Art, Marble and Tourism - Newsletter 05 03 2008

8/4/2019 Art, Marble and Tourism - Newsletter 05 03 2008

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Go to page 5

My wife and I first used the

apartments in Palazzo Ferretti

in October 2001. I really dontknow how we came to book itup the first time I think

wed been on our first Italian

holiday the year before on an

organised tour of Tuscany,

Umbria and Venezia and liked

what we saw in Lucca.

We fell on our feet when we

booked that holiday inPietrasanta the restaurants,

cafes, bustling streets, artists

studios and works of art that

festooned the town were just

what we loved. We like art butonly in small doses and in

Pietrasanta we could choose to

see as much or as little as we

liked. I think the main piazza

was littered with Botterosculptures that year as well ashis warrior on the main

approach to the town. The

studios especially the

sculptors are amazing, such

fantastic works of art litteringvast studios. The history weve

only scratched the surface of

and maybe on another visit

well get into that. I think thetour operators and organisers

sometimes think that the

(Go to page 5)

Travel diary

Not only art, by David Walker

Giosu Carducci was born at

Pietrasanta - in the town district

of Valdicastello - on 27th July

1835 and he died at Bologna on16 February 1907. Today,

tourists can visit his museum

house at Valdicastello. He was a

teacher. He was one of the mostimportant Italian poet, and

regarded as the unofficial

national poet of modern Italy .

In 1906 he became the first

Italian to win the Nobel Prize in

Literature. The other Italian

Nobel Prizes in Literatures havebeen Grazia Deledda (1926),

Luigi Pirandello (1951)

Salvatore

Quasimodo(1959), Eugenio

Montale(1975).He

received his

Ph.D. in 1856from the Scuola

Normale Superiore di Pisa and

began teaching school. The

following year, he published

his first collection of poems,

Rime.

In 1859, he married Elvira

Menicucci, and they had four

children. He briefly taught

Greek at a high school inPistoia, and then was

appointed Italian professor at

the university in Bologna. He

was a popular lecturer and a

fierce critic of literature and

society. His political viewswere consistently opposed to

the secular power of the

Catholic Church. Althoughhis reputation rests primarily

on his poetry, he also

produced a large body of

prose works. Carducci was

also an excellent translator

and translated some of

Goethe and the Greek poem

Iliad into Italian.

You can visit (free entrance)

the Carducci house at viaComunale Valdicastello,

Valdicastello, phone 0584-

795500, open on Tuesday 9-12, on Saturday and Sunday

15-18.

Whatso

natPietras

anta

anditssurroundings

W

W

W

.PIETRASANTARESORT.COM

Pietrasanta newsletter

Easter holiday issue

We found that the town was an

ideal place from which to explore

northern Tuscany and northwards

up to the Cinque Terre and even

Genova.

History and storiesIn the last issue we talked about Eugenio Barsanti. Today, we talk about another big name of the past ofPietrasanta: the poet Gious Carducci

Inside this issue: page

Travel diary1

History and stories 1

One artist at a glance 2

Do you know Pietrasanta ? And win! 2

Whats on: agenda of the season 3

Weather forecast: look at the past 3

One monument, one site, one town 4

Cooking at Pietrasanta 4

Italian language for smart tourist 6

Hic Manebimus Optime7

Less money, more holidays 10

Whats on: agenda of the year 11

Who are we ? 12


2/12

Do you know where this

wall paint is located ?

The first who emails us

the right address will gain

one T-shirt (specify your

size) or a magnetic calen-

dar by Hic manebimus

optime.

PIETR ASANTA NEWSLETTER

There are a lot of artists at Pietrasanta.

Today we talk about Mira Yifat, a nice

woman from Israel.

Mira was born at Haifa, and she got a

BA in Archeology in 1975 and in 1985she graduated in Fashion Design.

After a work experience at internationallevel, she discovered Sculpture at local

sculptures' workshop (under Harry

Baron, teacher in Israel).

She s t a r t ed to a t t end

international workshop and to

organize exhibitions.

