Tag Archives: Architecture

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There are some headline sights in Rome but staying for a month meant we were able to sniff out a few of the city’s less well known corners as well.

Mussolini’s bunker

Where:	Villa Torlonia, eastern Rome
Good for:	A little WWII history

Clockwise from left: Andrew next to one of the sealing doors of an air raid shelter; air filtration system; gas masks displayed in the bunker

It’s impossible not to notice the ancient history in Rome, but it is also possible to find reminders of its 20th century history here and there as well. We booked a tour of the bunkers at Villa Torlonia where Mussolini lived with his family from 1929 until his arrest in 1943. The tour took us through two air raid shelters and a bunker which was still under construction when Mussolini was arrested. Each was built with three exits in case debris from bombing blocked the others, and some original features still remain, for example, one of the air filtration systems and some gas masks. We were surprised to see how small the shelters are, but of course they were only designed to accommodate one family with their servants, unlike the huge Soviet bunker that we visited in Latvia or the air raid shelters in Malta and Naples.

Quartiere Coppedè

Where:	Around Piazza Mincio, north-east Rome
Good for:	Art Nouveau architecture

The magnificent ‘Fairy Cottage’ on Piazza Mincio

About a 15 minute walk from the Villa Torlonia we found a whole neighbourhood of elaborate Art Nouveau architecture. Designed by Gino Coppedè and bearing his name it was a bit of a surprise in Rome, and reminded us of the Art Nouveau walking tour that we did in Riga. The most elaborate buildings line Piazza Mincio with its central ‘Fountain of Frogs’, but we found others tucked away in the surrounding streets.

Quartiere Coppedè details (clockwise from top left): Entrance arch complete with iron chandelier on Via Dora; Frog on the fountain; Romulus and Remus decoration on the ‘Fairy Cottage’; the Palace of the Spider gets its name from the decoration over its door

Mouth of Truth (Bocca della Verità)

Where:	In the porch of the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Central Rome
Good for:	A fun photo

Clearly Andrew tells more fibs than Julie…

OK this corner isn’t remotely hidden (there was even a 20 minute queue in the middle of February) but it’s a fun photo opportunity if you’re passing. The huge stone circle carved with the face of an ancient god originally dates to the 2nd century BC. In the Middle Ages it gained a reputation for biting off the hands of liars (possibly assisted by someone with a sword hidden behind it!), hence why everyone wants their photo taken with their hand in its mouth. You might also recognise its image from fortune telling machines at fairs, and if you haven’t seen the 1953 film Roman Holiday I highly recommend watching this clip of Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck visiting it.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6af1dAc9rXo]

Church of San Luigi dei Francesi

Where:	Central Rome
Good for:	Looking at more Caravaggio paintings

Just a block away from the Pantheon, this small church has no less than three paintings by Caravaggio (the same number as the whole city of Naples!). The paintings here depict various episodes from the life of St Matthew and are housed in a side chapel, called the Contarelli Chapel, which is to the left of the main altar. The church itself is the seat of the Cardinal of Paris in Rome and, as with most of Italy’s churches, there’s no admission fee although they have cunningly left the chapel containing the Caravaggios in shadowy darkness so that if you want to see them you need to feed a nearby meter with a few coins to turn on the lights!

Pasquino

Where:	Central Rome
Good for:	Political dissent

This rather battered and unassuming looking statue fragment has played a fascinating part in Rome’s political history. The statue itself dates to Roman times and was erected in the current spot after being unearthed while the piazza was undergoing renovation in the early 1500s. Shortly afterwards anonymous verses began appearing on its base criticising the Pope (who ruled Rome at that time) and his government. These were quickly copied and distributed, much faster than they could be suppressed. It’s unclear how the statue got the name Pasquino, but along with five others they became known as the “Talking Statues”. The tradition carries on to this day, indeed when we visited it had a rhyming verse stuck to its base. Posted on 17th February, the anniversary of the death of Giordano Bruno who was burned at the stake for heresy, it read:

Children, use less judgement and more faith because the Holy Office (the Vatican) is boss,
Contain your thought and don’t reason too much because against reason is fire,
Keep your tongue in your head, as the Pope enjoys barbecue.

