open to the public and is very well presented. I would have loved to have attended a dinner party in its elegant dining room which transported us to a more leisurely century. I especially loved seeing the galleriji or wooden balconies encircling the house from the inside.

There are several museums in La Valletta and we managed to see the following:

The Grand Master’s palace, State rooms and armoury. Every Knight of Saint John on his death bed would bequeath his suit of armour to the grand master and once there were 25,000 such suits.  Napoleon pinched a lot of them but what remains is still remarkable!

Looking at loads of flintlocks can be a bit exhausting after a while, no matter how finely detailed they are. They are paradoxically truly artistic instruments of war in a way that today’s guided missiles hardly are!

The Fine Arts museum housed in the former admiralty is full of interesting paintings of Maltese scenes and it has a fine collection of Italian baroque painter Mattia Preti’s works. As mentioned in my previous post Preti was adopted by the Maltese and contributed to the decoration of some of their most spectacular buildings like Saint John’s co-cathedral.

I was also surprised to find water-colours by Edward Lear (who loved Malta). Absolutely no nonsense here!

There was also a fabulous picture of the Grand Harbour by Turner (who never actually visited Malta.)

I was particularly interested in Malta’s archaeological museum which gave us much insight into the fascinating Neolithic temples and burial sites we would visit.

Some of the earliest known representations of the human figure are here including the famous ‘sleeping lady of Malta’.

Clearly in those prehistoric times fat and well-endowed women were particularly prized as they represented fertility figures. No slim-fits here!

It’s good that all these museums are maintained by the ‘Heritage Malta’ government department. There was a time when Malta was  known just as a sun-and-beach holiday destination and, unfortunately, its rich heritage was neglected. Today the islands’ historical monuments are being revalued and, with the help of funds from European Union, there’s a full scale restoration going on in the island.

The fortifications, for example, are looking more splendid than ever.

Like many Italian seaside resorts, Rimini for example with its imposing Malatesta temple and Amalfi, once one of Italy’s great maritime republics (recall the other three?) Malta is equally worth visiting because of its fascinating heritage just as much for its sun and sand (though, actually, there isn’t too much of the latter, as we found out…)

Valletta’s Giant Treasure Casket

The centre piece of La Valletta is St John’s co-cathedral, the conventual church, dating from 1577, of the order of the Knights of Saint John. It’s called a co-cathedral since Malta has another cathedral in its former capital of Mdina.

The exterior, flanked by two bell towers, is rather sober:

It certainly doesn’t prepare for the enveloping sumptuousness on stepping inside. One gets the feeling of  entering a huge golden treasure casket:

The barrel vault is magnificently decorated in baroque style with much work completed in 1666 by the Calabrian painter Mattia Preti. One of Italy’s major seventeenth century artists Preti is also responsible for works in many other Maltese churches and is buried in the cathedral to which he devoted so much of his art.

Yet one does not visit St John’s to principally see Preti’s paintings but instead to admire a masterpiece from the hand of one of the most controversial baroque artists, Michelangelo Merisi known as ‘Il Caravaggio’. Fleeing to Malta from a murder he was involved with in Naples (his violent temper often got him into scrapes and he later had to flee from Malta itself) Caravaggio painted the altar-piece in the oratory depicting the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. It’s the largest painting he produced and the only one he signed. The tough realism and his virtuoso ‘chiaroscuro’ (’light ‘dark’) technique are absolutely stunning.

The cathedral’s side chapels are dedicated to the eight langues or divisions of the order of Saint John and contain funerary monuments of the Grand Masters.  The splendid inlaid marble floor is made up of tombstones, decorated with heraldic devices of the knights.

We also visited the cathedral museum which holds a collection of rich ecclesiastical vestments and a magnificent collection of Flemish tapestries.

The richness of the furnishing of La Valletta’s St John’s cathedral gave us an indication of how much wealth the Knights of Saint John must have possessed in their heyday. It was a wealth to which every major European power contributed for La Valletta stood (and still symbolically stands, as the Pope’s visits demonstrate) as a bastion of Christianity against the onslaught of Mohammedanism.

Today a different kind of onslaught is occurring. Rather than military it is a desperate one: the arrival of refuges across the sea from Africa landing on the shores of this tiny nation. Indeed, relations between Italy and Malta have often been somewhat strained because of this situation and it continues to remain a very difficult matter.

All Change at Pisa San Rossore?

Railway and Underground stations have not always been known by their current names. Taking London’s Piccadilly line as an example the following stations have changed their names since they were first built:

‘Acton Town’ was originally called ‘Mill Hill Park’ when it opened in 1879. ‘Green Park’ was once named ‘Dover Street’ and Alperton formerly had a double-barrelled name, ‘Perivale-Alperton’.

There seems to have been little protest by Londoners at the name changes since these reflect the need of the underground system to more accurately reflect their geographical situation in the great metropolis.

