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Newsletter #29 - January 1-8, 1960 |
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Newsletter #29
January 1-8, 1960 Mailed Rome, Italy l/12/60 Recd. Philadelphia 1/16/60 Florence, Italy Buongiorno (Hello, Italian): [January 2] We are now spending our second day in Florence, the city which is world-famous for its art treasures, its glorious history and natural beauty. In the Middle Ages, Florence was the center where art and culture flourished, and the nucleus of the Renaissance. Florence is surrounded by villa-speckled hills and laced by the River Arno, spanned by many bridges, one being the unusual Ponte Vecchio, which we crossed and recrossed several times the past few days. Fine old buildings hem the city's thoroughfares and these are intersected by countless little very narrow streets where the artisans work, as Florence has many silversmiths, and craftsmen making magnificent leather goods. Today we saw and visited the Gothic-style Cathedral which is an elegant structure adorned with black, white and pink marble whose interior houses priceless works of art. Nearby this Cathedral is the Campanile, a 14th Century Bell Tower also of the three colons of marble I mentioned before. From here we saw the Baptistery of St. John the Baptist, which is octagonal in shape and is decorated en the outside with lovely colored marble and with motives of mosaic work. On the pavements around this unique building we saw the designs in marble of the zodiac and other designs inspired by oriental textiles. This building has several famous doors and one is known as the "Door of Paradise", which tells the stories of the Old Testament. This is a bronze door which is the work of Lorenzo Ghiberti. We also saw the Medici Chapels and the Medici Palace both very old buildings and being repaired on the exterior. Another very large monumental palace of Florence is called the Pitti Palace which is now an Art Gallery. We had heavy fog again today so this eliminated photography, but we did browse around in many of the interesting shops which are everywhere in Florence. (Bought lovely Madonna framed pictures and quite a few leather articles, even though the choice was rather limited, as they claim summer is their big season for straw and leather items. The past two days we've tried several Italian restaurants and we really have been enjoying Italian food and especially the local atmosphere and their national specialities. We're sure you're tired of hearing about the history and art of all the cities and countries we have visited and would like some personal touches, but it seems our life consists of museums, churches, ruins, towers, arches, temples., mosques and palaces. We are always so happy on mall days for the news and personal happening of your folks at home, as it seems to fill the gap which we are sorely in need of. (Even the cute jobs some of our friends write and tell us about mean so much to us, so keep them coming.) Today [January 3] we went to Florence's famous Uffizi Gallery, which houses one of the richest collections in the entire world and I saw many, many originals by such famous artists as Michelangelo, Da Vinci, |
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Newsletter #29
Raphael, Murillo, Rubens, Titian, Correggio and Tintoretto end feel really inspired after seeing so many Madonnas and religious paintings on the life of Christ. This gallery of Uffizi is the most important in Italy and among the first in the world. I was much more impressed here than at the Louvre in Paris and really feel honored to have seen such a tremendous collection of fine works. This gallery also has its vestibule adorned with antique statues, sculptures and sarcophagi of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries B.C., while on the walls you see superb tapestries of the 15th and 16th centuries. Later today we went to the Church of the Santa Croce, which is to be the most beautiful and antique church belonging to the Franciscan Order and contains the tomb of Michelangelo, a bas relief by Antonio Giotto. We saw many other notable churches such as San Lorenzo, Santa Maria Maggiore and Santa Maria Novella and they all contain famous paintings and outstanding frescoes. We enjoyed Piazza della Signora, the city's largest square, which is dominated by the Palace of Signora or the Palace of the Vecchio and has world-famous statues by Cellini and Giambologna adorning the exterior, as well as a magnificent fountain with beautiful statuary. We could tell lots more about this glorious Florence but this is an idea of the many wonders you would see if you were to travel through this unusual city. Today [January 4] we drove to Pisa, another city on the Arno River, about sixty miles from Florence near the Mediterranean Sea. We immediately drove to Plaza del Duomo, one of the most harmonious squares we have seen, with three famous buildings clustered around it which you see as soon as you enter the walls nearby. The first building is the Cathedral a great marble construction in Romanesque style with handsome decorations. The second building is the Baptistery, begun in the 12th Century, with a celebrated pulpit by Nicola Pisano and the third building is the famous Campanile, or the renowned Leaning Tower, begun in 1173. This tower leans because of sagging 14 feet off center during the slipping of land while under construction. It is an outstanding tower in a lovely setting. We had a lovely day here so we should be able to show you some nice views of this noted place. [January 5] Staying at another Motel Agip tonight in a small city called Grosseto, which is only about 150 miles from Rome, so we should be in Rome tomorrow early in the day so we can get organized, as we will stay there several days at least. The sun was surely generous to us today [January 6] as we had a wonderful trip from Grosseto to Rome and took several lovely views of small towns along the Mediterranean Sea. We went right to Vatican City, the home of the Pope and the heart of Roman Catholicism. It is a separate entity from the city of Rome and is governed by the Pope and his Cardinals. We went into the Basilica of St. Peter, which is the largest and most awe-inspiring church in Christendom. The design was done by such famous men as Michelangelo, Raphael and Bramante and it is baroque in design. The interior is enormous and richly adorned with works of art. The dome was designed and executed by Michelangelo and the whole of St. Peter's Square is magnificent - 2 -
