An Italian hill town artist

I bought this hand painted plate during the last trip to Italy. We had seen it in the window of a shop and studio in a local town. Unfortunately the shop was closed at the time and as they had to travel home before we could all return I did so on another day.

The picturesque scene painted on this particular plate is based on a well-known courtyard in the old town and near the artist's studio.  As you look into the courtyard through the entrance gates you can see a fragment of a 1st century A.D. marble Roman calendar.  It recalls the feasts of the first three months of the year, the dies nefasti, that is, days in which business may or may not be conducted.

Whilst I was taking photos a resident came and took them on a tour of the newly restored medieval town hall as he thought they were tourists so I missed out on a visit.  Since we sometimes go to the town hall on business I'm sure there will be another opportunity to look around.

On my return to the shop I met the artist and her husband. I was invited into her little studio at the back of the shop and they were very happy for me to take photos.  Talking to artists about their work is not only interesting, but always makes a purchase special and more personal.

As I sit at my desk to write this I've glanced out of the window and see that fine snowflakes are falling, although it looks more like sleet than a heavy snowfall.

Whatever the weather is like where you are when you read this and whatever you're doing I wish you a good day.

Italy: the hill town of Veroli

I've still got a lot to write about regarding our time away in Italy in September and October as I'm trying to keep a chronological record of our year. I know I'm 'swimming against the flow' compared with many of you who are writing about Christmas preparations, but I'm going to continue to share about our Italian life with perhaps a post or two about what we're doing here in Yorkshire if something of interest comes up.

The view above can be seen from one of the terraces in a local town where we go from time-to-time. The weather, even in early Spring and Autumn can be sunny and you can see for miles across south Lazio.

However, it's not the highest area of the town and the day we took a walk it was one of the few when the weather was not so good.  It was a different walk because I wanted to explore somewhere we don't usually need to visit as we often park at the bottom of the town and walk up to the middle streets and that can be quite enough of a challenge.

Fortunately we could drive up, park and walk to the highest quarter of the upper town. There were tantalising glimpses of what the residents were growing in their town gardens on the other side of the ancient walls. The megalithic walls that surround and protect Veroli in a polygon form are called cycloptic walls because they were built with enormous stones that are wedged in place and can be seen best in the St. Leucio quarter, which is the oldest part of the upper town.

The lane led up to an ancient tower called 'The Rock' (9th century AD).  Many important people found shelter or were kept prisoner within the walls. Turning left passed 'The Rock' the narrow road had no barrier on the side where there was a steep drop into the valley road below. There was a dead end with a small cobbled courtyard where there was a shop, a little church and a narrow pathway back down to the lower streets. It felt as if this area was mainly used by the locals. The small church was very old, had been untouched by modern hands and yet was obviously a much-loved and intimate neighbourhood place of worship. We spoke to the elderly man sitting on the bench outside and went in.

The main lane to the right continued as a single-track road across the Ernici mountains. It's called 'The Way of the Benedictines' as St. Benedict and his little band of followers in 529 AD journeyed from Subiaco, stopped in Veroli, founded the monastery of St. Erasmus, before going on south to start a new monastic community in Monte Cassino.  Of course, these mountain tracks would have been known routes to all travellers as well as marauding peoples.

The remains of the tower called 'The Rock'

The enclosed courtyard in front of the church and the path leading
 back down to the lower part of the town.

Th church of St. Leucio

the cemetery

 a wall painting - I have no information about what is depicted

The Ernici settled in the area around the 12th century B.C. and founded  the settlement as it was in a strategic position being more than 700 feet above sea level and between two major valley routes. It eventually fell to the Romans and because of its alliance with Rome became a free municipality. There was a period of unrest during the Norman period, but by the Middle ages Veroli was established as flourishing centre of art and culture and in the Renaissance was well known for its places of learning and the libraries attached to them.

Although the weather wasn't good and the light was poor for photography, especially as we approached 'The Rock' tower, it was an interesting walk which gave me an insight into another aspect of Veroli.

Looking forward to Springtime

The snowdrops are always a welcome sight.  I had hoped to return to 'the church in the woods' at Babworth Church in Nottinghamshire last weekend (where my great grandfather Charles is buried) as there are usually masses of them flowering in the woodlands at this time of year and there's a special 'snowdrop weekend' organised, but it was so cold we didn't venture out there. Instead we were pleased to get to our own church on Sunday where there were beautiful clumps of the little flowers nodding their heads in the wind all along the path up to the church door and under the trees.  The snowdrops that had been planted in the form of a cross were also blooming. We also have snowdrops in our garden and other bulbs are now shooting up. The vines will soon be budding in Italy.

Parts of the pergola that holds up the vines may need attention. Bushes always need trimming and the grass has to be kept short. We won't mention the slope to the land at one side of the house!

Hopefully there will be some sunshine and the fruit and other ornamental trees will be in blossom everywhere.  

mimosa

magnolia

peach

Views of the mountains to the south and our neighbourhood farmland.

We'll go into our local hill towns to shop and browse around the weekly markets.

It'll be chilly in the evenings so we'll sit by the fire if we're not visiting family using our store of wood which fuels the wood burning stove and central heating. I have plenty of books to read and usually keep some piece of cross stitch work in my sewing basket to do.  I can only manage simple embroidery and large cross stitch or tapestry work these days which I usually buy from specialist shops or from the market when we're over in Italy.