DISCOVERING CITTA DELLA PIEVE & MONTEPULCIANO

It was Sunday morning, the day before we were due to return to the UK, the weather was once again glorious and Lake Trasimeno sparkled in the sharp early morning sunlight. How lucky we were to have chosen these few days - evidently this sort of weather in January was unusual by any standards. It was good to have the opportunity to get to know the local area a bit better and to take a rest from property viewings or even talking about them. We thought we'd start off by driving back to Citta della Pieve and stop off for a coffee there before deciding where to go. 

After breakfast we drove back to Citta along the ridge road with views of the Lake on one side and the Chiana valley on the other. Even at this time of year it was easy to see what a lovely area we had arrived in. Though grape vines were bare and stick like, the oranges on the trees in house gardens looked ripe and ready to eat. Occasionally we'd see individuals or couples tending to their olive trees, pruning tools to hand. Soon we were ascending the hill which would lead up to Citta della Pieve again. From the ground its impossible to see the overall shape of the town, but an aerial view like the one seen in the photograph below, reveals it to be bird like in appearance, complete with head, wings and tail. One legend I'd read about Citta suggests the town was, using the landscape contours, configured in this way to represent an eagle, allying itself during the medieval period with the forces of the Holy Roman Emperor rather than those of the Pope. It's an appealing story. 

Aerial View of Citta della Pieve

In Citta itself we parked the car in one of the municipal car parks outside the town walls and strolled towards the centre where we soon ended up in the main square. It was mid morning by now and quite busy - though the cathedral church, the duomo, was boarded up and a sign indicated the interior was under renovation. Across the square the worn but imposing stonework and classical architectural features of the Palazzo Corgna drew us nearer so we could take a closer look and a peek through the lower floor windows revealed pastel looking frescoed ceilings; we made a note to come back for a further investigation on another occasion. Strolling back across the square an interesting plaque high up on a wall above a shop revealed the birthplace of Renaissance master painter Pietro Vannucci - Perugino - the artist who was not only famous in his own right but also tutor to Raphael. 

A walk down the cobbled and charming main street brought us to another square with more large and imposing characteristically red brick municipal buildings, including a grand looking market hall with large metal double doors and then a new looking branch of the local Umbrian bank which we would later visit to open a bank account. Across the street an attractive looking cafe/ bar with seats outside drew us closer. This was the Cafe degli Artisti - a place we would also come to know well during later visits. This morning it was the perfect place to stop for a coffee and watch the world go by. Though the interior was attractive and welcoming we chose to sit outside and enjoy the warm sunshine; already people were coming out of the little church opposite where mass was just finishing and visitors to the town were ambling up and down. Seated at one of the tables a perusal of the map we'd brought with us made us aware we were not that far from the renowned Tuscan hill town of Montepulciano, so we decided we'd head there for a late lunch and an afternoon walk. 

Interior of the Cafe degli Artisti - Citta della Pieve

It took about three quarters of an hour to make the short journey down the hill again and cross the Chiana valley to head north west to Montepulciano. This delightful medieval walled town, known the world over for its fine Tuscan wines, occupies a strategic position high up on a ridge  separating the now familiar Val de Chiana from another valley - the Val d'Orcia. The area was once occupied by both the Etruscans and the Romans, but it was during the medieval period that the town's importance as a settlement, surrounded as it was by rich, fertile and productive land, made it a target for both Siennese and Florentine domination. An alliance forged with Florence in 1390 led to a sustained period of economic, political and cultural stability which was to last 200 years and it became known locally as the "Pearl of the 16th century". 

Montepulciano

An interesting legend tells a tale which links Montepulciano with Citta della Pieve. The story goes that following the collapse of the Roman Empire and the continual invasion of the Chiana valley by barbarian forces from the north, the local communities sought refuge in the hills surrounding the lower ground. The social elites - the patricians - are said to have moved to the mount that took the name of Mons Politicus which later became Mons Politianus and later still Montepulciano. The lower social classes (plebeians) according to the legend, moved to the other side of the valley establishing the settlement of Civitas Plebis - which later became Citta della Pieve.

We arrived at the main entrance to the old part of town, the Porta al Prato, a huge arched structure built by Sangallo the Elder in the 16th century. Though cars were making their way through the arch we decided to park our car in the bays outside the gate and later I was thankful we did as the narrow main street would have made for some difficult manoeuvring for Jon. The low wall near where we put the car provided some splendid views over the valley below. 

Inside the gate we could see ahead of us the main street, the Via di Gracciano del Corso which we had noticed from the town map wound up in circular fashion to the main square at the top. Here at the bottom was an unusual columned stone structure bearing carved Griffins and Florentine 'marzocco' - symbolic of Montepulciano's long association after the treaty of 1390 with the city of Florence. As is the case with many town monuments, these are copies of the originals which are now in the town museum. Montepulciano is a major tourist destination so here there are also many small artisan shops selling locally produced foods and of course wines as well as others with the usual selection of tourist tat. Most of them are open, even at this time of year. 

Pozzo dei Griffi e dei Leoni
The Griffins represent Montepulciano - the lions the city of Florence

We set off up the atmospheric main street noting several imposing stone palazzi - evidence of Montepulciano's aristocratic families who'd played a significant part in the city's history over the centuries. In the Piazza Michelozzo, a little bit further up, we stopped to have a look at the Rennaissance facade of Sant' Agostino - shame we couldn't get inside at this time of day. On the nearby crenellated tower stood a figure I'd read about and made from carved wood in the 1520's and covered in sheet metal. Every hour and half hour it strikes the adjoining bell. It's affectionately known as Pulcinella because of its resemblance to the Commedia dell Arte character from Naples. 

Renaissance facade of Sant Agostino - Piazza Michelozzo

Torre dell 'Orologico - 'Pulcinella'

 It was about now that I noticed that the main street was now starting to rise sharply and I knew at this point that we probably wouldn't make it to the top. Though my health is good these days I still need to pace myself and this street was much steeper than those we'd encountered in Citta. I made a pact with myself that one day I would walk it to the top. We carried on and I was taken by the views up and down narrow alleys to our right and left. On one side - dark narrow stone staircases led upwards, steeply to streets at higher level and on the other stone stairways leading downwards with glimpses of the bright light and landscape of the sunny Chiana valley visible. I thought of how hard life must have been in past times for the elderly and frail. You would have had to have a good pair of lungs to do this on an everyday basis. 

