Fount of Knowledge.

In the previous post I mentioned admiring the Fontana Maggiore, a medieval sculptural ensemble in Perugia's Piazza Grande. This is a bit of an understatement. Really it should be as famous as the Parthenon sculptures or the Sistine Chapel, not particularly because of the quality of the work - though it is superb - but because it represents a moment when humanity took a step towards a more enlightened and less superstitious world view. It's 1278, in Western Europe; there are two powerful forces, the church and papacy, and the temporal power of the feudal system based on unquestioning obligation - peasant to lord, lord to duke, duke to king, king to pope - who is God's right hand man on Earth. It's a deeply conservative system where thought and individual action are strictly controlled and limited. If you look at a Last Judgement scene depicted on a Romanesque or Gothic cathedral what you see represented is a terrifying Theocracy - think Saudi Arabia without proper drains.

The only courts in Europe with a more liberal and tolerant culture were the Islamic caliphate in Andalusia and the Norman kingdom of Sicily. Here study of classical texts in mathematics, medicine and philosophy flourished and began to spread north, not because the feudal system weakened, but because a third influential vested interest began to emerge. Increased trade led to the development of mercantile cities, and with them new secular institutions such as guilds, burghers and charitable confraternities, each keen to assert their status by commissioning building projects, utilising recently rediscovered classical knowledge in mathematics and science - Everything I have just said is writ clear in the Fontana Maggiore if you care to look.

The fountain, positioned between the Duomo and the City Hall - but paid for by the civic authorities - a key moment.

The new public fountain was commissioned by the civic authorities in 1275 to celebrate the completion of a new five mile long aqueduct to supply water to Perugia's expanding population - urban development and civic power leads to the application of science - eg. advanced hydrology. The renowned Pisan sculptors, Nicola and Giovanni Pisano were commissioned to decorate the fountain - mercantile wealth leads to cultural interchange. The resultant relief sculptures, completed in 1278, are testament to a pivotal moment in the history of Humanism. 

The depiction of the founding of Rome might be regarded as  a deliberate provocation on the part of the civic authorities to the predominance of the church.

The monument consists of two polygonal drums, one above the other. Each plane is decorated with relief sculpture in a naturalistic style typical of the Pisano. Panels on upper drum depict ecclesiastical authority.

The top drum re-iterates ecclesiastical orthodoxy - King David, I presume...

The lower drum celebrates the temporal, the secular and the earthly.

Labours of the seasons linked to signs of the zodiac - typical of contemporary manuscript iconography.

The naturalistic relief style - revolutionary!

The panels representing harvest remind me of Classical iconography associated with Demeter.

Today the fountain is topped by figure of a nymph pouring water from an amphora. This is a later addition. Originally the monument was crowned by bronze cast griffons, the mythical beasts are one of Perugia's heraldic symbols.

The nymph on the top is a later addition.

My favourite panel depicts Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden. It's not just the anatomical accuracy and verisimilitude which is so impressive, but the scene is realised with a psychological acumen not seen for 800 years in Roman sculpture. What makes the Pisano such pioneers is the mix of naturalism, classical influences and humanism not achieved again for another 150 years. The work here prefigures early Renaissance sculptors such as Donatello. 

How did the Pisano acquire their understanding of Roman relief sculpture?

I hope I can convince you that Perugia's fountain really does deserve to be considered one of the most significant works in European art. The really good news is that in three important respects it exceeds works such as the Parthenon sculptures or the Sistine chapel. Firstly you don't have pay to look at it; secondly, there is no queue; and finally it is surrounded by chocolate shops. It is this latter quantity that launches the Fontana Maggiore into a league that neither Phidias nor Michelangelo could ever match.

High art and chocolate shops, an irresistible combination.

e

Re-imagining Perugia as a handmade chocolate.

Friday 22nd April, 2016.

Perugia's most famous product is Baci chocolate. Each chocolate fondant Baci (kiss) comes with a message of love printed inside its foil wrapping. Ah, latin romance...but it's a little down-heartening to learn that Perugino, the manufacturer, is a division of Nestlé, which has to count as one of the most obnoxious multi-national corporations on the planet ever since its CEO announced that water is a product not a resource, and people had no right to water if they were unable to pay for it. Evil.

