Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The City of Orvieto

There was a change in plan today. There was a mix-up with our tickets for the Papal audience and our special seating tickets did not come. Instead, we recieved general seating tickets which would have put us 300 yards away from the pope probably behind tourists holding up umbrellas to shade from the sun. We all decided not to go and wait until next week for the prefered tickets. When it became clear that we were looking at a free day, I said "I'm going to Orvieto." Msgr. Anthony Sherman from the Brooklyn Diocese said, "I'll go along too."

One bit of good news about tickets however. It was confirmed that all the ICTE priests who signed up have received tickets for the Holy Week ceremonies at St. Peter's Basilica. So that's where I'll be for Holy Week.

We boarded the train in Rome at 8:22am and by 9:40am we were at the rain station in Orvieto. Rather than go into long explanations here, let's just look at pictures. Orvieto is known for its wonderful white wines. It is a hilltop town as are many of the villages throughout Italy. It has roots all the way to pre-Roman times with the Etruscans who had settled in much of Italy.


From the Piazza San Giovanni, the roof tops of the houses built along the edge of the cliffs.

View north from the fortress. The whole town is built on top of these cliffs. The round structure is the top of the well for the city. It is 68 meters down with two sets of spirals stairs - one going up, the other going down - so that people and animals carrying up the water would not get into each other's way. There are 248 steps to the water at the base of the well.

View of the country-side to the east of the hill-top.

The train station is at the bottom of the mountain. In ancient times, people had to climb up the steep terrain. In more modern times, two roads winded up the face of the steep cliffs. Today, there is a funiculare - a cable car on a track - that carries passengers up the hill. This is a typical street in the town. There are many 12th and 13th century houses still occupied.
 
Along with it's great wines, Orvieto is famous for its magnificent cathedral, or "duomo", as the Italian cathedrals are called. The marble facade with its intricate carvings, and brilliant mosaics was gleaming in the beautiful sunny day we had today.

The interior of the cathedral from the altar. Two different stones are used to create the striping effect in the columns and walls. This cathedral is very unique. Most medeival cathedrals have been renovated with renaissance or baroque style or elements. This had been done here in the 16th and 17th century. Large statues of the apostles stood at the base of the columns. Side chapels had been decorated with baroque style altars and reredos. In the late 19th century, all these rennaissance additions were stripped away to reveal again the simplicity and the purity of the medeival structure. All these additions were not discarded however. Some are among the most beautiful stome carvings ever made. All that was removed from the cathedral was been collected and put on display in the town's museum.

The frescoes depicting the life of Mary in the apse of the church.

Detail of the frescoes in the Sanctuary

The "pieta" carved by Ippolito Scalza in 1579

The frescoes by Fra Angelico in the St. Brizio chapel are among the most important in the whole world. This is his version of the last judgment.

Detail of the ceiling in the St. Brizio Chapel.

One of the most imposing organ cases I have seen so far in Italy.
 
View of the side aisle and colonade.

The Holy Water font with the carved sea creatures in the bowl. Look for the crab near the top, the frog in the bottom center, and the variety of fish.

A beautiful choir stand. In the days before printing or photocopying, music books and prayer books with texts that needed to be seen by a group of people, were hand written in huge text. They would be placed on a stand like this one and many people could read the music or the text at the same time. These lost their purpose after the invention of printing. 

Shopping for lunch. A boar's head on the wall of a meat market in the medeival center.
Meat and cheese shop at the Boar's Head.
A 12th Century guild hall now serves as a meeting a conference center.
Wide open piazzas and secluded alleys give the town its charm.
One side of the Piazza della Republica is the church of San'Andrea with its 11th century tower. The building on the right is a 12th century palazzo that now serves as a municipal center. It's facade was renovated in the renaissance style in the 16th Century but the medeival features remain inside.
The simple and pleasing interior of the the church of San'Andrea. The Romanesque style is in the nave with it's round arches. The gothic style is in the sanctuary with its pointed arches. Frescoes painted on the ceiling of the apse were supposed to continue down the nave. The work was never completed.

This is a reliquary in the church of San Domenico. It contains a chair that St Thomas Aquinas sat in when he preached here.

Orvieto is a magical place. There are several other such hilltop villages and towns in the region of Umbria which is east of Tuscany. They include Freni, Gubbio, and the most famous of all, Assisi.

There are at least 8 other churches that were open. We visited them and offered prayers there. Many were too dark for good pictures. But they remain open for people to come in to pray and to marvel at the amazing art that the faith inspired. I have seen so much religious art in museums. But to see these works of genius remain in the setting for which they were created is a real treat. In many case the setting is part of the concept that the artist is trying to convey. To see them in a museum, often against a blank wall is to rob these works of their ability to inspire and teach. This art was placed here in a time when very few people could read. These visual depictions of spiritual traditions, devotions, bible stories, lives of the saints and sacramental life of the church were the only way to teach an otherwise illiterate people. We have less appreciation of the art because we need to have a verbal description of the piece rather than just let it speak for itself. This art was the spiritual and theological vocabulary for generations of believers.

After a nice lunch, we wandered a bit more. I found an art piece to bring home - a hand colored etching of the Duomo of Orvietto. It will hang in the rectory with my other pieces after I get home.

The train ride back to Rome was interesting. As we sped by, many of the hilltops had small villages perched up there. I thought that since most of these nave no train station to bring people to them, the best way would be to rent a car and drive frome one to the next. I may consider this for one of my free weekends.

Another day. Time seems to be flying by. There are so many things I need to do and want to do in Rome. At this point, I'm not sure there enough days left to do them all.

For tonight, its enough. Off to bed.

Grazie a tutti e Ciao.