A little further on, on the left hand side, we came to an impressive shop frontage the Caffe Poliziano - it looked interesting and we decided this was an ideal place to stop for refreshment. It turned out this cafe was famous and dated back to 1868. Over the decades it had played host to many famous celebrities and even now there were posters advertising up coming 'artistic' events of one sort and another. It had an interesting late 19th century ambience about it, no doubt set off by the dark wood fittings and the organic looking mouldings. Our guide book described it as a 'Liberty' cafe and I knew this to be the Italian term for the progressive style of late 19th century France - Art Nouveau. In Italy they chose to name this progressive taste after the progressive London department store. There was a a large glass covered counter near the entrance area full of produce and in one case cafe pastries which all looked delicious and beyond seating areas which ended with glass windows which looked out over the valley. We ordered paninis and coffee and managed to get a table where we could take in the wonderful view.

Caffe Poliziano (1868)

The delightful and atmospheric interior of Caffe Poliziano restored in 1992

It was only at this point we decided to have another chat about what we might do about properties. The first question to answer was would it be France or Italy for our new holiday home? This one was easy and we didn't need to each twirl cards with France on one side and Italy on the othe to see if we had made the same decision - as they do on the TV programme about emigrating to Australia. We both agreed that Italy had won hands down. After going through the list of properties we'd looked at and thought about we thought there were three possibilities, the village house, the house with studio apartments and the professor's apartment - the latter two both in Citta della Pieve, the little hill town we had fallen in love with. After spending an hour or so going backwards and forwards and with more cups of coffee, we decided we must not be precipitate and plunge in head first the following morning. In true English fashion - we thought we should go home and reflect and make sure it was right for us to go ahead with the big decision to buy a property in this part of Italy. That was the decision - little did I know at this point that we would be back within a couple of weeks to take things further.

UMBRIA BOUND PART 3 - THE PROFESSOR'S APARTMENT

Lunch over it was time to carry on with our afternoon viewings. The two properties we were to see were in parts of the old town of Citta della Pieve either side of the Via Vannucci. 

Restaurant Silvana where we had our lunch in Citta della Pieve

The first property proved to quite interesting and it had only just come on the market. Laura had literally just received the keys for it that day. It was just a short walk from Krister's office and the main entrance was on a small lane just off a routeway from the Via Vanucci which led through a tunnel and enclosed staircase to the road just the other side of the city walls. It was a period building divided into three separate studios each with an access from a common, generous staircase and each with separate kitchenette and shower room. The studio on the top floor was let out to a local man for 300 euros a month. The other two were quite spacious and had interesting barrel vaulted ceilings in the main room. The principal feature of the lower flats was that each had the use of a large tiled terrace approached through french windows from the lower studio or from a doorway on the way up to the middle one. It would have been possible to make it into one huge outside terrace. The terrace was in fact sitting on top of the old city walls but the downside was that the main road was just below so it was a tad noisy. Also the overall view, though pleasant and overlooking the back of the Vannucci hotel, wasn't long distance. The aspect to the sun wasn't ideal either and I suspected it might have been a bit dull when the sun was low in the sky during the winter months. At 185,000 euros though, with a bit of general refurbishment, the overall impression was one of potential and the property seemed another good contender. It also had the benefit of an income to be had from the letting out of the top flat as Krister had indicated the tenant wanted to stay if at all possible. 

The property with studio apartments - Citta dell Pieve

Ground floor studio 

Studio aparment terrace and view to the Vannucci hotel

The short journey to the second property revealed more of the nature of this charming little town. We walked back across the Via Vannucci and entered a narrow walkway which led, via a gentle slope, to another narrower street lined with brick built terraced properties with little in the way of architectural detail or ornamentation. There were charming and  interesting vistas up and down the street, in one direction an arcaded tunnel which we had to walk through to get to the building where the apartment was situated. 

One of many narrow streets in Citta della Pieve

We arrived in front of a pair of stained and varnished wooden entrance doors which Krister unlocked. Inside was a dark hallway containing a marble staircase with a modern looking painted iron balustrade and wooden hand rail. There proved to be three apartments in the block, one below the entrance level, one up the first flight of stairs and the one we were going to see on the floor above. After a few moments during which our eyes accustomed to the gloom we set off up the stairs to the top floor. Whilst Krister went in to the apartment to open up the shutters we stood on the outside landing and I nudged Jon and said - "What on earth have we come to see here?" and he grinned and replied "I wouldn't hold your breath about this one." Neither of us had viewed it on the internet so the whole thing was going to be a complete surprise. 

The Approach to the Professor's Apartment

Front door to the Professor's Apartment

  On entering the apartment we were immediately stuck by its light atmosphere and its spaciousness. There were six rooms altogether including a modern refurbished kitchen and a bathroom and all the main rooms faced away from the street side and looked out across the magnificent Chiana valley. One of the smaller rooms, presently being used as a little snug, had a pair of French windows and Krister had opened these to reveal a small balcony big enough to walk out on to and accommodate a small table and chairs. The views from this side were truly amazing, acccentuated by the fact that on this side of the building we were not on the second floor but in actual fact the fourth floor. Below the two apartments below this one there was a ground level which accommodated a large garage at street level and it belonged to this flat!

Though the flat itself was a little dated (I didn't particularly care for the 70's black and white floor tiles) it really was in good condition and we both couldn't take our eyes off the marvellous views from the tall windows. It was starting to cross my mind that we could be looking at this view on a daily basis should we buy this splendid flat. 

Professor's Apartment - the top floor of this block

The Chiana Valley - view from the Professor's apartment windows

Archway below the Professor's apartment which leads to lower street level

It turned out that the apartment had belonged to an English Professor of Medieval History who had taught at one of New York's leading universities. He'd owned it for about ten years and passed away in 2012. The flat was being sold by his beneficiaries. Much of the Professor's furniture was still there and the bookcases contained many interesting volumes on medieval and Renaissance history and art. The property was still the subject of complex Italian inheritance proceedings which he explained was one of the reasons a previously negotiated sale had not proceeded to completion. In Italy, as I understand it, if a person chooses to leave an estate to others than the immediate next of kin, it can take months for all the proceedings to be settled and involve notaries from different citys. This was the case with the Professor's flat and another visit to Citta by his sister in law was imminent to deal with the final stages. 

