Tourists at Home

Outside the convent

Today is the FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano) Maratona, which is a day where certain things (monuments, churches, etc. that are normally not accessible) are open to the public. Last spring, we had the chance to go into the drainage courses as a result of this same group.

The sink in the refectory; the frame is around a well

Anyway, today's maratona included a monastery consisting of two churches, and two additional churches. The monastery is currently a convent (in Italian, "convento" and "monastero" appear to be used interchangeably and regardless of shades of meaning are NOT used to distinguish the use between monks and nuns...in English, "convent" generally means use by women) inhabited by a grand total of two nuns. Apparently more are on their way (sometime in the next decade? that part was unclear).

The convent is used not only for these two nuns, but also as a guest house. The main church is very 1700s in appearance, with lots of marbleizing, etc. They have recently finished a revamp of the organ (there will be a concert there tonight, but I've got too much on to go for the concert). The refectory was just lovely, and the courtyard was similarly beautiful.

Mary sits about 4' high

The second church (La Chiesa di San Biaggio) was repurposed into a breakfast room, although it does have a wooden statue of the Annunciation. Unfortunately, the angel Gabriel is no longer part of the statue ensemble, but we do have Mary seated listening to her perplexing news. The amazing thing to me is that this wooden statue is just stuck in a corner of the dining hall...oh, did I forget to mention that it dates to the 1400s?

Next stop, Sant'Ilario. This is a tiny church from the 1200s that I have been dying to see inside since I first clapped eyes on it. It is near the Palazzo Pongelli (in fact, it is attached to the gardens...there is an upper door from the gardens into the church -- there used to be an interior balcony accessibly by this door so that the Pongelli family members could attend Mass without having to rub shoulders with the proletariat). Apparently this church served as the city's cathedral (believe it or not!) in 1300. Since the crypt of the Duomo was already constructed at that point, I can only surmise that it was during construction of the upper part of the Duomo? Why else would such an insignificant church have become the cathedral? That was unclear.

At one time, Sant'Ilario was completely frescoed inside. In the 1800s, though, it was no longer de rigueur. Since tastes had changed, down came the frescos! Only one fresco remains...a picture of the Madonna of Mercy done by Lo Spagna.

I loved the trompe l'oeil "curtain" to conceal the angled exterior wall

Last stop, the church of Sant'Antonio. Attached to our butcher's (which used to be a hospital), the church was originally built in the 1300s but completely changed (widened and redone) in the 1600s. It was decommissioned around 60 years ago, but all the furnishings are somewhere in a warehouse, so it could easily be recommissioned if required. I found the paintings really interesting, because the paintings and the ceilings were painted by the same fellow (I fail you with the name); however, the paintings were done around 50 years earlier than the frescoes on the ceiling. The frescoes are a completely different palette of colors: much brighter and lighter than the rather somber wall decorations. Of course, an organ was shoved into the back sometime in the 1700s, completely spoiling the proportions and look of the thing, but, hey, they didn't ask my opinion.

Off for a gelato! The gelato season is almost over, so every time we go, we think it may be for the last time this year. It's about time for the fave dei morti ("beans of the dead"...cookies that are baked during the season of All Souls' Day)!

Love,

Alexandra

I loved the three-way arched building addition