Fossanova Abbey (2)

The Abbey of Fossanova is famous for its Gothic-Cistercian architecture and is situated near the town of Priverno at the foot of the Lepini Mountains. Originally a Benedictine monastery in the 12th century it was taken over by the Cistercian Order.  The monks first drained the marshy land by digging a ditch to run of the water (new ditch - fossa nuova) and a new church was built. It's less than an hour's drive from our village so Priverno and the abbey at Fossanova is one that we know well.  The woods in the area are a good place to have a picnic and gather wild asparagus when it's in season around about Easter time.

The frescoes on the otherwise unadorned walls in the abbey and others in the monastery date back to the 14th century.

                                               

The Cloister: Rectangular in shape, three of the sides are Romanesque in style whilst the Gothic-styled fourth side was constructed much later in the 13th century and was done with the help of Roman marble workers. The covered kiok with its pyramid-shaped cover supported by beautifully-carved columns was typical of Cistercian monasteries.  Here the monks would use the wash basin during different times of the day - first thing in the morning, after work and before meals.

On our last visit we also went into the buildings where travellers would have stayed. Here Thomas Aquinas, the theologian, died whilst he was on a journey to Lyon where there was to be an important church council meeting. His cell and a chapel can be visited on the upper floor accessed by a narrow, winding staircase. Thomas Aquinas was originally from the local area in South Lazio and a family castle is situated in a hill town near to where we live in Italy.

                                                                 the cell of Thomas Aquinas

                                                                             the chapel

                                                             the wooden canopy over the altar

                                                             a bee - a detail of the marble altar
                            Among other things, the bee in Christian art symbolises the resurrection.

a corner of the monastery garden

This will be my last post for a while as I'm taking a blogging break.

                         
                                         
                                            

Looking back, looking forward

As I haven't been taking photographs recently I'm sharing some more of our time in Italy last September and October.  In between work in the house and on the land we went out to places near the coast, although we didn't actually get down to any coastal resorts.

South Lazio is divided into the inland and the coastal regions and as one would expect, the climate, terrain and vegetation is very different.  From our province we have to drive through the southern range of mountains, the Lepini Mountains, to get to the coastal plain.  The main road from our provincial town is a fast one which then joins the north/south Appian Way and we can follow this or cross it and take the minor roads that have been constructed in a grid pattern alongside the canals that were constructed to drain the Pontine Marshes of Latina province.

This reclaimed agricultural land, some of which is at sea level, is now fertile land with plenty of water for irrigation and the produce grown is sent up to Rome markets. The constructed water channels improved the marshland, but when they were not maintained and stagnant water was not pumped out epidemics of malaria were frequent.  Mussolini used his programme of draining the marshes as a propaganda exercise, but then the area became ruinous once again during WWII; water channels were neglected so that they became brackish, farmhouses deliberately blown up as a strategy to hinder the progress of the liberation of Rome. It must have been an inhospitable place at that time.

These days folk who have bought land, especially those who have developed it seem to enjoy a good living. For our family it used to be a tradition to chose a large water melon from one grown in the fields and sold at the side of the road on our way back from a day at the sea with the children.

A hill town in the Lepini Mountains

The Appian Way which links Rome to coastal resorts such as Terracina and beyond.

L'Arca Ristorante, Priverno, S. Lazio

We took my sister-in-law and husband out for lunch to a restaurant in that area which is owned by a friend. Over the years we've seen the plants flourish and the whole area around the buildings become an oasis of greenery due to the abundant water supply that can be sprayed on the trees and grass.

This was an interesting shrub, although I don't know what it is. Do you have any idea? It had these orange balls that I think were seed heads.

* I found a photograph in the gardening book Cottage Garden written by one of my favourite gardeners, the late Geoffrey Hamilton. The shrub is called The Strawberry Tree (arbutus unedo).

Apparently it bears small, white flowers in the autumn followed by red fruit, which can be seen in my photo, including the pale orange dry seed heads.

On our drive in the area we passed this place selling mature trees. The olive trees looked amazing, but I suspect they're very expensive to purchase.

                This was a new roundabout in the middle of the grid system of roads and water channels