We left the flat at this point to view the property from the outside at lower street level and to have a look at the garage. Outside the exterior door it involved a short walk down through the arcaded tunnel and a left turn down a slope to the level where we could inspect the garge which proved to be huge. 

It had been a long day and we had much to think about so we left Krister to return to our car and make the trip back to the hotel in Castiglione del Lago - we spent the rest of the evening enjoying a pizza in a restaurant in the old town and going over what we had seen. What to do now??

P.S. I forgot to mention the asking price for the Professor's apartment. When it first went on the market the asking price was 185,000 euros but after 12 months and a buyer pulling out because of the legal perambulations Krister told us the beneficiaries would accept a figure of 160.000 euros for the apartment and garage. Interestingly he also told us that the garage could be separated from the apartment and sold off for somewhere in the order of 25,000 euros. 

UPDATE - A recently broadcast BBC2 programme themed "Escape to the Continent" with an episode which featured the Lake Trasimeno area suggested (figures related to autumn 2013) that properties in Umbria were generally selling for approximately 13% less than the asking price. They also indicated that any prospective purchaser should set aside between 7 and 10 % of the achieved property price for taxes, legal fees etc. 

UMBRIA BOUND - PART 2

After a good night's sleep we woke to a gloriously sunny Saturday morning with bright blue skies. Before breakfast the decision was made to have a quick stroll over the road to the shores of the lake to get our bearings and see a bit more of the area we had spent the night in. With a surface area of over 120 square kilometres Lake Trasimeno comes in fourth in terms of size after the great northern mountain lakes of Garda, Maggiore and Como. It's a relatively shallow lake, the water rarely exceeding 6 metres in depth. Lying in a gentle basin its entirely fed by run-off from the gentle hills surrounding it and has no natural drainage outlet. When rain is scarce it can evidently become swampy round the edges. With little in the way of heavy industry round in close proximity and only a relatively small population living round it - the waters are clean and a haven for wildlife and we look forward to returning one day to see the abundance of migratory and non-migratory bird life that inhabits the groves of reeds found round the edges of the lake. 

The geography of Lake Trasimeno

This morning the lake was almost mirror like in appearance and the cold night air lying above its surface had begun to turn to steam creating a shimmering almost ethereal atmosphere. I recollect the legend of Lake Trasimeno I'd read about at home which tells the story that the lake was named after an Etruscan Prince - Trasimeno who drowned in the waters of the lake looking for Agilla, a water nymph and the love of his life. The legend continues to recall how Agilla's lament, as she seeks her lost prince, can still sometimes be heard from the shores of the lake - we don't hear her this morning but its not difficult to imagine hearing her call.  

Over to our left, on a highish promontory which juts out in to the lake (originally, in pre historic times this higher ground was reputedly a separate island) we caught a glimpse of the wonderfully silhouetted outline of the medieval Fortezza of Rocca del Leone, built on the instructions of Emperor Frederick II in the middle of the 13th century. Definitely a place to explore on another occasion. 

Fortezza of Rocca del Leone
Castiglione del Lago - Lake Trasimeno

The hotel and the shoreline on which we were standing was situated in the modern, low lying part of Castiglione and I now know that the contrast between an area developed in the 20th century in close juxtaposition to a 'centro historico' is usually the case, even in well known towns like Cortona and Montepulciano. Before coming to this part of Italy it's interesting how we all tend to build up a perception of what an area will be like based on what we have read, been told or seen in books and on television. The cleverly selected image that appears on many Umbrian and Tuscan tourist leaflets usually shows a gentle rolling hill with a group of ancient looking stone buildings with red pan-tiled roofs on top - the track up to it marked by pointed dark green cypress trees contrasting with the golden and pale green patchwork landscape. This kind of image is powerful to the imagination, as is reading a book like Frances Mayes's 'Under the Tuscan Sun', which neatly avoids mentioning that in most Tuscan towns there will be modern supermarkets, mobile phone shops and petrol stations. I am reminded of this now as I turn my back to the lake to walk back to the hotel taking a route across the car park of the local Coop foodstore. Am I disappointed about this? - I don't think so - in many ways its a reality check making me realize that Umbria is not trapped in some sort of time warp and that treasures have to be looked for as well as imagined. 

Back in the hotel we ate our simple, continental breakfast and studied the map of the area we'd bought to help us to navigate our way to the village of Gioella where we were due to meet the estate agent at 11 O'clock. Karen, our contact in Cambridge, had told us her Italian counterpart was Swedish, in his 50's and that he spoke good English. We set off in good time and drove along the main road out of Castiglione del Lago which turned out to be the route to the railway station as well and the rather dull apartment blocks we passed through didn't make the heart soar! Not a great start! After we'd driven under the railway bridge however the landscape began to change and we began to ascend through low rolling hills covered in a patchwork of cultivated fields, silvery olive groves the whole area dotted with clumps of dark green cypress trees. Better! Turning off the main road at Pozzuolo we headed west along a gentle ridge punctuated now and then with small, attractive villages. We could see for miles on either side - vistas of Lake Trasimeno over to the left and over to our right glimpses of another stretch of blue water - Lake Chiusi. The rolling Umbrian countryside was charming and mellow and certainly now living up to expectations and it wasn't long before we were passing brown signs for wineries and agriturismo holiday accommodations. Soon we reached the small and charming village of Gioella. After parking our vehicle in the car park opposite the church we ambled across to the only bar. Inside a small group of elderly men were animatedly engaged in weekend talk and they gave us only a cursory glance when we went in. An order for two cappuccinos was duly taken by the pleasant lady in charge and we sat on bar stools to await our man from Stockholm. After about ten minutes in walked our agent dressed informally in black chinos and bomber jacket; he quickly and pleasantly introduced himself as Krister from Citta della Pieve - an Umbrian town we had never even heard of. Soon we were chatting over another coffee and he began to tell us a little about the area we were going to visit and our route for the day. 

I'm not a great fan of estate agents - many of the one's I've come across in Britain I've tended to group in the same category I'd place city bankers in, but first impressions of Krister were positive. It turned out he'd given up his own business in Stockholm as a theatre light designer in favour of making a new life in Italy; after a year in France he'd arrived in Umbria and he was now in business as an estate agent with his Italian girlfriend and business partner Laura. We found him, informative, pleasant and helpful without being overbearing and good company too, so it was a delight to set off and start viewing some potential holiday homes. 