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Newsletter #29
with its colonnades like two large wings opening into half circles which is the elegant work of Bernini and he also was the sculptor of the numerous statues which decorate the colonnades. In the very center of St. Peter's Square is an obelisk which was raised with the aid of nine hundred men while on the right and left of this obelisk are fountains which harmonize perfectly with this vast square. Pages could be written on this lovely portion of Rome, but I'll not elaborate more than to say even though we are not Catholics we are thrilled to be viewing such magnificence. We enjoyed our lunch of cheese, potato chips and an apple while parked at St. Peter's Square and enjoyed the people who were milling about. Tonight we are snug in a very nice room in the heart of Rome and have gotten lots of mail which is always a thrill. Meredith wishes to thank the many people who sent cards for his birthday, which we plan to celebrate in Naples on January 10th. To sake our first day in Rome even more enjoyable we had a perfect meal with the best snowflake (mashed) potatoes we have had since we left home. Haven't written for several nights as we have been so enthused with Rome we have decided to see it all rather than give you our day-to-day visits to its varied beauty spots. This city has no lack of attractive objects as we have seen majestic basilicas, solemn churches, stately palaces, monuments of art and just hundreds of ruins, of the past. We have seen many broken pillars, mutilated statues, old sacred temples and moldering piles of ruins which were originally built by famous Romans and Italians thousands of years ago. Every street you walk on you encounter some relic of the past. Rome is known as the "Eternal City" and we can see how it got this reputation. Rather than go into detail about the glory and greatness of Rome and its magnificence, I will only mention some of the many places we have seen and enjoyed. Capitoline Kill is outstanding and in this area we also saw the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Arch of Constantine, the Forum of Trojan, the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II (exceptionally beautiful and impressive), the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Old Church of Aracoeli, the famous Holy Child made of Olive Wood, (only seen during Christmas Season), the Piazza Venezia, the Temple of Venus and Roma, the Arch of Titus, the Palatine, the Temple of Julius Caesar, Tomb of Romulus, the equestrian statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the Baths of Caracalla. In another section of Rome along the Tiber River we saw the Temple of Vesta (round), the Temple of Fortuna Virile, the Church of St. Cecilia, the Pyramid of Caius Cestius, the Porta Ostiense, Castle of St. Angelo, Palace of Justice and the ancient Roman Theatre. [January 7] Other places of note which we saw were the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Church of the Gesu, Piazza di Spagna, Monumental or Spanish Steps, Church of St. Charles in the Corso, Piazza del Popolo, Church of St. Mary, Fountain of Trevi, (Three Colas in the Fountain), Church of St. Marie Maggiore, Church of St. Susanna, Arch of Porta Pia, Piazza Della Republica and the Theatre De L'Opera. These are only some of many, many splendid plazas, churches and shrines we have been fortunate enough to see and visit these past five days. We were in many more churches than those mentioned end they were all elegant, decorative and quite ornate, - 3 -
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Newsletter #29
but for all their beauty they lack the warmth and feeling of reverence which I feel we have to our Protestant Churches (only ray opinion). Italy has certainly given us masters in many human achievements, such as art, science, literature, religion and law and we all owe Italy a great debt of gratitude for all the cultures she has helped other countries to cultivate. I only realize now why I have always dreamed of some day living in and awning a home with pillars or columns, as this visit to Greece and Italy has shown the loveliest architecture in the world is classical. The tremendous amounts of marble used in buildings in Italy and Greece and in ordinary homes seems to be so extravagant to me, an American who thinks of marble as something only millionaires can use for stairways and halls, but in these two countries it is used as we use wood. Our Christmas Eve end Christmas Day were celebrated in France where we thought the children and adults behaved much like we do in the United States, except they call Santa Claus Père Noel. We discovered here in Italy the children celebrate Christmas on January 6, Epiphany, which is the day they expect gifts from the "Befana", the same as our Santa Claus. The "Befana" is a kind old woman who brings them toys on this day if they have been good. (The very same idea as our children have about Santa,) Since we were here for January 4,5,6,7 and 8, we saw this celebration. There was lots of noise and busy streets on January 6th as all of the business firms place groceries, wines, gasoline, and all types of articles on the corners as gifts for the policemen, similar to our giving gifts to the garbage collectors, newsboys, etc., at New Year's. For New Year's dinner the Italians like to eat lentils and pigs' trotters as they are a sign of prosperity during the year. They believe in the adage "who dines well on the first of the year, dines well the whole year through", and so they have huge dinners with numerous dishes and traditional New Year specialties (similar to having sauerkraut in the U.S.A.) Another Newsletter week is over and we leave this lovely city on the slopes of seven hills tomorrow only to return again, as we both threw our coins in the Fountain of Trevi, which assures us we will return to Rome. (Legend only). We both have enjoyed Rome tremendously and to make it even more impressive to us we had five days of wonderful sunshine. We are still enjoying fine health and hope all of you are in the "pink" also. We will be looking for mail from all of you at our next mail stop, which is Venice. Affectionately, Meredith and Charlotte |