Adria (16/04/2016)

My friend Mauro invited me to spend a day visiting his hometown Adria so I accepted and after getting in my car, I drove the 1 hour and 20 minutes it took to get there. Once I reached the city center I parked the car right across Mauro's grandparents' house and then continued on foot. First he took me to see the Cathedral, which was rebuilt on a much older one in the 19th century. There was a wedding going on inside but we managed to slip past without disturbing and observed a really interesting a decorated coptic marble slab dating from the 4th century. We then passed through the side door and entered the part where the old Cathedral once stood. The building was renovated as the same time of the construction of the New Cathedral, though below ground level is still located the medieval crypt. The crypt is actually the apse of the Old Cathedral which was excavated during the 19th century, and still holds some interesting 11th century frescoes, depicting some of the Apostles. We then visited the nearby Diocesis Museum which had just recently opened and is still planning to expand further. It's look really nice and modern and holds some interesting objects such as various silver goblets, priest clothes and sculptures. Exiting the museum we continued walking and toured the town for a while, crossing the main Canal cutting through the town, the Canal Bianco, and walking along its streets. It was then time for lunch so we headed back to Mauro's grandparents' house where we had a really good pasta with ragu and mixed fried fish, After the lovely lunch we then got in the car and headed to the National Archaeological Museum. The city of Adria used to be an important commercial center already at the time of the Ancient Greeks, it then held an important position during Etruscan times and became even more important during Roman times (it even gave its name to the Adriatic Sea). Thus the area below and all around the town held many artifacts and ruins which are now displayed in the museum, such as Greek and Etruscan vases, jewels and daily objects and many more Roman things such as the impressive glass collection. Together with the Archaeological Museum, one part of the building also hosted the temporary exhibition dedicated to the Chinese state of Chu, which I had already seen a part in Este a few weeks before. Thus we also decided to see that exhibition which had some really cool chinese artifacts dating to more than 2000 years ago, particularly some really interesting swords and spears. To end the day we decided to use the rest of the afternoon and sun bathe in the nearby seaside town of Rosolina, which though sunny and windy didn't deter me from taking a quick swim in the cold April waters.

The Cathedral

The 11th century apse of the Old Cathedral

View of the Canal Bianco 

The chinese swords inside the Chu exhibition

Greek vase inside the National Archaeological Museum

Roman glassware

The beach of Rosolina

Ravenna (09/04/2016)

Thanks to my friend Mauro, I was able to participate with his university class in a trip to Ravenna. I was also lucky as the teacher accompanying us was one of the major experts on mosaics in the whole of Italy. So after reaching Mestre I got on the bus and headed south reaching Ravenna 2 hours later. We started our visit with the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista, considered as the oldest church in town and first built at the beginning of the 5th century. It was later reconstructed in the 13th-14th in the Gothic style as we see it today. The main entrance has a beautiful Gothic portal that leads into a small courtyard where the actual church entrance is located. Inside the building, which was unfortunately heavily bombed in 1944, there are still many roman columns with beautiful decorations, but most importantly there are all along the sides some really amazing and well made mosaics dating from 1216 that depict scenes from the 4th crusade. After heading out we directed ourselves to the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, first built at the beginning of the 6th century by the king of the Ostrogoths; Theoderic. Inside the building the two main sides are completely covered in mosaics, the largest mosaic area in the world, dating from different periods. In fact the upper part was built during Theoderic's reign and the figures are more natural looking, like those in the early roman times. The lower part was decorated when the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I reconquered Ravenna, and the figures as in byzantine tradition look more simple and still. On the right side is a procession of Saints leaving the Palace built by Theoderic and heading towards Christ, and on the left one another procession of Virgins lead by the Three Magi leaving the Port of Classis, the ancient port of Ravenna, and heading towards the Madonna and Child. It's quite interesting to note how on the mosaic depicting the Palace there used to be figures of people, noticed by some hands still remaining on the columns, which were later eliminated during Justinian's reign since they were believed to be heretic depictions. Exiting the church we decided it was time for lunch so together with the group we went to a place called Ca' de Ven where we all had Piadina, a flatbread typical of this region, with burrata, a type of creamy mozzarella, and some ham cuts; very tasty! obviously all accompanied by a good red wine. After lunch it was time to get back to visiting. so we headed to the next monument; the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Built around 425 it was first built as the private burial grounds for the Empress Galla Placidia who died and was buried in Rome and thus wasn't able to use it. The building is very small and has a latin cross plan with clear byzantine influences. The atmosphere inside is clearly magical, as the place is very dark but is fully covered in mosaics while light enters through small alabaster windows and the decorated central dome with bright yellow stars on a blue background give the impression of a mystical place. There are also two very important mosaics, one depicting Christ as the Good Shepherd, and the other probably depicting Saint Lawrence. Right next to the Mausoleum is the impressive Basilica of San Vitale built in the 6th century. Built in a rare octagonal plan, it used to be fully covered in mosaics which now only remain in the presbytery while the rest is still quite nice to see as the main dome is covered in a splendid 18th century frescoe and the rest of the church is decorated with impressive marbles and floor mosaics. The presbytery mosaics depict several stories such as that of Abraham and Melchizedek, and the Sacrifice of Isaac; the story of Moses and the Burning Bush, Jeremiah and Isaiah, representatives of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the story of Abel and Cain. There are also two really famous and important mosaics; one depicting Emperor Justinian I, clad in imperial purple, with a halo above his head to symbolize his power over church and state and the other one depicting Empress Theodora also with a halo, purple dress and crown and jewels. We walked on and then reached the Baptistry of Neon, which stands right next to the Cathedral. Built around the 5th century, it is also known as the Orthodox Baptistry to distinguish it from the Arian one on the other side of town. The vaulted dome has a beautiful mosaic from the 6th century depicting John the Baptist baptizing Jesus (depicted with a beard) in the Jordan river. All around are the 12 Apostles in white garments and below the mosaics are some really nice marbles with the baptismal font at the center of the building. Right next to the Cathedral we also went to see the Archiepiscopal Museum that had some truly great religious art including a magnificent Throne of Maximian made of ivory and carved in the 6th century. But most impressive was the small inside Chapel built at the end of the 5th century and dedicated to St Andrew with more impressive roman mosaics. Very interesting is the mosaic depicting Christ as a warrior, with the cross on his shoulder, in the act of vanquishing the beasts of heresy; Arianism. After a bit of walking and passing through the city's main square; Piazza del Popolo, we reached the Arian Baptistry. Built around 100 years after the other one, so around the end of the 5th century, it was used by the Arian part of the population. It holds another impressive mosaic depicting John the Baptist baptizing Jesus (who is here beardless as typical in Arian style) and an old man dressed in green who is supposed to represent the river Jordan; all around are the 12 Apostles. It was then time for our last stop: the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe built in the 6th century, which sits south of Ravenna and used to be the main church of the Port of Classe. The structure is that of a typical basilica with a main nave and two aisles separated by greek columns with capitals in the form of acanthus leaves. It was probably once fully covered in mosaics, though now only the main apse is. However the remaining mosaic is quite amazing and represents several figures: at the top a huge cross on a starry field, on top of which comes out a hand symbol of God, below is Saint Apollinaris surround by lambs symbolizing the faithful and praying to God. All around the church sides stand some really interesting roman sarcophagi. After this church we were all done with our wonderful trip, and getting back on the bus we headed back to Mestre where I eventually took a train back home clearly satisfied in seeing some amazing mosaics and churches all inscribed in the Unesco World Heritage List. 