She worked at Marble Carving

Studio ( Pietrasanta, 2005),Israeli sculptures' workshop(2003-2004), New York Art

Student league - under Mr. Seiji

Saito (2002-2003), Art

Institute of Boston (2000-

2001), Provincetown School of

Art, at Cape Code (2000).

On the other hand, she exhibited her works at

HTMS, Tel Aviv university, Ramat Aviv, 2006

; Gallery on the lake, Ra'anana, 2004; ASL

Gallery, New York, 2003; Eshkol Pais Gallery,Ramat Gan, 2002; AIB Gallery, Boston, 2001;

PSA Gallery, Cape Code, 2000.

Today, she is a full-time sculpture that spends

at least one month a year in Pietrasanta, where

she can work very hard from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

with just a small lunch on the

wonderful Dome Square in

downtown. In Pietrasanta, shemade nice marble sculptures,

such as Feather (look at

www.Mira-Yifat.com) that

she carved last summer.

In 2005, she created Pietra

Santa, a small 45x24x25 operathat has been dedicated to our

town.

She loves the Collodi

apartment, at Palazzo Ferretti,

because of its sunny

atmosphere and its small

terrace, where she relaxes at

breakfast.

Please, do not book it in

May!

Pagina 2

One artist at a glance: Mira Yifat

Do you know Pietrasanta ? (.and win !)

Send us your pictures abou t Pietrasanta, and well publish them !

Last December, David

Walker was the first

who emails us the

right answer. He wan

a wonderful T-Shirt.

Please, David, send

us a picture of you

dressing the new T-

Shirt !!

Pietrasanta 2007 by Mira Yifat


3/12

Weather forecast ? Look at the past !

15.7 degree C. Last year, we had 7 days

of rain, with a total of 45 mm of

precipitations. In comparison withLondon and New York, Pietrasanta is

In order to

forecast theweather of theEaster period,

we can

consider the

averagecharacteristics

of the last

years.

In general,

Easter

holidays are a

nice period in Pietrasanta. Springtime is

beginning and March is a sunny month,

even if it is fresh. At Pietrasanta, theaverage temperature is between 8 and

always warmer. In

London, we have amean temperaturethat goes from 3.8

to 10.3 degree C,

and in New York

the minimumtemperature is only

1.1 on average, and

the maximum is

8.9. In New York

and London thereare more rainy days

than in Pietrasanta, 9 and 13 days,

respectively.


What s on at Springtime:

2 March: antique-brocante open

market, Dome square, Pietrasanta

9 March: artisan open market, Dome

square, Pietrasanta

Every Thursday: open market at

Pietrasanta

Exibitions:

19 Jan-30 Mar: Photos by Erwin

Olaf at Palazzo Mediceo, -

Seravezza. Ph: 0584-756100, 0584-

757443; email:[email protected]

9 feb 9 mar: Lucilla Gattini, paints,

Ch ios t ro d i San t Agos t ino ,

Pietrasanta

9 feb 9 mar: Women at work,

sculture, Chiostro di SantAgostino,

P ie t rasanta Ph:0584-795500,

w w w . m u s e o d e i b o z z e t t i . i t .

March: Alvaro Torti: Alberi, India

Ink paints about trees of the

Migliarino-S.Rossore-Massaciuccoli

Park, at Saletta Neri, via Tonfano,

Marina di Pietrasanta, phone 380-

3941442, [email protected]

March-May: Enrico Baj: Apocalisse,

paints on wood, Chiostro of S.

Agostino, phone 0584-795500.

March-May: Shofik, sculptures and

paints, Church of S. Agostino.

