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The Top Ten Towns of Tuscany – #8 Fiesole

Fiesole Archaeological Site

The Archaeological area of Fiesole, near Florence, includes Etruscan and Roman remains.

There are three main Etruscan features still visible:

– The Etruscan Temple. It is situated on the northern side of the site and it dates back to the fourth century AD.
The Etruscan temple was built on earth foundations overlaid with stone. From its surviving outer walls, archaeologists have been able to reconstruct its original layout. It was a rectangular building with a single central cella and two side chambers separated from the cella by columns. The cella was reached by a series of steps which led down to the altar. Both the altar and position of steps were altered in the Roman period.

– The City Walls. The walls date back to the fourth century AD and were built to strengthen Fiesole’s defences against the Gallic incursions. They are 2.5 kms long and were also partially rebuilt by the Romans.

– The Etruscan Tombs. Also known as the Via Bargellino tombs, these tombs are situated outside the ancient city walls. Six tombs were discovered dating to the third century BC. Each tomb was built from large, uncemented blocks of stone. Each of them was rectangular with interior space maximised by the construction of platforms for cremated remains.
Parallel piped cremation urns with flat lids, a second century stone urn with a small illustrated box and an egg shaped urn of terracotta with a conical lid dating to the first century BC were found in the tombs. Grave goods have included terracotta unguent containers and bronze personal instruments.

The Etruscan settlement in Fiesole was conquered by the Romans in 90BC. The town was taken by Marcus Portius Cato’s troops after a lengthy siege using a nearby campsite as a base that later on became the city of Florence.
The conquest of Fiesole was destructive and many of the Etruscan buildings burnt to the ground. Archaeologists have discovered that after a period of abandonment, the Etruscan walls and one of the temples were rebuilt along Roman lines. The site was then completely occupied and became aRoman town.

Nowadays you can find both Roman Baths and a very well preserved Roman Theatre.

– The Roman Baths
The Roman baths have been diffusely restored. Little decorative material has been recovered, apart from some bronze sheets of epigrams and the marble base of a statue of Hercules recovered from the tiepidarium.
The baths were divided into an internal and external area. The interior bathhouse followed the typical Roman pattern:a caldarium with an opus signimum floor and with 3 small pools; the tepidarium, heated by one furnace; the oldest room, the frigidarium, divided into three areas, with a semi circular plunge pool to the left.

– The Roman Theatre
Built into the natural rocks of one of the town’s hills, the Roman theatre has been extensively restored and still remains one of the best preserved buildings in Fiesole. It was built shortly after the reoccupation of the site in the first century BC and was situated along the Cardo, one of the Roman town’s main streets that led to the forum.

The best seats in the house, situated near the orchestra and tribunalia arcades were reached by a series of vaulted passages that ran under the cavea or rows of seats. Several flights of stairs that ran up through the cavea could be used for seating elsewhere. Each stairway consisted of three flights of ten steps. The original rightside staircase of the theatre are still visible today.

Only the foundations of the frons scenae or stage area remained. These are sufficient to show thethree doors, actors used to access the stage. The most interesting area of the backstage is a semi circular room that would have been used to operate the mechanism that opened the theatre’s curtain.
The theatre was redecorated in the third century AD. Only a few fragments of the ornamentation of the multicoloured orchestra mosaics remains as well as marble reliefs of mythical scenes and deities, preserved in the site’s museum.

Leslie Halloran
Villa Rentals – planningatour@gmail.com

Sunset from Vorno – Villa al Boschiglia

What could be more glorious than a Tuscan sunset at the amazing Villa al Boschiglia? Not much! The colors of soft light behind the rolling hills of Tuscany reminds one of Tuscany’s bounty of wine and fruits, not to mention the feelings of romance they evoke. Tuscan sunsets never fail to amaze. That golden ball in the horizon eventually disappears through the Tuscan hills and leaves behind a sky of various shades from orange, purple, red, pink, and gold, eventually giving way to darkness and a night sky of millions of stars. One can only hope to have the privilege of staying at this amazing villa and experiencing the ever changing colors of sunsets in Tuscany. In the meantime, it is good to dream such dreams.

Certaldo Alto

Perched atop Siena’s wine region, this enchanting medieval town hosts a fall culinary festival highly recommended for foodies and others with an appreciation for Italy’s fine culinary tradition. The Italian landscape is littered with quaint villages and hillside Outposts, but this little town is a real gem. ‘Alto’ literally translates into ‘tall’ or ‘high,’ but in Italy the term has truly come to signify the unspoiled, Old World beauty of medieval towns neither ruined by war nor changed by time.