One of the mosaics inside the Basilica San Giovanni Evangelista depicting the events of the 4th Crusade

The interior of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo

Mosaic depicting Theoderic's Palace

Mosaic depicting the Virgins inside Sant'Apollinare Nuovo

The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

Monogram of Christ inside the Mausoleum

Mosaic supposedly depicting Saint Lawrence

The beautiful starry dome of the Mausoleum

The mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale

The frescoed dome of San Vitale

The mosaics of San Vitale

Mosaic depicting Emperor Justinian I

Mosaic depicting Empress Theodora

The Arian Baptistry

View of the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe

Mosaic of the apse

Torino (26/03/2016)

Visiting our relatives in Alessandria we decided to take a day to visit the beautiful city of Torino. Although we had visited it several times before, it was always nice to go back. After leaving at around 10 am, we decided to stop at the Basilica of Superga, a sanctuary located on top of hill on the outskirts of Torino. The Basilica was built between 1717 and 1731 by the famous architect Filippo Juvarra for Victor Amadeus II of Savoy after the defeat of the French at the Battle of Turin in 1706. It was built in a beautiful late Baroque style and has an impressive dome which resembles that of St Peter's in Rome. The place is unfortunately infamous for the tragedy that occurred here on May the 4th 1949 when the plane carrying the Turin Football Club's team crashed on the side of the hill killing everyone aboard. Nonetheless, the views from up there over the city and the surrounding mountains still fully covered in snow was amazing, despite the little haze/fog hovering around. After appreciating the views we got back in the car and descended down the road towards the city of Turin. We decided to stop halfway and eat a little restaurant called Trattoria L'Ultima Spiaggia which was very rustic but really tasty and cheap. Then after lunch we reached the city center and parked right under the immense square Piazza Vittorio Veneto, We then walked along the long Via Po until we reached the impressive Piazza Castello with at its center the peculiar building with one side the old medieval castle, and on the other the Baroque Palazzo Madama. At the northern end of the square is the beautiful Royal Palace, Behind and all around it are the Royal Gardens which had just reopened so we decided to visit them and despite some refurbishments still going on, they were very pleasant to walk around. Exiting the gardens we headed inside the Cathedral, built in the Renaissance style in the 15th century it had some interesting works of art and sculptures, though the main attraction, the Chapel of the Holy Shroud built in the 17th century containing the Holy Shroud of Jesus, was under reconstruction since the 1997 fire that nearly destroyed it. Across the street from the Cathedral is the beautifully preserve Palatine Gate, the northern ancient roman gates that lead into the city. with the roman road still partly running under it and an archaeological area with the Roman theatre around it. We then headed back towards Piazza Castello, and entered the amazing and probably most beautiful church in Torino Church of San Lorenzo, built in the 17th century in the Baroque style with impressive decorations and cupola. Walking on we reached the pretty Piazza Palazzo di Cittá with at its center the statue of the Green Count, or of Amadeus VI Count of Savoy who during the 14th century fought against the Turks and Bulgars for the Byzantine Empire. To complete the day's visit we headed to one of the most beautiful squares of the city: Piazza San Carlo. Built in the 17th it is surrounded by beautiful Baroque palaces and porticoes and at its center stands the mighty statue of Emmanuel Philibert Duke of Savoy. At the southern end of the square stand two nearly identical churches, the Church of San Carlo Borromeo and the Church of Santa Cristina, though the former looked much better than the latter on the inside. It was then time to leave, so we headed back to the parking lot where we took our car back home to Alessandria.

The Basilica of Superga

Cupola of the Basilica

View over Turin and surrounding mountains from Superga

The Piazza Castello looking south 

The roman Palatine Gate

Statue of the Green Count

Piazza San Carlo