19 Mar: St.Josephs fair: sundry

goods, farm tools, horse races

P h : 0 5 8 4 - 7 5 6 1 0 0 ; e m a i l :[email protected]

April and May: Marina in fiore:

flowers, plants and gardening

exhibition

Ph:0584-795292; 0584-23037

19-20 Apr: Enolia: lectures on

properties, use and comparative

tasting of high quality virgin olive

oil. Sale of typical local foods,Seravezza, Palazzo Mediceo,

Ph:0584-756100; email:

[email protected]

5-19 Apr: European Film Festival:

film reviews, debates and seminars,

ph: 06-58333145;0584-966334;

www.europacinema.it

e-mail: [email protected]

1-2-3-4 May: Demetra: strawberries,

flowers and typical food, Villa le

Pianore, Capezzano Pianore,

Ph:0584-986204

1-2-3-4 May: 42 Palio Madonna

del lago: Massaciuccoli Lake boat

race, Ph: 0584-979296First Sunday of May: Palio dei

Micci: Donkey race and parade in

traditional costumes, and art

exhibition at Palazzo Mediceo,

Seravezza , Ph:0584-756100,

[email protected]

Pagina 3

Whats on: agenda of the season

Weather I nformation History: March

Mean Temperature CMean Total

Precipitation

(mm)

Mean Number of

Precipitation

Days

Daily Daily

Minimum Maximum

Pietrasanta 8 15.7 45 7

New York 1.1 8.9 91.2 9

London 3.8 10.3 48 13.4

source: http://www.worldweather.org and www.lamma.it


4/12

Camaiore hasRomanorigins:CampusMaior


heaven ly - sw ee t des se r t w ine ,

Sciacchetra, as well as limoncello

liquor. Corniglia offers birds-eye vistas

from its perch on the rocky cliffs high

above the Ligurian Sea. Manarola ishome to the beautiful baroque church of

San Lorenzo. Riomaggiore, with its

buildings seeming to tumble off the

cliffs above, is the most authentic,

"real" Italian village.

How to go there

These cities are connected by train, by

boat and by road.

I discourage you from taking the car,as it is very difficult (and expensive)to find a parking lot and the small

roads on the mountains are quite

dangerous.

By boat is the

best way to go

there and it is

t h e m o s texpensive too.

You can check

r a t e s a n d

timetable at

www.navigazionegolfodeipoeti.it. If

you reach the Cinque Terre by sea on

5 Terre (or Cinque Terre) is a series of five

villages that are connected by train or

hiking trail. 5 Terre are located in the

Riviera di Levante, the Liguria region,

on the border with Tuscany. The smallvillages (from West to Est) are

Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia,

Manarola, Riomaggiore (see the map).

Why to go there

The Cinque Terre are

a National Park,

where it is possible tohike from village to

village through lush

green areas with wild

b l u e b e r r i e s a n dapricots growing

trailside. A prestigious

acknowledgement hasrecently been made

also by UNESCO,

which has defined this

t e r r i t o r y a sHumanity's World

Heritage.

On July and Augustthere are flocks of

Europeans crowding

into the narrow streetsand pebbly beaches ofthe 5 villages. In any

case, it is worth to

spend a lazy day napping on the beach,

splashing in the clear turquoise water, or

wandering the cramped alleyways.Monterosso is home to the famed,

three whites of the egg (which you need

to whip up into a cream beforehand).

Butter the baking dish and sprinkle withbreadcrumbs. Make a caramel base for

the baking dish, add the rice and put in

the oven.

The oven must be preheated at 200

degrees. Then cook for a further 40

minutes.

For the savory version, or what is

locally known in Versilia as 'putta',substitute the sugar with salt, naturally

not 150 gr., but to taste. Leave the rice

Ingredients for the traditional 'Easter

Rice cake': 200 gr. of rice, 1 liter of

milk, 3 eggs, 3 egg reds, 150 gr. of

sugar, 100 gr. of chopped almonds,

lemon peel.

Cook the rice in the milk with sugar,

chopped almonds, lemon peel and a

pinch of salt.

After cooking the rice for 10 minutesturn off the gas, leaving the rice half

cooked and leave to cool. Once the riceis cold, add the six egg reds and the

to cook in the salted milk. Leave tocool. Add the eggs as for the sweat rice

cake, add an abundance of grated

seasoned pecorino cheese and pepper to

taste. Then bake in the oven for 40

minutes. The baking dish has not the

caramel but butter and breadcrumb.