Certaldo Alto is the quintessential example of just such a pre-Roman settlement. Surrounded by stone walls, this tucked-away town of narrow roads and walking trails is perched atop a lovely hill overlooking the vineyards of Tuscany. It is charming and fascinating any time of year, but Certaldo Alto is particularly delightful in mid-October during its annual Festivale Boccaccesca. A festival designed for Italian food and wine lovers, the Boccaccesca celebrates the intoxicating tastes and smells unique to Tuscany: chocolate tartufo, decadent salumi, marmellata cipolla made from the famous Certaldo onions and, of course, chianti. Lots of chianti. Locals describe the festival as a large public dinner; visitors describe it as simply unforgettable.

Certaldo Alto is reached on foot in 10 minutes or by funicular from the station in the main piazza in 2 minutes. Built almost entirely of brick, it is well preserved despite some damage during the Second World War. All the principal buildings, as well as some attractive houses, face onto Via Boccaccio. Half-way up on the left is the Casa del Boccaccio (rebuilt in 1947) with a tower and loggia, which was bought and restored in the early 19C by Marchesa Carlotta dei Medici Lenzoni.

Facing onto the little piazza is the church of Santi Michele e Jacopo. The simple brick facade dates from the 13^th century and the interior has been restored to original Romanesque appearance. In a niche is an urn containing the body of Beata Giulia. Next to the church is a small cloister, which gives access to the Museo d’arte Sacra inaugurated in 2001. The museum has some fine and rare works which include: a monumental 13th century Crucifix; paintings by Meliore, Puccio di Simone, and Ugolino di Nerio most of them removed from churches in the countryside around Certaldo.

At the top of the street is Palazzo Pretorio, originally the castle of the Conti Alberti with its facade decorated with picturesque coats of arms in stone and glazed terracotta which record the Governors sent from Florence. Around the courtyard are the rooms where justice was administered, dungeons, and a chapel with a fresco of Doubting Thomas attributed to Benozzo Gozzoli. Several rooms have Fine doorways, fireplaces and some fresco decoration.

A terraced garden and a walkway overlooking the town walls provide a splendid view stretching from the hills of the Val d’Elsa to San Gimignano. There are many little restaurants from which to pick as you stroll up the short way to the church. This is a little town not to be missed.

Boccaccio’ s Women

One hundred paintings inspired by the Tales of Boccaccio by Jenny McIntosh, Scottish transplant to Bagni di Lucca, are on exhibit in Lucca at Corte dell’Angelo, via Roma this week beginning on November 5th (see What’s On). Her discov- ery of Boccaccio is a tale within a tale in- volving Franklin Samuel Stych, “Sam” as he is known to all. Humanist scholar and bib- liographer, Sam Stych has been researching Boccaccio for 30 years, and continued even after moving to Bagni di Lucca in 1977.

Sam’s mind is remarkably sharp despite his age. When we visited him (and Alessio his cat) a few weeks ago he directed Jenny and me to several books from his shelves: his bibliographical work on Boccaccio pub- lished by Greenwood Press, the monograph he authored for the Pinocchio Foundation entitled Pinocchio in England, and his 430-page Ph.D. dissertation for the University of Sheffield on Lucchese novelle by Nicolao Grannucci (1521-1603).

Jenny’s weekly visits to 95-year-old Sam have been an occasion to share a glass of wine while talking about literature, history and life. She learned that the Decameron, a collection of 100 novellas written be- tween 1349 and 1351 – shortly after the plague had decimated Florence and driven many people to country retreats – was sur- prisingly complex in its approach to women. As she read the tales and talked with Sam, she found herself painting her way into the psyches of women like Griselda, Alibech, Madonna Agnesa, Monna Sismonda, Belcolore, and also of the seven women narrators who spent their time swapping tales with their three male companions before returning to their tra- ditional life and roles in Florence.

The countryside, then as now, offers an es- cape from ordained behavior into a bucolic and sometimes barnyard world where codi- fied rules are loosened and natural expres- sion is enhanced. Many of the women in the tales trick and cuckold their husbands. But the Decameron ends with a twist, Boccaccio’s famous story of the “patient Griselda”, a young wife taught to “tow the line” by her older husband Gualtieri, a law- yer. Dioneo, the narrator of this tale, warns his companions, and by extension we the readers, that his tale is descriptive and by no means a prescription for good behavior. Indeed, Gualtieri is not only a misogynist, he is even sadistic in enforcing his moral les- sons of obedience and patience on his wife. Savonarola and the Inquisition, although 150 years in the future, might even come to mind! We are reminded that the young peo- ple are about to return to Florence, their idyll coming to an end.