We were starting with a visit to one of the properties I'd liked most on the internet searches I'd done back home. It was situated in a small rural 'borgo' (hamlet) off the Castiglione to Montepulciano road so we ended up retracing the route we'd started on earlier in the morning in Krister's car. The property was in the little hamlet of Nardelli set well back from the main road near Pozzuolo. It had about 15 houses in it, all of which looked neat, well-presented and mostly occupied too. They were largely clustered in a central location at the bottom of narrow unmade road and there was a circular access track round the entirety which in turn was surrounded by garden plots of various sizes. Krister hadn't seen this property before so it was new to him. The asking price was in the region of 95.000 euros and negotiable.

The little house at Nardelli

The two bedroomed house turned out to be a little cracker and in excellent condition - it had been fully restored with good quality workmanship and fittings in 1998 and well looked after from then until now. Under a pan tiled roof the exterior was rendered and painted cream and it came with an external staircase to the first floor, shuttered windows and a balcony outside French windows from a bedroom on the second level. Inside, on the main floor, there was an open plan living room with fireplace and kitchen area and upstairs two double bedrooms and a good shower room. Across the access track was a single garage and behind that a patio complete with pergola and alongside a small hedged garden - perfect for outside eating and sunbathing. Beyond an olive grove occupied the gently shelved ground which led down to the valley below. I could see this charming little house would be high up on our short, short list. I loved it and Jon liked it too. Did we need to see anything else?

Open plan living in the Nardelli house

View of the Olive Grove from the Nardelli cottage garden.
 

We looked at a couple of other properties after that one, but none matched up to the one I've just described - apart from a renovation project undertaken by a local builder - one who'd worked for our agent Krister. The property was situated down on the flat land near Lake Trasimeno. We met the builder and his family when we arrived at the house and it turned out he'd converted the propety in to two side by side apartments. He and his family were occupying the one nearest the access road. The quality of workmanship outside and in was excellent and the accommodation attractive and practical. Outside there was a large garden plot with room for a pool. On the face of it both apartments seemed reasonable at a little over 100.000 euros but some un-renovated outbuildings nearby made it difficult to appreciate how it would all look when the site was completed and it put us off. 

Builder's Renovation project near Castiglione del Lago

By this time it was time to think about lunch and Krister wanted to try a restaurant in the little hilltop town of Panicale, but when we got there it was closed so he suggested moving on to his home town of Citta della Pieve, where he knew another good restaurant and where he thought we might like to look at a couple of properties he had for sale there. The proposal sounded a good idea. 

I don't quite know what I was expecting to see when we arrived in Citta della Pieve, but I was taken aback when we arrived there to say the least. Krister had told us it was a delightful hill top town of about 7000 people and that the 'centro historico' had been carefully preserved and renovated in recent times. He'd chosen to move there himself after occupying a small house near Gioella for a year or so and had been drawn there by its sense of community and overall vibrancy. He'd told us it was becoming popular with Romans seeking a reasonably priced weekend retreat. 

After a long hill climb from the valley bottom near Chiusi, we suddenly arrived at the town and entered the historic core through a gateway in what was an obviously a several hundred year old town wall. Already I could see the town was mainly built of bricks, distinctively coloured a darkish red, this a contrast to what we'd seen in the other towns we'd seen so far. The long cobbled street in front of us, the Via Vanucci, was fascinating with red bricked terraced properties on either side of the narrow one way street - some of them grand and palazzo like, others like narrow fronted row houses. At some points the buildings appeared arcade like where the indiviudal arches had been filled in and glazed to make little shops and offices. The overall effect was very attractive and charming. 

Via Vanucci - Citta della Pieve

Our agent's office was in one of these units and after we'd parked the car we visited it. It consisted of a single long narrow room with a lovely vaulted and simply frescoed ceiling. It was at this point that we met Krister's tall, dark and attractive girlfriend and business parter Laura. After the introductions and some pleasant chat we went off to a nearby trattoria for lunch. I'll tell you about this wonderful restaurant in another posting. The meal was a pleasant and leisurely affair and during it Krister explained the stages involved in buying a house in Italy and some of the pitfalls too. An hour and a half or so later it was time to go and look at some more properties. He thought we would like the town apartment we were going to see next and that viewing will be the subject of my next posting. Ciao. 

THIS POSTING IS PART OF AN ON-GOING NARRATIVE SO PLEASE DO CONSIDER READING IT FROM THE BEGINNING WITH ITEM 1. MANY THANKS - IAN

UMBRIA BOUND - PART 1

In January 2013, when we arrived back from our Christmas holiday in Florence, Jon and I soon started to get restless as the first couple of weeks of the year dragged on. I'm not a Winter person and hate the cold weather and particularly the short days. Here in Rutland it gets dark at 3.30pm at that time of year. We started to talk about spending some of the money we'd realised from the sale of our holiday cottage in Norfolk the previous year on a holiday home abroad. This would not be the first time we'd owned a property in Europe as we'd had a small villa on the coast of Mediterranean Spain between 2003 and 2007 and enjoyed that very much; we were lucky to sell it just before the property crash in Spain.

France and Italy were obvious choices so we both started trawling the internet to see what might be possible. I'd had a couple of summer holidays in the Dordogne region of southern France some years before and loved it, so we looked there and found the prices quite reasonable. Tuscany was another good choice and we looked there as well, but that seemed a bit less promising and more expensive.To cut a long story short we contacted a couple of agents in the Dordogne and one advertising Italian property and booked two sets of Ryanair flights for the latter part of January - a return trip to Bergerac in the Dordogne and a return trip to Perugia in Umbria.

 The first trip took us from Stansted to Bergerac and we'd booked a hire car and a cheap hotel in the little Dordogne market town of Riberac - close to the pretty area I'd stayed in back in the early 90's.We spent  two days with two different French agents and looked at ten modestly priced properties of different sorts - some in villages, some with land, some requiring a lot of work and even one or two which were immediately habitable. Though the weather was wintery the area proved to be just as I'd remembered it - rolling hills, lots of trees and patches of woodland and scattered with pretty little villages. The weather was kind too - after an initial snow storm the heavens cleared and it was beautiful clear blue skies giving the landscape a wonderful crispness that made everything stand out and seem finely detailed. The first couple of properties we looked at proved disappointing and for various reasons we dismissed them straight away. However, at the end of the first day we both liked a small farmhouse with a barn and a couple of acres of land which seemed reasonably priced for the modicum of work it required to make it habitable. It was on the edge of a small pretty village called St Severin which had a couple of restaurants and a hotel and was well connected with the local small market town of Verteillac. The following day was similar to the first - our search yielding just one property which we liked, but it needed quite a lot of work to complete the project that already been undertaken and then abandoned. It was a village house and it appeared a considerable amount of money had been spent on it - all the receipts and bills for the work undertaken were left in a plastic file on a table. It seemed odd that the British people whose project it was had abandoned it and I couldn't help thinking there was a sad story here - it put us off considering the house as our possible holiday home.