Buon appetito! from Assunta

Cooking classes for foreign gourmets

www.tuscanyinstyle.com

Pagina 4

One monument, one site, one townA day trip from Pietrasanta to 5 Terre

Cooking at Pietrasanta: Traditional Easter Rice Cake


5/12

churches and the history and art are all

English tourists go to Italy for but

theyre wrong. There are lots of people

like us who just love strolling round themediaeval towns and spending time

with a glass of wine and maybe a snack

at a caf in the piazza just enjoying the

atmosphere and the company of their

partner.

We found that the town was an ideal

place from which to explore northern

Tuscany and northwards up to the

Cinque Terre and even Genova. Wehired a car on that occasion and a couple

more since but last year we used the

trains and buses and were pleasantly

surprised at the reliability and cheapnessof them. From Pietrasanta we went into

the Cinque Terre and the Garfagnana by

train as well as visiting more local

places like Pisa, Lucca and Viareggio.

When we had a hire car wed got as far

(from page 1)

away as Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra

and even Grossetto on a day out but

some of those would be difficult to get

to using the train.

On all our trips to Pietrasanta we liked to

get back to the town by early evening andenjoy the quietness of the walled garden

before going out for our evening

meal. The standard of food in allthe restaurants that we tried in

the town was so high from the

trattorias with limited menus

scribbled on blackboards to the

more upmarket a la carterestaurants. I think it was in Da

Sci that I asked for the bill in my

best Italian and in return received

the torn off corner of a used

place mat with 20 euros scribbled

on it but the food wasdelicious. Our visits have always

been outside the summer season

and not all the restaurants were

always open but there were

enough to allow us to use a

different one every night of our stay there.

Page 5

Continued from p.1 Travel Diary


Wonderful capper plant in the courtyard

Two of us: Mrs. and Mr. Walker (U.K.)


6/12

AT THE PIETRASANTA TRAIN

STATION

First of all, you have to understand theItalian attidute towards train service: we

know exactly when the train start, butwe do not know when they arrive at

destination.

When they arrive on time, Italians think

about an exceptional case; when they

arrive in delay, its normal.

Secondly, even if the train ticket is very

cheap, Italians think that it is very

expensive, and that Government should

enforce the train service company to

reduce prices.

Thirdly, Italians love cars, every kind ofcars and mainly Ferrari or convertible

cars.

Of course, Im not such an Italian, and I

think the opposite: when I can, I use

trains because I can read, I can work, I

can watch beautiful panoramas.

From Pietrasanta it is very easy to take a

train for visiting Florence, Pisa,Viareggio and so on, but you have to

make attention at some important rules.First golden rule: in Florence, Milan,

Rome, Naples the train station are full

of police and full of pickwallers

borsaioli

Pay attention to the seconds, by putting

your money and credit cards into an

underwear pocket.

Another important rule is about the

scheduled platform: it is not sure thatyour train is going to arrive at the

platform written on the yellow sheet

timetable. CONTROLLAREVery often, there is a speaker that

announces you have to change the

platform. Of course, he speaks only in

English, but you can understand it if youlook at the other travelers: follow the

gregge and you will get the new

platform.

IDIOMS AT THE TRAIN

STATION:

- Obliterare il biglietto: it means

that you have to check-in the ticket

before taking the train.

- Treno locale: it means that the

train stops at every station.

- Prendere il treno al volo: You

catch the train at the very last second

- Perdere il treno per un pelo:

You do not get on the train because of

one second of delay (see: "snatch

victory from the jaws of defeat)

TEST IT !!

This is a small test for your Italian (send

us your answer, and well correct them).

This time you can check your Italian by

reading the same receipt in two different

languages. Here there is the same dish

you read about in the cooking section.

In order to check your Italian you canprepare it twice: the first time, you

follow the Italian receipt; the second

time you follow the English one. If the

results are the same, your Italian is OK !

