Today is “ferragosta” - the 15th August – an auspicious day in Italy.
It is, at least in Rome, perhaps the quietest day of the year. This afternoon there are few passing cars and motorinos, and the occasional sounds from the pavement below us drift in an unusually hollow manner through our open windows. The air is even calm with just a cool breeze drifting along through the bright sunny warmth of the middle of the day.
Ferragosta is the middle of the summer. Maybe it is, in truth, a little bit past the centre point and I am quite happy about that. With our heating and warm clothes, Rome's winter is cold but nothing to be feared. While the summer is brief by Brisbane's standards, I am already tired of sweat and having to seek the shady side of the street.
Like so many Christian feast days, today's feast of the assumption (or bodily passage to heaven) of Mary, was super-imposed on a pagan festival, in this case pre-Christian – but importantly, Roman. So “feriae Augusti” are the festivals of Emperor Augustus and at this time, after labouring long and hard in the fields, the locals kicked up a little and some say engaged in some serious wild living. Of course, these days the labours in the fields seem less with tractors and the wild living is probably a more consistent aspect of life.
The quiet scene in Rome has no less tourists but they will find their range of choices for dinner this evening much diminished. Many ristoranti, trattorie and pizzerie have shut their doors this weekend and many will not reopen in August. Their owners and waiters have headed to their traditional summer vacation destinations – many at the beaches or at resorts – Italian and foreign. If you seek a plane, train or bus ticket to anywhere much this weekend, you are likely to be disappointed. Everything has been booked out for weeks. We have to hope that we do not need a tradesperson in the next few weeks.Summer is fleeting and so are the special summer activities. Romans are absolutely superb builders of temporary things (their ancestors good at building things that last, obviously). Through summer, there are all sorts of amusement venues that spring up within days and will come down again soon. There are concert venues in parks – that nearest us (Celiomontana) is a special jazz venue. There are temporary swimming pool “night-clubs” where the regazzi can swim and talk and chat. There are summer sports arenas, the stalls by the river bank, amusement parks and circuses. At the nearby beaches, around Ostia, there are beach clubs with miles of umbrellas and deck chairs.
So ferragosta is a much anticipated event and is like a mark on a perpetual calender.
For us, this long weekend is an opportunity to take a breath and catch up on doing “not much”. Yesterday we did drive two friends to the town of Orvieto – about 150 kms to the north. Another great little hill town with lots of ceramic shops and artisans. Dominated by the Duomo or cathedral, a 13th century structure that has that brilliant Byzantine influence. It is a bit of a museum and unless you can convince the “guard” that you are there for prayerful reasons, you pay an admission – not common for cathedrals in Italy. But the admission is worth it for the building's spectacular art, and especially the Brizio Chapel that is covered with detailed and spectacular frescos. Although producing immediate damnation to one's neck (most frescos are high up on the walls or ceilings), a little study of these frescos definitely has you thinking twice about being other than a “good boy”.
The scenes depict the differences between paradise and the other place, the end of the world and the resurrection of the dead. The devil supports the Anti-Christ and many wrong-doers get their just and gruesome deserts.
We had no deserts but lunch and dinner in Orvieto – lunch was just wonderful and just as well we were not all that hungry because perhaps the evening meal was not as good.
Orvieto is also unique in that it sits on a hill and lies on top of thousands of caves excavated in the soft volcanic stone. The material removed was used in building the houses above. These caves were made for the pressing of olives in consistently warm underground conditions, the storing of wine and the raising of pigeons. The walls sometimes have many pigeon holes in these columbaria – Columba is the genus name for pigeons. How do I know so much you say? Well we paid for the guided tour and it was beautiful – in really nice English and the guide truly had me transfixed.
Sadly no photos allowed inside the Duomo – so as an exception, I refer you to a web site if you are really keen to cover the eternal damnation story -
But some other photos including the outside of the Duomo. What is the collective name for around forty nuns running across the Piazza Duomo in a stiff breeze (a superfluity)? And later a civic band appears – and plays. Our guide (falling asleep it seems) in a cave. The original “pigeon holes”. A ceramics shop. The Umbrian countryside from Orvieto. And to show you we still exist – the Douglases and friend at supper in Orvieto.
Buona ferragosta
