Bulgaria (21-27/04/2016)

My Erasmus friend Simona, had invited me to visit her in Bulgaria, so after successfully booking a flight  I left Bergamo with Wizzair on April 21st at 13:30 and arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria's capital at 17:30 local time. After a quick stop at Simona's house to leave my stuff, we immediately headed towards the city center where my friend showed me the immense National Palace of Culture which was built in 1981 to commemorate Bulgaria's 1300th anniversary, with a beautiful long and narrow fountain in front of it spraying water. The palace is now used for concerts, exhibitions and conferences and shows how Bulgaria has been striving to modernize and improve itself. From there we walked further along Vitosha Boulevard, Sofia's main street, lined with cool bars and cafes. It was then time to go as my friend had arranged to meet up with her friends and have a barbecue on the nearby mountain Vitosha. By the time we got to the top and started preparing it was already 10:30pm but in the end we had a really great barbecue with good meat, beer and company, though the temperature was much colder than in the city and I still felt cold even with my jacket on. The next day we woke up late in the morning and decided to head to Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second largest city. The drive took about an hour and a half and we saw some beautiful landscapes and all the Rila mountains still full of snow. After reaching the town of Plovdiv, we looked for a parking space and then continued on foot. We reached the city's main square, Stefan Stambolov square, where we decided to have lunch (I got chicken with potatoes with a kind of gravy). After lunch we continued on foot and walking along Knyaz Alexander I street we reached the ruins of the ancient roman Stadium, built in the 2nd century AD, when the city was known as Trimontium. Right above and next to the Stadium, stands the Dzhumaya Mosque, an impressive mosque, built in the 15th century during the Ottoman rule which still serves as temple for the islamic community. It was unfortunately closed so we weren't able to enter, so we moved on and got to the Church of Sveta Marina, with a beautiful wooden bell tower and a frescoed interior dating to the 18th century. It was a really pleasant and hot day, with a temperature of about 25 degrees; walking uphill we entered the Church of the Holy Mother of God and the Church of St Dimitar. After descending a narrow street we came in sight of the impressive roman theater, we payed the entrance fee 1,5 leva (75 cents) and entered the building. The theater, one of the best preserved in the world, was built in the 1st century AD, when the city was known as Philippopolis (before becoming Trimontium), and the whole cavea, or spectator seats, is still perfectly intact, while the stage has some columns still standing. The view from there was very nice, with the modern city just below, and the Rhodope mountains far in the distance. After exiting the theater we walked through some narrow and beautiful streets lined with typical ottoman/bulgarian wooden houses, and entered the Church of St Kostantin and Elena, considered to be the oldest in the city, dating to the 4th century though the present building dates to the 18th century. We then passed under the old city gate and reached the eastern part of town. There we had to turn around a bit as Simona's friend suggested to avoid that area since it was considered to be the Gypsies' neighborhood. We then entered a museum called Small Basilica (2 Leva) which holds an amazing basilica dating to the 5th century AD, with many mosaics still intact and an annexed Baptistery with an incredible mosaic depicting a deer drinking from a spring. After that we went on to see another museum, the Trakart Center (2 leva), which holds a series of incredible mosaics from different roman villas found throughout the city and some even more incredible glassware dating to the 3rd and 4th centuries, just amazing! After the museum we still had some time, so we went to check the city's other mosque, the Imaret mosque, also dating to the 15th century; it was open and with scaffolding inside but we still rather liked it, We then chilled a bit at the local public park, before two other of Simona's friends came to pick us up and drove us to Yagodina, a hamlet in the middle of the Rhodope mountains. We arrived quite late so we left our stuff in the hotel room and went downstairs to have dinner with all the other friends that would stay with us for the next few days (I got a tarator, a cold soup made of yoghurt, cucumber and garlic, and then patatnik a type of potato frittata similar to spanish tortilla, both very tasty). The morning after we woke up early, had a quick breakfast with Bulgarian bread and white sirene cheese and then got on the off-road cars that would take us to the top of a nearby mountain. The ride was bumpy and crazy but really awesome, we were going through forests and plateaus and up rocks when we reached the top that had a beautiful view over the surrounding mountains. There was also a platform jutting out from the mountain top called Orlovo Oko, or Eagle's Eye, and as the name suggest had an impressive view on the gorge below. We then got back on the cars and drove on until we reached another great view, overlooking the Trigrad gorge and river. Driving further on we reached the bottom of the gorge and walked a bit along the river with some really pleasant surroundings. We then went back to the village of Trigrad where we had an amazing lunch at Kristiyan's house, one of Simona's friends, with fresh trout and a super tasty patatnik of which I had five dishes. After thanking Kristiyan's parents we got back in the car and headed towards Trigrad gorge, there we booked a tour of one of Bulgaria's most scenic and famous caves, Devil's Throat Cave. In fact once inside, I was in awe of its size and beauty, particularly the impressive steep staircase spiraling to the top and then out of a small opening. Once outside we took some pictures of the pretty waterfall cascading next to the cave's exit, and tried some really yummy bee and pine honey which I came to regret not buying as it was really cheap and super tasty. It was time to leave, so after getting back in the cars we headed towards Yagodina to pick our stuff, switch cars and head to our next destination. We drove through another impressive gorge and reached the village of Chala,where we stayed in a beautiful house, which Simona explained to me they had believed we would be staying in camps without shower, heat and so was quite a pleasant surprise to find out otherwise. The villages in this part of Bulgaria, are still mainly Muslim, in fact one can easily spot the minarets jutting out from each village center,