Ingredienti:

200 g. di riso, 1litro di latte, 3 uova

intere, 3 tuorli duovo, 150 g di

zucchero, 1etto di mandorle tritate

"Cuocere il riso nel latte con lo

zucchero e le mandorle tritate, e unodore di scorza di limone, e una presa di

sale. Spegnere il fuoco dopo 10 minutiin modo che il riso sia a met cottura.

Fare raffreddare bene il composto,

aggiungere i sei tuorli e i tre albumi

montati a neve. Fare il caramello sulfondo di una tortiera, mettere l'impasto einfornare nel forno preriscaldato a 200

gradi, per circa 40 minuti.

Servire freddo.

Per la variante salata, chiamata putta

in Versilia, sostituire lo zucchero con il

sale (naturalmente non 150 g.), far

cuocere il riso nel latte salato, far

raffreddare ed aggiungere le uova ed

una abbondante manciata di pecorinostagionato e parecchio pepe. Lo stampo

della torta sar imburrato e cosparso dipangrattato.

Buon appetito!

Italian language for smart tourist

PIETR ASANTA NEWSLETTER Page 6

Marina di Pietrasanta: the

Princes bridge in the night(photo by GV)


7/12

HIC MANEBIMUS OPTIME


This is our new motto.

The words are not English or

Italian, but they come from Latin,

our dead language that youngItalians study at the secondary

school.

What does Hic manebimus

optime mean ?

Titus Livius reports about it.

Titus Livius, known as Livy, was

a Roman historian who wrote a

monumental history of Rome. The

name of the book is Ab Urbe

Condita and it talks about the

origin of Rome (traditionally dated

to 753 BC) through the reign of

Augustus (the age when Jesus

Christ was born).

In this book, Titus Livius wrote

that the sentence was pronounced

by a soldier during the civil war

between plebei (poors) and

patrizi (aristocrats). Plebei were

against Patrizi due to their poor

condition of life: plebei were not

slaves but working poors underthe orders of Patrizi families.

At that time, Marcus Furius

Camillus, a very importantsenator, addressed to the plebei

who intended to abandon the city

and commute to Velio, an old city

that was gained by Rome in

nearby.

Marcus Furius Camillus didnt

success to convince the plebei to

remain at Rome, and they were onthe point to leave Rome when a

centuriore (a Roman soldier),

that was coming back from the

battle against Velio, stopped in the

area and said: Hic manebimus

optime, i.e. Here well stay very

well. The plebei understood that

Rome was a good place to live,

even if working poors had a lot

of problems. The Rome history

went on thanks to the thatcenturione and the Hic

manebimus optime sentence.

What about Palazzo Ferretti ?

Why we like this sentence ?

We want to use this motto because

we think that Pietrasanta is a nice

place to enjoy, have holidays,

relax, study art and history, carvemarble.

Do you agree ? Do you like this

Latin motto ? Let us know your

comments.


8/12

a ferryboat, you have a great view of thecoast and you can hop on and off at every

village. There are five daily runs and you

can hop on and off on the route connecting

Monterosso, Vernazza, Manarola andRiomaggiore (Corniglia hasnt any port,

and you have to there on walk). Don't missthe last boat ! In any case, the last train

back in the evening is at midnight). The

boat tours start from Marina di Pisa,

Viareggio, Forte dei Marmi, Marina di

Carrara, Marina di Massa, Portovenere, La

Spezia.

The tour from Massa di Carrara toPortovenere is exceptional because you get

to see the coast from Bocca di Magra along

to the bay before Lerici which is an

incredible sight that you can't really seevery well from the road. Then you can stop

off at Portovenere (wear your swimsuit

under your clothes because you can take a

dip in the beautiful bay hidden behind the

fort on the point where a lot of youngpeople go) and have a walk around town.

Then the boat circles around the facing

islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto and

you can see some oyster cultivations in the

sea.