By the time we got back to Bergerac airport we thought we'd made up our mind about what we wanted to do - we were going to put in an offer on the farmhouse.

The small farmhouse and land we nearly bought in the Dordogne, France

On arrival back in the UK we took a couple of days to seriously mull over our probable decision, crunch some figures and came to the conclusion there was no point going to Italy so we were on the point of cancelling the flights to Perugia when an email came through from the Cambridge based Tuscany internet agent telling us she'd managed to fix up viewings for a selection of properties we'd asked to see in the vicinity of Lake Trasimeno on the border between Tuscany and Umbria; she'd booked these for the following Saturday arranging for us to meet with a representative of a local estate agency. Knowing the market was quiet in France and recognizing that on the face of it, it would do no harm to have another weekend away from wintery Britain, at the last minute, we decided to make the trip. It turned out to a fateful decision!

I had never been to Perugia before and its little airport turned out to be a gem - largely because it has only been modified to take civil aircraft  (evidently it was a military airfield) in recent times. It has a small modern terminal and the walk from disembarking the plane to customs and luggage retrieval takes only a few minutes. We picked up our hire car and set out for the hotel we'd booked on the western side of Lake Trasimeno. Two things immediately struck me as significant as we joined the dual carriageway to head west.

Firstly, on a Friday afternoon, it seemed as if the entire city was disgorging its population by car to the countryside. The two lanes were packed with vehicles heading west and most of them at considerable speed. Jon did a sterling job handling our hire car and adapted well to driving on the right hand side of the road. I considered the fact that drivers in all European countries seem to want to drive like maniacs these days, but the Italians seem to take the concept of grand prix machismo to a whole new level. This was a matter I would comment on several times during our stay. Secondly, I was appalled at the condition of the roads. Our carriageways are bad enough in Britain, but here in Italy they are almost universally covered in "bucas" (pot holes) of varying diameters. This proved to be the case all the way to our destination - Castiglione del Lago - and the final stretch seemed to have more holes in it than an Italian chef's parmesan grater. I wondered if this was due to the dire state of Italy's economy with the government thus cutting back on any spending on the road infrastructure? Was it even sensible to be contemplating the purchase of a house in this troubled land? - I was beginning to think we were just a couple of crazy property junkies and that this time we'd lost it for good.

After the white knuckle ride on the dual carriageway things improved a bit after we'd left the Perugia suburbs and found our way on to the road which skirts the northern shores of Italy's fourth largest lake. It was exciting to get a first glimpses of this huge expanse of water and as the light began to fade the lake, with some its islands visible, looked very attractive as we sped along its northern shores. Over to the right we could also catch a view of the Tuscan medieval hill top town of Cortona. I began to feel we really had arrived in Italy.

Lake Trasimeno at dusk

A few more kilometres down the road we arrived in the lakeside town of Castiglione del Lago and by now it was dark so we couldn't see much of our surroundings. Our hotel was on the main road out of town and faced the lake. It was typically 1970's and built to accommodate summer tourists to the area, so if I tell you it was all plate glass windows, polished composite marble floors and teak doors I think you may have a feel for the atmosphere of the place. The welcome was warm however and using our ever so basic Italian we managed to make ourselves understood. Dinner in the straightforward hotel dining room, with only a few other guests, was an interesting experience with no menu and a help yourself antipasto salad followed by a spaghetti pasta with a ragu sauce. During the eating of this stage of the meal I was fascinated to watch a larger than life middle aged lady come in to the room and roll up her sleeves so she could start and then stoke up the open wood burning fire on which the main course meat would be grilled. We were a bit outfaced by the quantities of good food being served up for us and were relieved when it was time to retire and get a good night's sleep. We had a lot to look forward to the following day!

A MAGI CHAPEL AT THE PALAZZO MEDICI - RICCARDI, FLORENCE

I’m sitting here at my desk in Rutland looking out of the window at a dull grey overcast day pondering how to best organize the material for my Italian blog. As an undergraduate geographer back in the early 70’s I came to love pattern, order and logical thinking and this desire for everything to be clear and connected has stayed with me ever since. I knew instinctively that I would have to be able to see a comfortable pattern in how it would unfold and hang together. Having made many visits to Florence in recent times I’m also now keen to incorporate postings on this special Italian city, but I also want to avoid merely telling its history and giving brief descriptions of the main sites – there are plenty of good guide books and ‘apps’ that do that. Consequently I’ve decided to include material on Florence when and where I get a thought or an idea which relates to something I’ve already been writing about and so this is my first diversion to this wonderful city.

In my last posting I focused on Christmas nativities and introduced the fact that many Renaissance painters set stories from the bible in contemporary landscapes. In Florence, there are many examples of works of art which show this trait and it just so happens that one of my favourites incorporates this compositional device and the subject is also the journey of the three wise men to Bethlehem. I’m thus going there now – a much better idea than contemplating the winter weather outside. What I’m going to describe, if you're not already familiar with it, is a truly captivating series of fresco paintings commissioned and completed in the middle of the 15^th century and which have survived through to the present day in good condition. If I hadn’t seen them already, I’d definitely have them on my bucket list and then put them in my top ten favourite works of art list.

PALAZZO MEDICI-RICCARDI

Just north of the Duomo on the Via Cavour, where it meets the street which leads to Piazza San Lorenzo, stands the majestic and rather severe Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, a huge and magnificent stone 15^th century three storey ediface built on the instructions of Cosimo il Vecchio to designs by the architect Michelozzo after his return from exile in Venice. The palazzo was to become the home of all of the heads of the powerful, rich Medici banking family up to the Grand Duke of Tuscany - Cosimo I. The building became a major place of reception and entertainment for their important dignitary guests and was designed, decorated and furnished accordingly. Today the Palazzo houses the offices of the Provincia and the Prefecture, but important parts of it are open to the public - Jon and I actually visited it on Christmas Day 2012. In the 17^th century it passed into the hands of the Riccardi family who carried out many alterations and redecorations, but the magnificent Michelozzo ground floor arcaded courtyard from the Medici period survives and so does a room on the piano nobile (first floor) and it’s this interior that draws thousands of visitors to the palazzo every year and the one I'm going to recall visiting now.