That night we had a great dinner and then party with lots of bulgarian food, rakia and even more bulgarian pop and folk music; we ate, danced and drank till late. The next morning we woke up late and still quite groggy, we had brunch with airyan and bread with sirene cheese, we then got our stuff and left to the next place. We reached Yagodinska Cave, another really nice cave which unlike the other, was mostly composed of stalagmites and stalactites. Unfortunately the guide only spoke Bulgarian, and the friends that spoke English had decided to stay out and eat something instead; luckily a Bulgarian guy had some British friends and was translating for them so I managed to catch his translations. Exiting the cave I rejoined with my friends and decided to have something to eat, so I got a really tasty crepe with local blackberries that were really good. It was then time to go so we said goodbye to everyone and got back in the car headed for Sofia. On the way back we had a quick stop in a town called Krichim where a really young gypsy kid asked us for some money, the girls thought they had seen him before so started telling random countries to which he would respond with their correspondent capital city; apparently this kid was famous in Bulgaria and had gone on TV as he knew lots if not all capital cities in the world. About 2 hours later we were back in Sofia and the next morning I was ready to finally explore Sofia itself. 

We started the day with the beautiful Ivan Vazov National Theater completed in 1907, and then walked on passing by the Monument to the Tsar Liberator, constructed for Alexander II who liberated Bulgaria from Ottoman rule during the Russo-Turkish war of 1877. and then stopping for a pic of the communist monument in Knyazheska Garden. Then onward stopping at the SS. Cyril ad Methodius National Library, built after the previous one had been bombed in WWII, we then reached and entered Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the second largest in the Balkan Peninsula. Completed in 1912 in clear Neo-Byzantine style, it has a beautiful golden dome and the interior is richly decorated with marbles and mosaics (which apparently had been shipped over from Venice). Right across from the Cathedral, stands the Church of Saint Sofia, which is considered to be Sofia's second-oldest church, dating to the 6th century. The interior was quite empty as it had been transformed into a mosque during Ottoman rule, thus all the frescoes had been removed, however some parts of the mosaics were still visible through glass coverings in the floor. Continuing on we also entered the Church of St Nicholas, or Russian church, and then passed in front of the National Gallery and the National Archaeological Museum, hosted inside a former ottoman mosque from the 15th century, but unfortunately closed due to refurbishment works. We then reached the Rotunda of St George, Sofia's and probably Bulgaria's oldest church, dating to the 4th century with beautiful 12th and 13th century frescoes inside. From there we passed in front of the looming statue of Saint Sofia and the small yet closed church of Sveta Pekta; right next to it and below the main square was a recently (2014) opened air museum which showed the archaeological remains of the roman city of Serdica, found when digging for the new metro line. We continued on and entered the Sofia Synagogue (2lev), the largest in Southeastern Europe, built in 1909 in an interesting Moorish style. After that we went in the Central Market Hall where I bought some baklava to snack on ( a sweet pastry with nuts, honey and pistachio) which I ate while sitting on a bench in the gardens sided by the Banya Bashi Mosque on one side, and the Museum of the History of Sofia on the other. We entered the mosque, built in the 16th century which was unfortunately covered in scaffolding but still rather nice to look at, and then walked further reaching the Largo, or Sofia's main square, with all the Soviet style government buildings all around it. Not too far on we also visited the Amphitheater of Serdica, part of a roman amphitheater now inside a modern hotel, quite impressive to look at. We then ended the day's visit with the Church of St Nedelya, first built in the 10th century, the modern building dates to the late 19th century and was greatly reconstructed after an assault in 1925 when a group of communists blew it up killing 150 people, a plaque reminding the event stands next to the entrance. That night Simona brought me to her friends' house to have dinner, but the next morning I didn't feel so well from mixing wine, rakia and whisky so I had to recover by sleeping till midday. I then managed to get up but we already had lost all morning so we just had time for a few of the museum I had planned to see. We began with the Unesco World Heritage Site of the Boyana Church (5 leva), an amazing 10-11th century church with incredible frescoes dating to the 11th to the 17th centuries, though the most important ones were from 1259. They were really interesting as they dissociated themselves from the mostly robotic and 2D typical byzantine frescoes and looked more like the roman and western fluid and 3D figures. It was unfortunately forbidden to take pictures inside so I will have to rely on my memory and internet pics to recall their beauty. After that we got on the bus and went back into town, as the church sits about 8km south of the city right below Vitosha mountain. We then visited the Museum of the History of Sofia, which ,as the name suggests, presented many artifacts dating from the city's early beginnings to the 20th century. There were many roman objects such as golden cups, interesting glassware and then medieval manuscripts and paintings, 18th century clothes and even a whole chariot. We were also able to see a traditional bulgarian dance performed by children inside the museum. To end the day we attended Simona's friend's vernissage where we had a few drinks and enjoyed the sunset before then heading home to have dinner and sleep. The day after was unfortunately my last day so Simona showed me where to take the bus which then brought to the airport and back home to Italy after an amazing week in a splendid country.

The Roman Stadium of Plovdiv

Dzhumaya Msoque

Interior of the Church of Sveta Marina

Wooden bell tower of Sveta Marina

Roman Theater

View of the Roman Theater

One of the typical streets of Plovdiv

Another street in Plovdiv

Interior of the Church of St Kostantin and Elena

Typical wooden houses

Mosaic inside the Small Basilica

View of Yagodina from Orlovo Oko

Offroading

Offroading near Yagodina

Trigrad Gorge

Devil's Throat Cave

Ivan Vazov National Theater

View of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

The soviet monument

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Interior of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

The Rotunda of St George considered to be Sofia's and Bulgaria's oldest church 

View of Banya Bashi mosque and the roman ruins below

The Sofia Synagogue

View of Banya Bashi Mosque

The Largo or Sofia's main square with the government buildings all around

Boyana Church

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