Personally, I prefer the train, because it

makes very easy to commute back and forth

from Pietrasanta. You can take a train fromthe Pietrasanta railway station to La Spezia

(47 minutes; ticket is 3.40 euros), and

another train from La Spezia to Monterosso

(20 minutes; ticket is 2 euros). Timetable is

at http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

At the tourist office in La Spezia train

station, you can take a 5-euro-tourist ticket

that allow you to hop on and off at each

village, as you like, for all day long.

History

Monterosso, the first place we meet by

overtaking Cape Mesco, has the prettiest

beach of the Cinque Terre, placed beyondthe promontory of the castle in the Fegina's

bay, formerly surrounded by some woods

of cedars, orange-trees and lemon-trees, and

now occupied by touristic residences.

The ancient centre of Monterosso lies on

the summit of the hill of San Cristoforo,

which separates the present village intotwo. During the 12th and 13th century there

was an increase in population and families

began to move down the slope of the hill,

setting up house on the banks of the streamcalled Branco (now covered). This part of

the village, known as Monterosso Vecchio(Old Monterosso), has remained practically

intact and exhibits the same 'linear'

characteristic as the other villages of the

Cinque Terre. A large part of it is made upof the remains of the 'castrum' Obertengo,

(castrum is the Roman name for the

campsite) with the beautiful parish of SanGiovanni Battista at the crossroads of the

main streets.

The village took origin in the Middle Ages,

when with the expulsion of the Saracens

(972), the hills' inhabitants moved to the

coast it was part of the Obertenga Duke andthen became a feud of the Da Passanos,

who were succeeded by the Republic of

Genoa.

The defensive tower built by the Genoese

as well as the castle (13th - 14th centuries),

whose ruins are now preserved in the

cemetery of the little town, rise sheer to thesea. The church and the monastery of San

Francesco, consecrated in 1623, still stand

out on the little promontory. They hold

conspicuous works by Luca Cambiaso,

Bernardo Castello and a Crucifixion

attributed by someone to Van Dyck.

Close to the beach of the village there is theparish of San Giovanni Battista, important

medieval building finished in 1307. On the

facade, with bychrome bands, a great

marble rose-window assigned to themasters Matteo and Pietro da Campiglio

stands out. Beside the church there is the

eighteenth-century oratory with central

plant, dedicated to Santa Maria di Porto

Salvo.

On the hill behind the village, along thecarriage road between Levanto and

Pignone, there is the sanctuary of Nostra

Signora di Soviore, founded, according tothe tradition, at the time of the Longobard

invasion (641).

Monterosso's beach is the longest of the

Cinque Terre coast and this, along with the

housing development of the new quarter,

has determined the wealth of tourismenjoyed by the village. Monterosso's main

features are the beach and the seaside; morethan the others it's a small touristic resort

with some nightlife. This different feel

complements the quietness of Manarola and

Corniglia. Very suggestive the'carruggi' (small streets) of Monterosso

Vecchio; wide spaces and some car traffic

in Fegina and on the seaside

Vernazza probably rose in the 11th centuryand became active in sea trade particularly

after having passed under the control of the

Genoese (13th century). To these ones is

due the improvement of the port structures

and the defensive works, whose someimportant ruins remain. The entire old core

dominated by the fortress, on which the

sighting tower rises, deserves a visit. The

nice parish of Santa Margherita diAntiochia - stretched out to the sea on a

false cliff - was built towards 1318, and

afterwards made longer through two spans.

An excursion to the sanctuary of Nostra

Signora di Reggio, on the hill which

dominates the village, is recommended,

where the miraculous image of Our Ladythat the legend attributes to San Luca, is

venerated.

Vernazza is the only natural port of the

Cinque Terre and its port can host small/

mid size boats and provides sufficient

shelter for mid-sized waves, but it's not

enough for the great winter sea storms.

Vernazza is the main point of attraction of

Cinque Terre, together with Monterosso,

and due to this it's often very crowded.