So I feel under some compunction to reinvent an imaginary Baci that better represents Perugia as we experienced it. The outer layers would be dark, spicy and spiked with dentally challenging bits of walnut and nougat; the inner core unctuous, rich caramel laced with unsweetened cherry brandy. 

Perugia's outer bits were challenging. The Sosta is positioned on a scrap of land squeezed between two busy roads. Exiting it on foot involves taking your life in hands and negotiating typically haphazard Italian pavements that disappear without warning at intersections leaving pedestrians at the mercy of the ferocious traffic. It should be simple. Perugia has invested in an elevated driverless railway, like a DLR made out of Duplo. It connects the station to the city's ancient, hill-top heart which stretches the length of a craggy escarpment. However it is less than straightforward to reach the metro station, there were no signs. We got lost, wandering around for a while on le Corbusier inspired concrete walkways admiring the colourful graffiti and raw concrete walls inscribed with anti-globalisation slogans. We happened upon the station eventually by stalking a local. The mini-metro station is a stylish modernist inspired building; its urban vibe was considerably enhanced by groups of bling bejewelled 'bros' hanging about out on the concourse - Philly meets Perugia.

Perugia sosta - a typical urban camperstop

Perugia may be an ancient city, but its outskirts seem determinedly modernist.

concrete walk-ways

funky graffiti

YAY!

Cool metro station

Bathetic trams

dog leashes - such a hazard

 Step into Perugia's 'soft centre' and it feels as if you have mysteriously materialised in a completely different city. Perugia is ancient, built on Etruscan foundations with wonderful thirteenth century buildings lining the main streets and squares. We joined everyone else sitting on the steps of the Doumo in the warm sunshine and admired the famous Maggiore fountain. 

Fontans Maggiore...respect!

Perugia Duomo - Italy's most underwhelming?

 It may be ancient looking, but looks belie. In fact the place is youthful and lively. Over a fifth of its 160,000 inhabitants are university students. Today was a graduation day. No mortar boards in Italy, graduants here are crowned with laurel (very Roman) and then after receiving their degree they are supposed to sprint around the city, at least according to one new 'double doctor' that Gill chatted to. In fact we observed much soulful mooching, but little sprinting.

Ancient and contemporary collide - brilliant!

We wandered to the far end of Via dei Priori where there is a spectacular view across the Tiber valley. Lunch called. We had a couple of panini with local cured ham and two macchiata. As we were settling the bill an enterprising beggar dressed as a Commedia dell'Arte character sidled up and attempted to relieve us of a bit of small change. In the the ensuing melee he plonked a kiss on Gill's cheek. We gave him 50 cents just to get rid. Very irritating.

The Tiber valley

Gill and her panini

Our waiter...

Having explored the main streets, we then wandered around the tangle of small alleys at the back of Piazza IV Novembre. It's an old area, but quite undeveloped. It was easy to imagine that it had not changed much in centuries. As well as ite city's external walls, differing districts of the old city seemed to have local defensive features, such as dog-leg entrance gates and towers with arrow slits. There is a history of internecine violence in the city as well as external threats  from the neighbouring Tuscans and the Papal States to the south. I suppose it is not surprising that the city manifests both external and interior fortifications. We did wander down a few empty narrow alleys where it felt at any moment you might be stabbed to death by a couple of shadowy characters wearing confraternity regalia. Parts of Perugia centro storico have a distinctly 'Dan Brown' ambiance.

Shadowy alleys..

Di Vinci Code doorways

Somehow we managed to find our way back to the 21st century retail opportunities in the main square. Chocolate shops predominate. We bought a bar of what we took to be local produce, in fact on later examination it turned out to be from Modica in Sicily. This style of chocolate is unique as it does not use vegetable oil in the manufacturing process, only cane sugar and cocoa solids. It is less sweet and more grainy than modern chocolate and it is thought to resemble the taste and texture of chocolate from the 16th century, when it was first introduced from the Americas. We were delighted with our accidental purchase as we had planned to visit the Modica chocolate shops while we were in Sicily before Christmas, but our plans were curtailed by Gill's accident.