COURTYARD - PALAZZO MEDICI-RICCARDI

Climbing the wide stone staircase which led up to the first floor the thought went through my mind that I was about to see something I’d seen many times before, but only in art history text books. It’s difficult to pick up a book about Renaissance painting in Florence without seeing illustrations of this series of frescoes. The setting was smaller than I’d expected, the chapel being an oblong shaped room with a coffered ceiling, a lovely inlaid marble floor and wooden stalls by Giuiliano Sangallo. It’s the fresco wall paintings, however, which take the breath away.

GOZZOLI FRESCO CYCLE - CAPELLA DEI MAGI
PALAZZO MEDICI-RICCARDI

Three walls of the chapel are covered with sumptuous, gloriously colourful and splendid fresco paintings by Renaissance master Benozzo Gozzoli who started them in 1459 and completed them two years later in 1461. The frescoes were commissioned by Pier il Gottoso (Piero the Gouty) Medici who appears in the fresco on the east wall in the bottom left hand corner as the figure wearing a red cap, black brocaded doublet and riding on a white horse.

Set in a Tuscan landscape a procession of the the Magi and their attendants can be seen on the three walls making their way to Bethlehem. Caspar, the youngest Magus, mounted on a white horse leads the procession on the east wall, the bearded Balthasar, also on a white horse, can be seen on the south wall and the oldest magus Melchoir dominates the procession on the west wall. Each is accompanied by an elaborate entourage of mounted and walking followers.

As I recall this visit I’m amused by the fact that as an aide memoire I bought a large piece of Florentine gift wrap from the palazzo shop which depicts the east wall fresco panel from the cycle; I’ve blue tacked it to the wall in front of my desk so I can absorb again some of the detail. 

JON HOLDS UP MY FLORENTINE GIFT WRAP ILLUSTRATING
ONE PANEL FROM THE CAPELLA DEI MAGI

Focussing on this east wall the procession of Caspar can be seen making its way in zig zag fashion through a rocky landscape which is full of detail; on hills in the background there are Tuscan towns and castles, patches of woodland, fruited trees and such lovely details such as the mid ground mounted hunter complete with greyhound chasing a stag. The principal figures in the foreground are all sumptuously clothed in Florentine brocaded fabrics and the apparel worn by the horses stands out in its fabulous detail.

CASPAR'S PROCESSION - EAST WALL
CAPELLA DEI MAGI - PALAZZO MEDICE-RICCARDI 

Magus Caspar it has been sugguested, is an idealised version of a young Lorenzo Medici, (later he would become known as Lorenzo the Magnificent) but it would seem that he appears twice in the fresco; he was only ten at the time the frescoes were painted and he is shown a second time in a much more realistic way as a snub nosed boy in the line of men just behind the row of horses heads in the bottom left hand corner of the panel. What is clear is that most of the figures present in the foreground are known individuals. I’ve already mentioned Piero the Gouty, commissioner of the frescoes and head of the family, on the white horse behind Caspar. Behind him, on a donkey is Cosimo Medici, founder of the Medici family dynasty. The two mounted figures on the left are the then Lords of Rimini and Milan who were visitors to the Palazzo Medici. Behind them a mixture of important Florentines including humanist intellectuals, artists and craftsmen and fascinatingly the artist himself, who must have loved taking the opportunity to immortalize himself in a major commission undertaken for such a significant patron. About half way up the left hand side a man stands in the crowd looking out at us wearing a red cap bearing the words ‘OPUS BENOTI’ – this is Benozzo Gozzoli. Though the artist gives us no real sense of perspective and real depth in the fresco – the whole thing looks somewhat artificial – this never seems to matter. Almost certainly Gozzoli has drawn his inspiration from colourful and beautifully woven northern European tapestries which are known to have been bought and collected by the commissioner of the works. In this sense there is still a distinctly gothic feel to the frescoes, though the concentration on the natural characteristics of the individuals and the horses is ‘of the moment’ and all look very 'real' – its fascinating to observe the detail of the musculature in the horses limbs for example and details such as the wrinkles seen in the hose of some of the standing men – marvellous!

THE ARTIST BENOZZO GOZZOLI  IN THE EAST WALL PROCESSION
CAPELLA DEI MAGI - PALAZZO MEDICI RICCARDI

This cycle is not of course just about the telling of a biblical story and as with many Renaissance works of art, the frescoes work on a number of levels beyond the purely religious context. The procession depicts the important people involved in the Council of Florence of 1438/9, led by members of the influential Medici family, who set out to reconcile differences between the Catholic and Byzantine churches. The patriarch of Constantinople, head of the Byzantine church, is probably represented in the figure of the oldest magus Melchoir seen on the west wall.  

MAGUS CASPAR - LORENZO IL MAGNIFICO
CAPELLA DEI MAGI - PALAZZO MEDICI-RICCARDI

This spectacular series then, the most important of Gozzoli's career, is all about the aggrandisement and importance of the rising Medici family. These were works meant to send out clear messages to important visitors, for the frescoes are a perfect status symbol in a small room which it seems likely must have acted as an intimate reception space as well as a chapel.

If you haven’t seen these wonderful frescoes and you are making a visit to Florence put this destination on your list for they are not to be missed and try and go when its quiet if you can. Attendants do put a limit on the number of people allowed in to the room at any one time, but groups often get priority and there is huge pressure to move on. I’ve seen people using an app and ear phones as a guide when in the room so you may want to try this modern mode of communication too. I think it’s best to do the homework before you go and just soak in the atmosphere of this wonderful place and be amazed.  

BENOZZO GOZZOLI (c1421-97)

Renaissance master painter originally trained as a goldsmith and who worked mainly in Florence. In his early years he worked with Ghiberti on the Florentine baptistery doors, but he moved on to become a painter, working as an assistant to Fra Angelico in Orvieto and Rome. The fresco cycle in the Capella dei Michelozzo was his most important commission. 