Corniglia represents a singular exception incomparison with the other villages of the

Cinque Terre, because it is perched on a

promontory over the sea of a hundredmetres. It is located on a cape, a terrace on

the sea, like that of Volastra, a hundred orso metres above the sea, which descends

steeply and is inaccessible from the sea. To

reach it one has to climb the 'Lardarina', a

long series of steps in brick: 33 flightstotaling 377 steps; there is also a road that

leads from the railway to the village. Thevillage layout of Corniglia also differs from

that of the other villages: the houses are

shorter, only recently have floors been

added, making them similar to those of

inland villages. The residential area

develops along the main road, via Fieschi;on one side the houses look on to the

opposite side of the street and on the other,

they look out onto the sea.

Continued from p.4 A day trip to 5 Terre

Monterosso



9/12

The shore, after having passed the village,presents a small creek with a narrow pebbly

beach named "spiaggione di Corniglia".

The parish church of San Pietro lies on a

low hill not far from the main core of the

village. The facade, with squared stone

ashlars, is made precious with a remarkable

marble rose window (1351), work by the

masters Matteo and Pietro da Campiglio.

Perched on a steep cape of dark rock, with

its small port enclosed by two rockyboulders, we find Manarola, a village of

ancient origins found by the inhabitants of

the (probably Roman) Volastra settlement.

The layout of the village develops around

the subsurface course of the Groppo streamwhich marks out its main axis. From the

sunken stream a series of narrow stone-

paved streets lead off towards houses and

vegetable gardens on both sides of the cape.Parallel to the main axis runs the Via di

Mezzo (Middle Street) that used to be a

particularly important byway before the

stream was covered over. Above the houses

there lies an interesting square in which all

the religious buildings are

located. Another peculiarityof Manarola is a pyramid in

white cement whose peak can

be seen rising between the

taller houses and is used as anavigational reference point

for all those at sea.

The village belonged to the

Marquesses of Carpena, to

the Fieschis and, since 1276,

to Genoa. The main artistic

work is the church of theNativit di Maria Vergine or

of San Michele, placed in the

North of the village. It was

built in 1338 by the Atelamimasters, authors of almost all

the churches of the Cinque

Terre. It keeps a polyptych

illustrating the Madonna with

Holy Child among Saints by

the Master of the Cinque

Terre (14th - 15th centuries). On the hillsurrounding the village, there is the hamlet

of Volastra, where we find the sanctuary of

Nostra Signora della Salute, dating back to

the 12th century. Though it has beenadapted in successive periods, it keeps the

original visible stone ashlars facade.

Manarola has to be consider the quietest of

the five villages. Even in full season one

can always appreciate the peacefulness of

its streets and the relaxing walks on theshort paths surrounding the village.

Setting off from La Spezia, the first village

one encounters is Riomaggiore, which

boasts the typical terraced structure of

villages in torrential valleys, with steepsides and restricted valley floor. The

landscape is therefore typically vertical and

stairs and steps make up the roads. The

main road is a covered canal beneath which

runs the Rivus Maior stream from which

the village takes its name. The housing is ofthe typical tower-house variety, developed

on three or four floors with no more thantwo rooms per floor, side by side to each

other in parallel rows. The building material

is local: stone for the walls, slate for

roofing, and yellow or pink plaster for the

houses' facades. One can enter the housesboth from the main entrance and from the

back of the house, entering at one of the

higher floors.

The church of San Giovanni Battista was

built in 1340, but was modified during the

19th century The interior presents a naveand two aisles separated by pointed arches.

It keeps a triptych illustrating the Madonna

with Holy Child on the throne between the

Sts. Sebastian and Rocco by the Master of

the Cinque Terre.

To the North-West of the village there arethe ruins of the castle, from which we can

enjoy a wonderful panorama on the coast.

On the outskirts of Riomaggiore there is the

sanctuary of Nostra Signora di Montenero

of very ancient origin, but largely

rearranged during the centuries.

Riomaggiore hosts the chief seat of CinqueTerre National Park, evidenced by an

intensive promotional activity in the whole

town. The upper part of the town is

characterized by new modern residential

quarter, whereas the 'carruggi' departingfrom the central street Via Colombo and

from the marina are the most particular in

Cinque Terre. Very suggestive the shot of

the marina, surrounded by high tower-

houses and impregnable to the ancient

pirates of the Ligurian Sea.

