Lecce – The End

Back in Orvieto, we truly enjoyed Lecce. It’s stone is a beautiful color, the town is clean, it is a nice scale. Here are some final pictures of the city.

The cathedral's break tower

The cathedral and the piazza it sits on

Over the back door of the cathedral

Back side of the Roman coliseum

The Roman amphitheater still in use

And the beautiful light on the buildings

Caffe Alvino – an old world treasure.

A buttery, warm pastry with jelly in it.

And a final shot that only begins to capture the color, the softness, the beauty, and the delightful detail of the Lecce stone.

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Baroque Revisited

Having been duly chastised by Jean about my critique of Baroque, and having been here long enough to truly BE in Lecce I revisited Santa Croce. The quantity of detail in these Baroque pieces and the sheer number of them is overwhelming. But if you narrow your field of view and begin to take it in it can be quite stunning.

So, I stand a fan. Lecce’s stone is soft and thus accommodated well all the Baroque. One of its biggest exports is stone because it is so carvable. One problem is that stone exposed to the elements does deteriorate.

One last view of Lecce to come and then back home to Orvieto!!

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Fortunate, To Visit and To Be

We took a day trip to Gallipoli today, a fortress town on the Ionian Sea. As we boarded the train in Lecce, the originating town, and at the first two stops in Lecce numerous Africans boarded carrying large bags or packs. At the ensuing 8 or so stops along the way to Gallipoli, several would get off the train. Clearly, they were getting off at the various towns to sell their wares.

On the way to the train station we walked by the Italian immigration office where dozens of Africans and Middle Easterners were lined up and gathered. Here we saw first hand what we have read about in the U.S. of the thousands of immigrants fleeing desperate situations at home.

It reminds me once again of the value of travel. It helps us see how incredibly fortunate we are amongst all the people on this planet. It also let me see how the Africans on the train were a community, greeting each other and talking the entire time they were on the train. Too, they were not unhappy as best I could tell.

Countryside is full of stones, stone walls and olive trees

The second revelation of the day is what the difference is to visit a place and to BE in a place. I am not a good tourist. I don’t like going to visit a place, to see the sights and sites. It is too fast, too shallow, even when seeing incredible things. I want to BE there, to know a place, to feel it, to experience it, to live it. And I just can’t do that in a day. It is why our Adventure in Italy trips consist of staying in Orvieto for a week. People traveling with us are there fully, and for me it makes all the difference in the world.

Though a tourist destination Gallipoli is very much a working town, a fishing town.

And it has the feel of the Mediterranean coast town it is.

The Duomo is Baroque on the outside but dominated by paintings inside. It had lots of layers and contrasts to attract my eye.

Happy to be back in Lecce which, having been here for four days now, we are getting to know!!

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The Color of Lecce

The color of the stone and buildings here is beautiful. We’re both having trouble describing it. Kristi is calling it vanilla. For me it is more of a golden light honey. And I am having a hard time capturing it with my camera. For whatever reason the pictures don’t convey the softness of the color, even those taken in evening light. Oh well. This is the best I can do.

The one above shows a storefront and the terrace of the apartment above we are staying in. Such a great space and location.

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More Baroque

This is Santa Croce, another Baroque marvel.

This is one of fourteen, count them – fourteen! There are two or three that are quite simple, but this is the norm.

The ceiling is quite something.

Mama Mia! This is the piece de resistance in this church.
Across the street from the backside of Santa Croce is a lovely park called Villa Communale.

It is full of statutes of famous Leccese and Italians. Don’t know who the guy below is, but he caught my attention.

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Beautiful Lecce Apartment

I’ve got more Baroque googaa to show but wanted to plug this beautiful apartment we are staying in. Immaculately clean, nicely appointed, wonderful patio, great location, very reasonably priced. 1.5 baths, bedroom, loft bed, couch bed.
http://www.vrbo.com/1670149ha?

Great kitchen with two sets of dishes, trays for taking your food to the patio, excellent stove, dishwasher.

Lecce has many interiors with this kind of ceiling. Some are exposed stone, which is a beautiful color.

Kristi in the doorway of the patio at night.

The street lamp below the balcony at the end of the patio with the wonderful little crown.

As I write crickets are chirping and town is starting to come awake here on the patio. Sweet!!

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Lecce Baroque

I’m not a fan of Baroque. In fact, the first time I looked at visiting Lecce I said no because of the Baroqueness of it. I’m still not a fan, but the sheer excess and gaudiness is something to behold. These pictures are from Sant’Irene church, Irene being the patron saint of Lecce until 1656.

This picture gives you an idea of the scale of the church. There are eight of these monstrous altars, all with the incredible over the top goo gaa. The astounding thing is that we have seen at least a dozen churches of equal scale and equally decked out. That said, there are some interesting (at least for me) photos to be had with all the layers.