[with thanks to Francesco, our host in Florence, for the translation]

Centrale Montemartini

Where:	South-west Rome
Good for:	Classical statues and industrial architecture

This museum is a little way out of the centre of Rome though it’s easy enough to reach by metro. Basically it is a gallery of Roman sculptures but with a twist. When the main Capitoline Museum was renovating some of its galleries in the late 1990s, it moved the statues to a temporary home in this former power plant. The result was so successful that it is now a permanent museum. We loved the juxtaposition of the white marble figures against the dark industrial machinery as well as trying to work out the function of the various engines and boilers.

My favourite statue was this ‘Statue of a Muse’

Hop Corner

Where:	Pigneto area, eastern Rome
Good for:	Craft beers

This one is truly off the beaten path. Hop Corner is a tiny pub specialising in craft beers and is less than 10 minutes walk from the apartment where we stayed. We expected a range of good quality lagers and were bowled over on our first visit when we found five cask beers on tap including an excellent bitter and a stout, not to mention fridges packed with bottled options. Needless to say, we were back for more. We also liked that with each round of drinks the snacks served with them levelled up (1. tortilla chops and olives, 2. beef jerky and olives, 3. a plate of porchetta, Italian roast pork!). They also do a range of different Spritzes but we couldn’t pull ourselves away from the beers to try those!

Stadio dei Marmi

Where:	Northern Rome
Good for:	Fascist era statues

The Stadio dei Marmi, or Stadium of Marbles, was inaugurated in 1932 and is part of the Foro Italico, formerly Foro Mussolini, a large sports complex containing swimming pools, tennis courts, a football stadium and the offices of the Italian Olympic Committee as well as this running track and sports field. The “marbles” of its name are 60 statues of male athletes in Italian Fascist style, each donated by one of the Italian provinces. The statues were interesting but we really enjoyed sitting in the sun in this quiet spot and it was good to see how many people were out on a Saturday morning exercising or playing football with their kids.

Statues around the Stadio dei Marmi. If anyone knows what sport is being depicted in the top right picture please leave a comment below!

Video Game Museum of Rome

Where:	Northern Rome
Good for:	Playing retro computer games

VIGAMUS (clockwise from left): looking at the exhibition; Julie playing a Pac-man arcade; Andrew in the Oculus Rift headset

And now for something completely different… In stark contrast to all the art and history, we discovered that Rome has a Video Game Museum (VIGAMUS). The entry fee not only covered a surprisingly interesting exhibit telling the story of the birth of computer games but also as much time as we wanted playing the various free games that they had set up on all kinds of consoles as well as arcade machines. Playing on the games reminded us of the afternoon we spent in the arcades of the Akihabara district in Tokyo. The ticket also entitled us to a go on one of their Oculus Rift demo sets, this is an immersive type of gaming with a headset consisting of goggles displaying a picture which moves as your head does, it is touted as the future of video games.

Siracusa, Sicily

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When we planning where to visit in Sicily, it was easy to start in Catania for logistical reasons as we were arriving by ferry from Malta, and while we had lined up some interesting things to do in Catania, it’d be fair to say we were looking forward to our time in Siracusa more.

Known as ‘Siracusa’ rather than Syracuse to the Sicilians, the city is over 2,700 years old and has a long and important history. Once equalling the size of Athens, it was described by Cicero as “the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all” in the fifth century BC, and is now inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Piazza Duomo in Ortigia, Siracusa, Sicily

Ortigia’s Piazza Duomo, with their funky pallet Christmas tree and the Duomo di Siracusa or Siracusa Cathedral in the centre

However, for us the reality turned out to be the opposite of our expectations. That’s probably in part due to those same expectations being higher for Siracusa than Catania, having had such a great time in Catania, and finding Siracusa to be almost wound-down for winter – this is definitely more of a summer holiday destination.