Riomaggiore is joined with Manarola by

the "via dell'Amore", a foot-way made outof the rock during the Twenties that links.

The Lover's Pathway is a very nice and

easy-to-walk path, and has

wonderful views on the sea as

well as on the hills.

Things to do

There are paths connecting the

Cinque Terre along the seasideand carved into the rocks. To

hike all five towns takes 5

hours. Or go up along the hills

through pinewoods to a church

or a sanctuary which could be 2hours depending on which

footpath you choose and where

you start from. Take the Lover's

Pathway between Manarola and

Riomaggiore which is about 35

minutes. There are unlimitedchoices to suit the ability and

the interest of the hiker.

Eating out

Local fresh fish is generally small in size

and is served either fried, charcoal grilled,

with potatoes or as a soup.


Vernazza

Corniglia

Manarola



10/12

Riviera anchovies are a highly prized dish,

especially those coming from the Cinque

Terre and Monterosso areas. They areeasily recognized by their small size, hardly

ever exceeding ten centimeters in length,

and their color, the head and belly a silvery

light gray with a dark blue-black back.These anchovies may be served in a variety

of ways: raw with an olive oil and lemon

dressing; with garlic and parsley; pan-cooked with potatoes; fried or better still,

pickled. The bianchetti, anchovy and

sardine fry fished in January and February,

are a rare morsel indeed. They may be

served either raw or dunked in boiling

water and then dressed with just a few

drops of olive oil and lemon or, as is more

customary, mixed with flour and egg and

fashioned into small fritters.

Last but by no means least, the wines: wineproduction on Liguria's typical terraced hill

sides has a well established and long

standing tradition. Sciacchetr, a very

particular sweet wine produced in theCinque Terre district, is one of the best

Riomaggiore

In red lines: Walk paths at 5 Terre

CLASSIFIED (write us your

classified ads)

Are you looking for a teacherof carving or Italian language ?

Would you like to share a large

apartment ?

Would you like to buy a bike ?

LOW-COST SECTION

Write here your experience in saving

money: something about low cost

flights, worthy shopping, etc.

Your experience is useful for our

Community.

We suggest:

- Special offer from Delta Air-

lines: New York (JFK) to Pisa,

at 390 euro (taxes included),

round trip, April and May, not

refundable;

- special offer from Ryanair:

London to Pisa, at 15 euro(taxes included), one way,

from 15/3/2008 to 30/6/2008,

not refundable.

P A L A Z Z O F E R R E T T I

SPECIAL OFFER

Palazzo Ferretti is pleased tooffer one week in March or

April at 500 euros, all fees are

included. This is a special offer

only for old clients and their

friends.

Bookings at:

[email protected]

Less money, more holidays



Page 10


11/12


12/12

Who are we ?

This is a quarterly newsletter for foreign tourists and

international artists.

Its about Pietrasanta and its surroundings.

The newsletter is mainly made by you: your comments, your

experience, your true stories. We want to collect and publish

them on the newsletter.

Please, dont be shy, and email us your personal experience

about your stay and your holidays in Pietrasanta: write

about one nice day, one nice trip , one nice friend you met

there. Well publish it on the next issue. This issue (Easter

holidays) has been emailed to about 200 foreign tourists.

Please, send it to your friends: maybe they will become

Pietrasanta friends, too.

All the best

Giampaolo Vitali (Palazzo Ferretti)

Palazzo Ferretti

Via del Paduletto 10/12

55045 Pietrasanta

WWW.PIETRASANTARESORT.COM

For bookings:

Giampaolo Vitali

Phone +39 328 2259111

email: [email protected]

Your holiday rentals in downtown

Pietrasanta 2001: all the family at work


Art, Marble and Tourism - Newsletter 05 03 2008

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Transcript of Art, Marble and Tourism - Newsletter 05 03 2008