There have been comparable name changes in Italy’s railway stations. Recently, for example, it has been suggested that stations in and around Turin should be modified to indicate important historical sights near the station so as to add to tourist interest.  In this example ‘Collegno’ becomes ‘Collegno Certosa’ reflecting the majestic Royal Charterhouse nearby. ‘Dora’ becomes ‘Dora Parco Dora’, ‘Lingotto’ becomes ‘Lingotto Fiere e Congressi’ indicating its conference and international trade fair facilities, ‘Moncalieri’ becomes ‘Moncalieri Castello di Moncalieri’ alluding to the marvellous castle in that town, ‘Nichelino’ becomes ‘Nichelino palazzina di Stupinigi’ since this where one alights to visit the elegant Royal hunting lodge there and ‘Rosta’ is changed into ‘Rosta Sant’Antonio di Ranverso’ which is the name of the beautiful mediaeval abbey there.

Here are some picture of the abbey taken by me as a teenager:

A similar method could have been used at Pisa for one of its stations, that of San Rossore which might have simply had ‘Torre Pendente’ added to it, alluding to the fact that if one just wants to see the city’s famous Leaning Tower it is possible to alight here rather than proceeding to Pisa’s Central Station. Instead, the municipal authorities have considered changing the name entirely and calling it instead ‘Piazza dei Miracoli’ (Square of the Miracles) a square which, incidentally does not exist on any street map of Pisa but is the popular name given to the complex of Pisa’s cathedral, Leaning Tower, baptistery and Campo Santo.

This blatant renaming proposal has particularly aroused the ire of the ‘Ippolito Rosellini’ cultural association, a conservation and local historical group presided over by my friend Giovanni Fascetti who is also the guardian of the imposing castle of Vicopisano designed by Brunelleschi, the architect of Florence cathedral’s dome, and which is described in my post at https://longoio.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/vicopisano-and-brunelleschis-military-architecture/

I have translated the letter written to the municipal authorities of Pisa and it is worth quoting it here to appreciate the unwarranted name change to San Rossore station.

“The ‘Ippolito Rosellini’ Cultural Group expresses its total opposition regarding the decision taken by the Municipality of Pisa to change the name of the Pisa – San Rossore railway station. Two negative effects are produced by this rash action: first of all the cancellation of the city’s historical memory since the name of the station is linked to the Royal estate of San Rossore which was once frequented by the Savoy monarchy every summer since the reign of King Victor Emmanuel II. The elegant and luxurious royal train stopped at San Rossore Station where the royal family and their entourage, continued in a carriage. The station’s name recalls a precious heritage that is part of the city and its history, including the regional park, proclaimed a MAB (‘Man and Biosphere’) Nature Reserve by UNESCO, one of the few in Italy.

The second reason against this renaming is the imposition of a place name, that of “Piazza dei Miracoli”, which is absolutely bogus. It’s not shown on any road map but is just a nickname. The  authentic name appearing on maps is ‘Piazza del Duomo’. As such it is known throughout the world, and has been included in the World Heritage List since 1987. If the intent is to promote the square in the light of a possible boost to tourism, this is certainly a disservice to the city since most tourists travelling by train alight at Pisa Central Station and, on the way to the cathedral square, discover that in addition to the Leaning Tower and its associated buildings there are also other wonderful city sights including monuments, churches, museums and restaurants which remain very poorly publicized .

Finally, let’s keep quiet about the condition of the Pisa-San Rossore railway station which certainly does not offer an adequate welcome to tourists, major sources of income for the city and for whom we should roll out a red carpet if we want  our economy to recover and not treat them as flocks of sheep to be sent away once they’ve been fleeced. Citizens and administrators do go and see for yourselves – when there is no lockdown, of course – the real conditions of a station that was once a Royal stop. Gangs of pickpockets gather here from the Piazza del Duomo, purloin bags and purses in green spaces that resemble a wateland. Syringes abound, and one may note down-and-outs defecating and urinating. There is no staff present and in the evening the place presents an utterly sad desolation.

We hope that the New Year will bring everyone a little wisdom!

The President Prof. Giovanni Ranieri Fascetti.”

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I should add a few more facts about the San Rossore Royal estate and refer you to my post at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2016/05/14/il-gombo-pisas-ex-presidential-seaside-villa-and-park/ for more details about this magical place which is so near to the centre of Pisa.

San Rossore station itself originally dates 1846 as part of the Lucca-Pisa line. In 1861, Italy’s year of unification, the new section of the Tyrrhenian railway between Pisa and Pietrasanta was completed turning the station into a junction.

The former royal train shed still stands and is now a commercial unit.

In December 1998, during the works for the construction of a building that was to house the headquarters of the new goverment command and control System in Pisa, remains of ancient Roman boats and ships began to be unearthed by the excavations. This amazing discovery gave life to the fascinating Museum of Ancient Ships in Pisa about which I have written a post at https://longoio3.wordpress.com/2019/12/23/italys-maritime-pompeii/

Finally, San Rossore station also serves as the main stop for students alighting for Pisa’s university whose main buildings are found in this area.

I think you would agree that the station should remain as San Rossore. At the very most an explanatory sign could be placed below the station’s name indicating that this is the main stop to alight for Pisa University and those visitors who only have time to see the Leaning Tower.

 

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