Don’t get me wrong – we enjoyed our time here, and the setting is certainly more picturesque, but we found more to do and see of the kinds of things we enjoy in Catania.

The beautifully clear waters of the Mediterranean lapping the east coast of Ortigia

On our first afternoon we headed straight for Ortigia, the island offshoot of Siracusa surrounded by turquoise Mediterranean to get lost in its narrow twisty cobbled streets. In December, Ortigia has a laid-back touristy feel to it, there are souvenir shops here as you would expect, but “tacky” doesn’t exist in the Italian vocabulary – each of the displays are chic, cute, and tasteful. Taking random turns down little alleyways we eventually found ourselves in Piazza Duomo, the central Cathedral Plaza.

The nave of Siracusa Cathedral. We loved the thick, plain walls and massive outer columns down the sides

Venturing inside, we found thick, imposing vaulted walls enclosing the nave, with huge outer columns – reminders of when this used to be a Greek temple of Athena. It was dark and almost empty, the early evening light shining through the row of stained glass windows creating indistinct patterns of colour on the plain stone. To the right of the entrance was Santa Lucia’s Chapel, the normal resting place of Saint Lucy’s remains. Saint Lucy was a young Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution in 304.

Detail of the chandeliers and columns in Siracusa Cathedral, Sicily

Detail of the chandeliers and the old Greek columns in the Siracusa Cathedral

The sanctuary of Santa Lucia, Siracusa Cathedral, Sicily

The following evening we’d been advised in Italian by our apartment owner that there’d be some sort of event featuring Santa Lucia that would travel right past our apartment. At about 4:20pm we headed out to Corso Umberto I and staked out a spot on one of the park benches. Having sat for maybe 30 minutes we thought it was a little odd that the traffic was still flowing down the street despite a couple of very nicely dressed officials standing on every corner. Another 10 minutes or so later I went over and, gesturing down the street, asked about Santa Lucia.. The traffic policewoman nodded and said “twenty o’clock.” With that, we decided to head home and come back after dinner!

The relics of Santa Lucia in the parade, Siracusa, Sicily

The relics of Santa Lucia being carried in the parade through the streets of Siracusa

3 hours later we returned to find a full street procession heading for Ortigia. Twice a year the relics of Santa Lucia or Saint Lucy, the patron saint of Siracusa who was born here, are paraded through the streets between the Basilica de Santa Lucia and the Siracusa Cathedral. We were surprised how many people made the walk barefoot and carrying candles!

The lifesize silver statue of Santa Lucia in the parade, Siracusa, Sicily

A lifesize silver statue of Santa Lucia passes after the relics in the parade, it’s difficult to make out but it includes a dagger through her throat

At exactly twenty o’clock, the relics and life-size silver statue passed us!

Among the other sights we enjoyed in Siracusa where the coastal cycle path and the pointy Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime which punctures the skyline. The name of the church translates to “Shrine of Our Lady of Tears” and was built to house a statue of Mary that in 1953 cried repeatedly over 3 days. The result of an international design competition, and not without criticism that caused delays, the giant concrete conical structure was completed in 1994. We liked it, the bold, unmissable structure reminded us of old Soviet architecture and with a certain amount of endearment we nicknamed it “The Cone of Shame!”

Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime, Siracusa, Sicily

The Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime, literally the Sanctuary of the Crying Madonna or Mary, it’s the tallest building in Siracusa and we nicknamed it “The Cone of Shame” not for any other reason than it’s cone-shaped

Inside the Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime, a wonderful bright and open space, with the crying Madonna having pride of place at the altar

We also took a local train 30 minutes south of Siracusa to Noto, a small town that was devastated by an earthquake in 1693, and was subsequently rebuilt in the baroque style of the day. Much of the original Baroque period centre exists today and it too is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The lovely Porta Ferdinandea, in better condition than the other gates we saw in Taormina

You might have seen in the previous photo this old Alfa Romeo parked outside the Porta Ferdinandea. It caught my eye too – I think it’s a ~1959 Alfa Romeo 2000 Spider

We loved the baroque balconies and the bowed metalwork nicely set off with the British racing green shutter doors

This is Via Nicolaci, the site of an annual festival where the centre of the street is covered in beautiful flowers!