FRESCO

Is a method of wall painting in which pure powdered pigments mixed in an aqueous medium are applied to wet plaster freshly laid on the wall (the word 'fresco' in Italian means 'fresh'). The paint fuses with the plaster and becomes an integral part of the wall surface; this is known as 'buon fresco' or 'true fresco' to distinguish it from painting on dry plaster which is called 'fresco secco' or 'secco'. Buon fresco is stable in dry climates, but damp causes havoc with it. The technique is ancient and was used by the Greeks and has been found in India and China. 

Hello - this blog has over 94 posts to date on all sorts of topics to do with Italian art, design, architecture and other related subjects. Please consider looking at some my other posts and sharing the blog with your friends - thank you so much - Ian

UMBRIA - BETHLEHEM NATIVITIES - ITALIAN STYLE

The Christmas season is over and everyone is no doubt looking towards Spring, but I’ve chosen to recount the following because the memories are fresh in my mind from our stay in Italy over the Christmas and New Year period and I think there’s a good story to be told.

Despite the fact that Italy has begun to become more obviously secular in character in recent decades, certain religious Christian traditions and values continue to appear to figure strongly in the hearts and minds of Italians of all ages. This is reflected in the almost ubiquitous and popular Christmas nativity scenes seen in many Italian towns – in churches, town centres, shops and home windows. Seeing a selection of them over the last few weeks prompted me to recall the one I used to visit every year outside Skipton Town Hall in Yorkshire back in the 50’s and 60’s, though I don’t know whether they still have it there at Christmas now. In New York, at the Metropolitan Museum, the Neapolitan Baroque Christmas crib scene, every year displayed in front of a huge Christmas tree in the main foyer, provides pleasure for thousands of visitors. I discovered that Naples in fact has a significant and special place in the history of Italian presepe building. There, in the 18th century, the presepe became a vehicle for presenting carved wooden and moulded terra cotta figures made by sculptors in dramatic ensemble, each representing a character from Napoli street life and who had little to do with the Christmas story.These were not made for church presepe but the homes of wealthy patrons. There is still a street in Naples today which has a many small craft based shops selling artisan nativity figures.

NEAPOLITAN BAROQUE NATIVITY
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
NEW YORK CITY

In Italy, the PRESEPE or Christmas crib, thrives and I saw dozens of them during our three week stay, ranging from simple small scale models of the Bethlehem stable at one end of the spectrum to something altogether more spectacular at the at the opposite end of the scale. Though not specific to Italy, versions of presepe can be found at Christmas all over the Christian world; legend has it that the tradition was first established by St Francis of Assisi who created a nativity tableau at Christmas using live models in Grecio in 1223 after a visit to the Holy Land to see the birthplace of Jesus.

I first became aware of how absorbing these presepe could be when we visited Rome for the weekend just before Christmas 2013. In the afternoon of the first day I’d decided to make a visit to the church of Santa Maria del Popolo to see a famous pair of Caravaggio paintings in one of the church’s chapels. On entering the building through the front door, I was immediately taken with a large and incredibly detailed model nativity displayed in a side chapel just to the left, which attempted not only to reconstruct the usual scene of the stable with Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus being visited by the shepherds, but the entire town of Bethlehem complete with street scenes, streams with flowing water and a mill with turning sails. Small model figures represented the usual characters and many more an entire community as well. A visit to the annual Christmas market in the Piazza Navone that evening confirmed that presepe building was a major preoccupation for many Italians. There were dozens of stalls selling everything needed for a perfect Bethlehem stable crib scene. Many of the alluring stalls were brightly lit and it was also possible to shop supermarket style by picking up a small basket in which to place all the selected items. I was intrigued by a mother and daughter admiring in the palm of a hand a selection of tiny mice they’d chosen, all a fraction of the size of a finger nail, to use in their crib scene at home. Though some stalls had Italian artisan made figures of quality, no matter that most of the items for sale were possibly made from moulded plastic and probably imported from China – everything looked colourful and attractive and the crowds loved it.

CHRISTMAS MARKET STALL - PIAZZA NAVONE - ROME

Back home in Citta della Pieve we’d seen an advertisement for the town’s PRESEPE MONUMENTALE which was to be opened to the public every day between Christmas Day and January 6^th and decided a visit to see it was a must. Well – as far as crib scenes go – this one was the best yet, huge in scale and requiring a modest entrance charge to see it. Every year since 1967 this little Umbrian town has mounted this amazing exhibit in the undercroft of the historic Palazzo Corgna, making use of the cave-like atmosphere to create a splendid rendering of the Christmas story, all set against the background of the medieval town of Citta itself. Following a route past various tableaux, beginning with the Annuciation and at one stage involving a complete miniature reconstruction of the historic ‘centro historico’ of Citta della Pieve, the climax was the large room containing the huge model of the Citta based Bethlehem hillside, the stable scene set under a deep blue sky crafted from dark blue silk fabric illuminated with tiny star-like lights.

PRESEPE MONUMENTALE - CITTA DELLA PIEVE

CHRISTMAS CRIB - PRESEPE MONUMENTALE
CITTA DELLA PIEVE

The idea of localising the Christmas story within an Italian countryside setting is not of course unique to Citta della Pieve and Renaissance painters were known for often setting episodes from the Christmas story in a local landscape. One of the best examples of this practice can be found here in Citta and I couldn’t resist including the large and impressive frescoed 'Adoration of the Magi' painted by Pietro Vanucci in 1504 which can be viewed at any time of year in the oratory of Santa Maria dei Bianchi, right in the centre of town. Vanucci, better known as Perugino, was born in Citta della Pieve and I’ll be telling you a lot more about him in a later posting. In this late work he places the stable setting firmly in the local Umbrian landscape and Lake Trasimeno can clearly be seen in the background. Without a doubt this would have helped make the Christmas story feel familiar and real to all those who viewed it. To me it seems there’s a direct bridge between this local town treasure dating from the early 16^th century and the delightful model crib scene set in the countryside outside Citta in the cellar of the Palazzo Corgna. Whilst a comparison is unfair and the former was without doubt a huge status symbol for the commissioners of the work, it struck me that the idea of communicating the essence of the Christmas story in an arresting, direct and pleasing to look at visual way is as alive and important now as it was then. There was something just a little bit reassuring about this thought in an age where modern technology seems to be changing the world on a daily basis. We were captivated by the entire installation and thought we’d reached the zenith of Umbrian presepe discoveries, but this was to prove not to be the case.