Serious confectionery

So, Perugia, an interesting place - a little grittier perhaps than some other of Italy's ancient cities perhaps, but energetic, atmospheric and characterful. In comparison Pisa seems corporate, and Florence 'A Room With View' parody of itself.

e

Around and about Lago Trasimeno

Monday 18th April, 2016 - Thursday 21st April, 2016.

Gentile, relaxed, civilised, soporific - the shores of Trasimeno are certainly less frenetic than most places in Italy. Our sense that life here was being lived at an old fashioned, more leisurely pace may partly have been the result of where we stayed. Camping Kersaal is situated in the grounds of a small lakeside boutique hotel. The facilities for campers are superb; it's definitely glamping.

Trasimeno - a haven of peace

Hotel Kersaal

It's stylish dining room overlooking the lake

lakeside pitches in the hotel grounds.

Our spot

One odd aspect of this mix of luxury hotel and campsite is the way you have to pass by the rather stylish restaurant, or couples having a romantic glass of Prosecco on their bedroom balcony as you hoik a Thetford cassette or pile of washing-up towards the sanitary block. In the end I started to take the long way round, not wishing to spoil some romantic dinner for two at sunset with the vision of a portly, overladen Englishman staggering towards the WC Kimik.

A romantic balcony with sanitary block view...

From the site you get a lovely view towards the nearby town of Passignano sul Trasimeno, especially at sunset. The place itself is a pleasant mixture of lakeside resort and medieval hill village, though oddly enough it has the substantial remains of an old aircraft factory next to the station. Given the lakeside location it did not surprise me to learn that in the interwar period Macchi seaplanes were produced here.

Sunset view

Passignano

A view across the lake to Castiglione

Passignano's medieval gate

view from the ramparts

The old town hall

and an abandoned seaplane factory.

Otherwise the village is a good place to wander around and has shops selling regional produce. The butcher was keen to point out to is that they were HIS sausages we were buying.

The lake has a cycle way running around the eastern side. Most of the way it  runs in parallel with the railway track near the Arezzo to Perugia dual carriageway. Though you get nice lake views, it's not exactly peaceful. Moreover, the unmetalled track passes quite a few houses and is used by agricultural vehicles. Gill was almost squashed by a local exiting his drive somewhat carelessly. After the incident we were more vigilant, not just because of traffic, but also the potholes and gravelly surface add to the hazards. Nevertheless, we had two interesting rides, northwards towards Tuoro, and south in the direction of San Feliciano. 

Lakeside cycle tracks

There is a memorial sculpture garden at Tuoro commemorating the Battle of Trasimeno in the 3rd Century BC where Hannibal's invading army defeated a large Roman force in one of antiquities bloodiest battles. Contemporary sources report that 15,000 soldiers perished in a matter of a few hours. The memorial itself, erected in the 1980s is a drab affair in a faintly ludicrous modern style. 

Not exactly the Angel of the North is it?

On our final day we decided to take a boat trip to Isola Maggiore, the largest of the three islands on the lake. It feels lost in time. The village once had a permanent population, a mixture of fishermen and people who worked in a nineteenth century villa of palatial proportions. It had been remodelled from a former monastery, but now it is fenced off and falling to bits. There were lots of walks through the densely wooded island. 

Trasimeno lake cruiser

Passignano ferry terminal

Woodland walks on Isola Maggiore

The island's ancient fishing village.

All of this would have been peaceful and idyllic but for the fact that we were joined on the boat by over 100 teenagers on a trip from a local school. As two ex-teachers it's always interesting to observe fellow professionals. We could sympathise as they anxiously counted heads to check they had not left anyone behind. Above all I was impressed by the informal but mutually respectful relationship between staff and students. On the whole the young people's behaviour was excellent. After an invasion of over 100 teenagers into the area on the island with a gelateria and food shops there was no litter. Amazing!

our youthful fellow passengers

Gelateria invasion

The plan is to start out journey homewards after visiting the Cinque Terre and Provence. The weather is not looking good, thundery rain for the next few days. We need blue sky to see Cinque Terre at its best. So we've postponed the turnaround for a bit and are heading off tomorrow to visit Perugia.

e