Sam’s life offers a remote parallel to the Decameron. He and a group of friends working in Florence (headed up by Ian Greenlees, then head of the British Institute) began coming to Bagni di Lucca on weekends, enjoying conversations, wine and a retreat from urbanity. Sam still lives in Via del Bagno, next door to the house of Montaigne – whose plaque reads: “In the summer of 1581, Michel de Montaigne lived in this house for 74 days, and wrote about it in his Journal du voyage”. The Fondazione Michel de Montaigne, estab- lished in 2007, continues to promote cul- tural initiatives in Bagni di Lucca.

Boccaccio’s Decameron, presenting women as they might have lived in medi- eval Tuscany, is no manifesto. Jenny’s clear-eyed, vibrant women gazing thoughtfully from their portraits may also reflect other women known to Boccaccio. Having completed the Decameron, he went on to write De claris mulieribus (On Famous Women), about 106 women from Eve to Giovanna I Queen of Naples. If you want to understand women, these two very different books might be a good read. For those who find Italian, or especially Latin, heavy going (and don’t we all?), De claris mulieribus is now, finally, available in English from Italica Press (translation by Guido A. Guarino, 2011).

Museo Galileo in Florence

Florence’s science museum, reopened in June 2010 after renovation and renamed Museo Galileo, within six months was awarded one of three prestigious “best mu- seum” prizes by ICOM Italia, the national committee for museums. The prize, for best management was awarded due to “the high-quality
scientific staff, experienced management personnel, its historic non-profit status, and the participation of many agencies and institutions which make it an effective model of museum organization and sustainable management”.
I decided to road test the museum, and after scoping out its website, realised it would be a great place to take my kids. They have a program called “Florence for Family” each weekend until the end of June which has a series of 90 minute guided visits specifically catering for “children over the age of six”. However we didn’t take the tour option, but just vis- ited the museum.
Museo Galileo is home to the only surviving instru- ments designed and built by Galileo himself. It is also the repository for the priceless scientific collections of the two dynasties that once ruled Florence: the Medici and the House of Lorraine. On display are more than 1,000 instruments and devices of major scientific importance and exceptional beauty.
While the focus of the entire exhibition is Galileo, the lay- out of the museum on two levels divides the collection by period, with The Medici collections on the first level. These bear witness to the
scientific culture of Galileo (and his contemporaries) and the tools he designed and made, including two of his telescopes. The second level houses the instruments and ex- perimental apparatuses acquired by the Lorraines in the 18th and 19th centuries, demonstrating the powerful stimulus provided by Gali- leo’s discoveries to the develop- ment of the physical and mathemat- ical sciences in the modern age.
The museum has a brilliant interactive website in English and Italian, which is well worth view-
ing before your visit, as it describes the gallery layout and the 18 themed rooms. Also highly recommended at the museum itself is the €5 audio-visual guide which explains every item in the collection as well as its inventor/builder. The guide automatically senses which room of the museum you are in, and when you enter the exhibit number, the information is displayed on the screen. Some of the more complicated models and experimental devices have a short video explanation as well. All of the information on the guide can also be seen on the website. Unless you are a serious science expert, most of the exhibits just look like funny gadgets that probably have some obscure function. This is why the audio-visual guide is indispensible – providing information on the period of the discovery / invention as well as its creator. Even with the guide, my two youngest children (aged 6 and 9), were quickly and soundly bored after just a couple of minutes. There were several exhibits that did interest my nine year old, but there wasn’t a great deal in if for him. However my two older children (aged 12 and 14) were absolutely enthralled and loved the visit. Many of the items, once explained on the guide,
brought relevance to material they had al- ready studied at school. While my visit was shorter that I would have liked ow- ing to the need to remove my disinter- ested and distracting younger children, I thought the museum was exceptional. It successfully demonstrates how astro- nomical, scientific and mathematical concepts evolved, and the power of
man’s imagination. What is notable, apart from the creativity and evolved thinking is the extraordinary craftsmanship of
the instruments, especially given their age. The museum is sleek, stylish, and thoughtfully laid out allowing excellent viewing of
each exhibit. Not to be missed is the room sized Ptolemaic armillary from 1588 (a model of the solar system showing planet Earth as the central orb), Galileo’s original telescopes as
well as one of Galileo’s fingers. The museum is a fitting tribute to the man who was clearly one of the world’s greatest original thinkers, who challenged the ac- cepted thinking of his time, took on the Catholic Church and was excommunicated and lived out his final years under house arrest.
Museo Galileo, Piazza dei Giudici 1, 50122 Florence, tel. +39 055 265 311; web: www.museogalileo.it Opening hours: Daily: 9.30-18.00, except Tuesdays 9.30-13.00. Entrance fees Full fee € 8,00; 7-18 years old, or over 65 years old € 5,00. 0-6 years old free access. Family ticket (2 adults + max 2 children under 18) € 20,00. Also Group Rates.