PERUGINO - ADORATION OF THE MAGI - 1504
ORATORY OF SANTA MARIA DEI BIANCHI
CITTA DELLA PIEVE

A few miles up the road from Citta, in the larger town of Castiglione del Lago, the older part of the town can be found on a promontory that juts out into Lake Trasimeno – Italy’s fourth largest lake. The headland is occupied by a hugely impressive medieval stone fortress complete with intact walls and crenelated towers.

MEDIEVAL FORTRESS
CASTIGLIONE DEL LAGO

One sunny afternoon during the Christmas period we decided to visit it thinking we’d be able to enjoy the fine views over the lake. Within the walls of the castle, however, we were to discover yet another civically organised presepe - one which was the most eccentric of those viewed to date. After descending a stone staircase from one of the towers we walked into the large, grassy enclosed central part of the castle and suddenly found ourselves surrounded by life size mannequins in historical costume, with their backs to us and all appearing to be looking towards an outbuilding on the far side of the courtyard some distance away. We were of course amongst the scene from the Christmas story where the local shepherds and their flocks visit the manger to see the new born baby Jesus. Further investigation revealed an enclosure containing life size model sheep and then there was the delightful stable scene itself. Of all the nativity scenes we’d visited, this was the one that had a slightly eerie feel to it, but on reflection it revealed yet another dimension to the energies and creativity used to produce something distinctive and different from the usual crib scenes. They certainly succeeded in doing that!

A SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP LOOK TOWARDS THE BETHLEHEM STABLE
FORTRESS - CASTIGLIONE DEL LAGO

MY PARTNER JON WITH A COUPLE OF RATHER STIFF LOOKING SHEPHERDS
FORTRESS, CASTIGLIONE DEL LAGO

BETHLEHEM STABLE -
FORTRESS, CASTIGLIONE DEL LAGO

I finish this posting with a brief description of our Epiphany 6^th January visit to the medieval hilltop village of Monteleone d’Orvieto about five miles south of Citta della Pieve to see a special presepe which we’d heard about from friends Michael and Francesca, the kindly couple who keep an eye on our apartment when we are in the UK. This small village, founded in the 11^th century as an Orvieto outpost, was built on top of a long hillside spur overlooking the Chiana valley and many of the centuries old brick built buildings found along the three parallel streets which run along the spur still survive and have been beautifully restored. It’s a wonderfully atmospheric place and perfect for the staging of a “living” presepe which the village has held every year since the beginning of the 1980’s. 

THE UMBRIAN HILL TOP TOWN OF MONTELEONE d'ORVIETO

At  five o’clock we paid our modest three euro entrance fee and set off down the first of the three aforementioned streets along with a crowd of locals and people from further afield. We’d hardly got fifty yards before a hand bell started ringing behind us and looking back we saw a man dressed in white cotton robes limping along with a stick and ringing his bell to announce he was ‘unclean’! This was just the beginning of what was to prove a surreal experience. As we progressed further along the street we soon encountered the smells and sights of a working blacksmith’s workshop complete with burning furnace and a man forging a piece of iron on a huge anvil. This led on to pottery workshops, barrel coopering, grain threshing and weaving workshops  and even lamp making – all artisan activities employing fully costumed villagers.

BLACKSMITH'S WORKSHOP
LIVE NATIVITY - MONTELEONE d'ORVIETO

                                                                

A COUPLE OF RATHER CAMP LOOKING ROMAN SOLDIERS
LIVE NATIVITY - MONTELEONE d'ORVIETO

 Braziers and torches burned and the smell of spices filled the air as the twilight came down on the village and soon we were in the main square to be confronted by a pair of Roman soldiers escorting a noisy prisoner to a makeshift gaol. A walk back up the central street led us past more workshops until we reached another square set up with stalls with costumed sellers loudly plying their wares – “Bruschetta” a young voice kept calling out. Enticed by the delicous aroma we purchased pieces of unleavened bread sweetened with sugar and happily munched our way through them as we watched these costumed figures enthusiastically sell their goods.

SHEEP AT THE BETHLEHEM STABLE
LIVE NATIVITY - MONTELEONE d'ORVIETO

 At seven o’clock we set off through the huge medieval gateway to view the manger scene and I must admit to finding it an intriguing experience to discover a seated handsome young village couple either side of an empty crib, Mary holding a swaddled young baby in white linen  (nobody seemed to mind it had a modern comforter in its mouth) – all framed against a straw strewn stable containing a real donkey and outside some hay munching sheep. Not long afterwards the sound of the clopping of hooves came from the arch announcing the arrival of the three kings, each walking next to a large chestnut horse and bearing a traditional caskets containing either gold, frankincense or myrhh.

JOSEPH, MARY & BABY JESUS
LIVE NATIVITY - MONTELEONE d'ORVIETO

As we celebrated epiphany with the local community we did feel moved by what was taking place and this also seemed to be true for the rest of the respectful crowd. Fleetingly the thought came that this could never take place in Britain where health and safety regulations would have killed it off before it even got past the planning stage and not to mention the further notion that we couldn’t imagine most British young people donning these outfits and enthusiastically adopting the roles being played out here. It was a pleasure to see what seemed to be the entire village community and all its generations, young, adult and elderly taking part in this annual event - one which was not being put on for non-Italian tourists - for we seemed to be the only foreigners there. Yes, it’s all completely bogus, yes it was amusing to see one or two artisans answering their mobile phones or the odd shepherd sending a text, but none of this detracted from what was essentially a great community event - one rooted in tradition and still proclaiming a two thousand year old Christian message. We went home feeling we’d experienced something unique!

THE ARRIVAL OF THE THREE KINGS ON HORSEBACK
LIVE NATIVITY - MONTELEONE d'ORVIETO

The Presepe Monumentale at the Palazza Corgna in Citte della Pieve takes place every Christmas from December 25^th to January 6^th.

The Monteleone d’Orvieto ‘live’ nativity takes place every year in the late evening of the 24^th December and again at 5pm on December 26^th and the following January 6^th. 

THIS POSTING IS PART OF AN ON-GOING NARRATIVE SO PLEASE DO CONSIDER STARTING IT FROM THE BEGINNING WITH ITEM 1. THANKS - IAN