The centre of the baroque old town is the Basilica de San Nicolò, the warm, sandy stone glows in the early evening light

It was a little bit of an uphill trek from the train station through the outskirts to reach the main Corso Vittorio Emanuele, but the reward of intricate and exaggerated buildings one after another was easily worth it. We’d read the town looks best in the warm early evening light, and we just got a glimpse of it before the dark clouds came in.

Maltese Architecture

Building materials

There aren’t any forests on Malta and wood is in short supply so there isn’t any traditional wooden architecture such as we’ve seen in Latvia, Russia and Japan. Fortunately for the Maltese much of the island is composed of a soft limestone which is easy to quarry and is used to build everything from dry stone walls and houses to churches and fortifications. Its soft honey colour is very easy on the eye and gives a uniform, cohesive look to any town viewed from a distance.

Valleta’s limestone architecture seen from across the Grand Harbour

There isn’t much in the way of modern architecture here (outside the resort areas anyway), and certainly no skyscrapers, but at the entrance to Valletta a new Parliament building is nearing completion. Designed by the high profile architect Renzo Piano (one of his other recent projects is The Shard in London) it has caused controversy and apparently UNESCO are considering whether Valletta’s World Heritage status should be revoked because of it. I hope it doesn’t come to that, it is definitely modern but use of the traditional limestone means that it blends in nicely. We like it. We also like that it’s been nicknamed the ‘Cheese Grater’.

The ‘Cheese Grater’, Malta’s new parliament building

Fortifications

It’s not only the buildings here that are built from the local limestone but also the island’s many fortifications – city walls, coastal watchtowers and forts. In the rather clunkily named but nevertheless fascinating Fortifications Interpretation Centre we learnt that military engineers would dig out the limestone to create a defensive ditch surrounding the city and use the blocks to build up the walls.

Fortifications at the land-side of Senglea, one of the Three Cities

Balconies

One of the most obvious features of Maltese houses are the balconies. They’re usually wooden, closed in and painted in bright colours. Although it’s not clear exactly what their origins are, it’s thought that they were influenced by the Arabic muxarabija balconies, possibly arriving via Spain. They gained popularity in the 18th century and were sometimes added to the house later. Because of the high price of timber they became something of a status symbol amongst the country’s elite, however when the British took over in the 19th century timber became more affordable making balconies available to those of lower means.

Balconies along Republic Street in Valletta

Front doors

The Maltese do an interesting line in what we might call door furniture. There are extravagant door knockers, plaques of saints next to front doors and, as every house has its own name, a wide variety of name plaques in different designs and styles. It’s been fun to spot different ones as we walk the streets.

Shops

Of course there are shopping malls with the usual chain stores, but many of the shopfronts in Malta’s towns seem to hark back to an earlier time with small windows and hand-painted signs making them look a bit retro. They also have old fashioned opening times with pretty much all small businesses closing for lunch at 12pm and (perhaps) reopening at 4pm for 2-3 hours. Maybe this makes more sense in August when the midday temperature averages 32°C but in late autumn there doesn’t appear to be a clear explanation and at first it was confusing to us.

Valletta shopfront

Religious bits and bobs

Malta is predominantly Catholic (over 90%) and, as well as the saint plaques beside front doors, there are frequent roadside shrines and street corner niches containing saints, plus lots of churches. The larger churches often follow a similar design with two bell towers flanking the entrance and a dome over the nave.

St Lawrence Church in Vittoriosa

Two street corner niches and a roadside shrine

British influence

Malta was a British colony for 164 years until it gained its independence in 1964. There are a few telltale signs that make us feel a bit nostalgic and homesick, most obviously the red postboxes and phone booths.

Red phone booths are rare in the UK now, but everywhere in Malta

two year trip

Andrew and Julie's Travelling Adventures