My dear friend Bruna suggested that we drive out to Spoleto for a day and I readily agreed. I took the Metro out to near her place and she picked me up in her Chrysler minivan, which is to all the other cars on the autostrada as a Humvee is to all of the cars here - a monster! It's definitely a comfortable way to go, though, and since we went out there on a weekday in late Fall the traffic wasn't bad and we found a parking place in Spoleto almost immediately.
We hit the road on a nice but hazy day and soon we were in the center of the town (or city? It's hard to say. Spoleto is a large town/small city. I'll use them interchangably.). Click the photo to see a movie of our drive out to Spoleto. It's a Quicktime movie, so you'll need that to watch it.
We found our way to the restored theater and spent some time in the museum. The theater has an interesting history. First built in the 1st century AD, it very soon thereafter had to be extensively repaired due to shifting earth underneath it. By the 6th century it was covered with medieval construction and was eventually part of the monastery of the church that is immediately to the left of the photo (you can just barely see the apse at the left edge). Not until the late 1800's was it recognized as a theater and another 60 years passed (1954) before the building, which by then was being used as a prison was retired and the final restoration work begun.
It has a very nice original fragment of orchestra floor in opus sectile and is apparently one of the very few theaters with such a floor still in existance.
After wandering around the museum and taking a good look at the theater we went to lunch at a great restaurant and then went for a walk around the centro. We ended up at the cathedral.
Originally built in the Romanic style during the 12th century, the cathedral has undergone subsequent modifications over the years. A portico in the Renaissance style between 1491 and 1504 and the remodelling of the interior in the 17th century were the two major projects on this building. In the upper part of the hut-shaped facade, which is and decorated with rose-windows and ogival blind arches, is a mosaic in the Byzantine style ( from 1207) showing Christ between the Virgin Mary and St. Giovanni, and placed between the symbols of the four Evangelists. The interior, made up of three naves on columns, contains a fresco with the Madonna and Saints by Pinturicchio and a bronze bust of Urban VIII by Bernini.
The sunlight struck the front of the building and really lit it up, especially the facade mosaic. Quite magical!
We walked back to the "main square", Piazza Garibaldi. I took a few photos and then we went back to the car. "What else do you want to see?" she asked.
I told her I knew there was an amphitheater in town and "let's try to find it." So, off we went. I was able to get us into the neighborhood using a map in my guidebook. Bruna, being relatively fearless and the sort of woman Italian men react positively to anyway started leaning out the window of the car and asking passersby where it was.
Most of the time the answer was "Piazza Libertà" which is where the Roman Theater is. I was getting frustrated and was ready to say "Forget it, let's go home." But, an older gentleman had overheard her question to another younger guy and stepped in. "You want to see the amphitheater? Follow me!" he took off down the street walking at a brisk pace and we followed. Bruna found a place to park and we got out and followed him into a courtyard. He told us the amphitheater was behind the tall (2.5 m high) wall with the two gates securely closed and chained.
Ha! I've faced greater barriers before, so this was a piece of cake.
We thanked him and then as he was walking out I handed my camera to Bruna and started climbing the gate. She passed the camera up to me as I clung to the top of the gate, my left arm wrapped around the spikes at the top. I fired off a few photos and then came back down.
Bruna thinks I am crazy, I'm sure.
We drove back home to Rome and witnessed an example of Italiano testosterone overriding logic, practicality and perspective. At one point on the GRA two lanes merged into one and neither the guy on the left nor the guy on the right was willing to yield to allow the guy on the right to merge easily (regardless of who had the right of way, sometimes you just have to yield, you know?). So... they sideswiped each other at about 10 kph. It was quite funny; easily prevented and just silly. Bruna and I had a good chuckle about that.
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