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Matera

So how do we leave Matera? Can I convey the impact this place had on me, at least? It is very difficult. I think if you went quickly through this city, you would be amazed. But it is in the occupying of the place for a period of time that it works its way into you. Walking around with all the stone from which there is no relief, walking a normal alley only to have stone rise up out of it to heights of 15 feet or more above you, knowing there is some kind of habitation in that stone, you feel like, indeed you are, crawling in and out of the stone as if you were hiking the Grand Canyon. Yet intertwined amongst all this stone is a human habitation, some of it crude, some refined.

You sense, you feel the harshness of life for so many centuries in this place. The ever present stone hardness, without relief, makes you hard. You steel yourself to what life imposes, clamp your jaw and soldier on.

And yet, there is something about the indefatigable human spirit that emerges from it all, filling you with awe and inspiration. In spite of all the hardness, There is an admirable, human quality that brings a softness to the spirit. Too, there is an incredible ingenuity evident in how life was pulled from this stone. We talk with Vincenzo, our B&B owner, and the love and passion for Matera oozes from him. He’s proud to have a daughter he will raise here. He is eloquent in describing the life and character and wonder of the place. It is an inspired story.

I can’t say more for I can’t quite capture it. All I can suggest is that you visit, and for more than just a day. And that in your visit you just wander, slowly. Feel Matera. Let it work on you. Take your time. Enjoy it! A last few pictures.

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The “New” Matera

The sassi are what give Matera its one-in-the-world character. They are clearly the heart of this city, the soul-touching, psyche-jarring aspect that affected me so deeply. But it does have a city that emerged on top of the caves, one that, for a time turned its back to the sassi. It is a pleasant city with some fine 14th century churches and some beautiful public spaces.

Their main piazza – Vittorio Veneto – is a lively place, full of people during the passeggiata and other times of the day.

Piazza Vittorio Veneto

The 13th century San Domenico Church is at one side of the piazza

Piazza Pascoli Ridola is a very comfortable space. It was cold when we were there, but this is the piazza that would have had us sitting outside.

Leading into Piazza Pascoli Ridola

Another nice piazza Sedile with the Palazzo Sedile at one end and the church of San Francesco d’Assisi on one side.

Piazza Sedile

Then there are the churches. The church of San Pietro Caveoso has a beautiful painted ceiling.

San Pietro Caveloso

The painted wooden ceiling

Another view

The duomo has been closed for years for restoration. In fact Carla, Vincenzo’s wife, has never seen inside despite her living here for 7 years. Still, it dominates the city.

The Duomo from Piazza Vittorio Veneto

A closer view

Our favorite church was San Giovanni Battista built around 1280. On one side it has some “dog tooth” detail reminding us a bit of a Norman church in Oxford, England.

San Giovanni Battista

The front door

The simple, beautiful interior

Matera is a beautiful city above the sassi. The sassi sitting below it add such an intrigue and diverse dimension to the city. One last shot of San Pietro Caveoso sitting on the edge. The stone jutting up above it houses two churches inside the stone caves, complete with frescoes. Where else in the world can you experience such contrasts?

Madonna de Idris and San Giovanni in Monte Errone churches are in the stone mount above Caveoso

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A Matera Cave Dwelling

Casa Grotta di vico Solitario provides a glimpse of what it was like to inhabit one of the caves. This is unquestionably a sanitized version. As you look at the images imagine what the smells must have been like and how dark it would have been with only one door and perhaps one or two small openings to provide natural light.

Like the trullo house in Alberobello, this sasso had one main room in the center.

The main room

This gives a sense of the height of the cave. Bed on the right and alcove beyond the dresser at back.

Off it were several smaller alcove like spaces. This particular cave was indicative of life in the 1950s. It had a kitchen. In it was a stove with 3 fireboxes heating

The kitchen had a small window at top. Stove was vented outside.

several cook top surfaces. They exposed some of the channels leading to the

Exposed channel that would carry water to the cistern.

cistern. The small hole giving access to the cistern was there, where they would

The hole into the cistern, which is lit up from below.

drop a bucket to get water. There was one large bed in the main room, raised off the ground and the cold. The tops of large storage  trunks served as sleeping surfaces for the children.

The loom, just to the right of the cistern opening.

There was a small table in the large room. This is where the dinner would be placed. Inhabitants would serve themselves, standing to eat. A large loom took up considerable space. And, as with the trullo, the expensive and prized mule was kept inside the sasso. Now, can we imagine this space lit by the door and 2 small windows and a few candles? Would it have been whitewashed? I don’t know.

I thought the floor was beautiful.

This was the condition into the 1950s. 15000 people occupied what realistically could support half that number. Today the sassi are being transformed into beautiful spaces. But it is good to have a reminder of what it once was like.

Entry door to Casa Grotta di vico Solitario

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