Italy's favourite son, finally moving out - The Florentine

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18 Thursday 7 September 2006 Travel & LEISURE Life in Italy www.theflorentine.net SLOW TRAVEL along the highways and byways of Italy When the hills were alive with the sound of quarrymen by Sabine Eiche Photo by sabine Eiche Nanni di Banco, Orsanmichele tabernacle Has it ever occurred to you that the stony city of Florence was literally carved out of the surrounding hills? It’s quite true. Countless local quarries provided the blocks of stone for the walls of medieval and Renaissance churches and palaces, and for the columns and architectural ornaments to decorate them. Pietraforte, a kind of light brown limestone, came from quarries at Costa San Giorgio, in the Boboli hill between Santa Felicità and Porta Romana, at Bellosguardo, and around Marignolle and Le Campore, all south of the Arno. To the north, the hills of Fiesole, Maiano and Settignano provided the blueish-grey sandstone pietra serena. In the 13 th century, load after load of pietraforte was hauled over the Arno to the outskirts of Florence to construct the enormous basilicas of Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce. Even the piers inside these two churches are of pietraforte. Look at Palazzo Vecchio, the Loggia dei Lanzi, the Bargello and Orsanmichele, and you are looking at pieces of the southern hills transformed into architecture. The gigantic blocks of rustication that you see on the façades of the 15 th - century Palazzo Medici were cut out of pietraforte quarries. Filippo Strozzi, whose palace rivals that of the Medici in size, had endless loads of stone brought from quarries at Boboli and Marignolle. It is said that between November 1495 and March 1497, Strozzi’s heavily-laden carts rattled over the Arno more than a thousand times. At Palazzo Pitti, the builders had it much easier, since their source (the Boboli hill) was right behind the palace. In fact, Palazzo Pitti sits on the hollowed out part of one of these quarries. If pietraforte was used mainly for the construction of walls, pietra serena was used above all for columns, stairs, doors and windows. The oldest of these quarries, dating back to Etruscan times, were at Monte Ceceri in Fiesole, and they continued to be worked during the Roman and early medieval periods. The demand for pietra serena was so high that in the 13 th century new Piero di Cosimo, The Building of a Double Palace quarries had to be opened further east, around Vincigliata and Settignano. By the 15 th century, when Brunelleschi’s architectural style boosted the popularity of pietra serena to unprecedented heights, it was also being extracted at Golfolina, west of Florence. Brunelleschi chose quarries that would provide enormous blocks of pietra serena from which he could cut entire column shafts. He quarried the stone for the loggia of the Ospedale degli Innocenti at Trassinaia, near Vincigliata. The columns for San Lorenzo came from a site nearby, still known as the Cava delle Colonne. Vasari tells us that Michelangelo got the pietra serena for the New Sacristy and the Laurentian Library from a quarry in the valley of the Mensola, below Monte Ceceri. Because pietra serena does not weather well, it was normally reserved for the interior of buildings, although the portico of the Uffizi, entirely in pietra serena, is a significant exception. Vasari (who built the Uffizi) says that he chose a variety of pietra serena known as pietra del fossato, which was also used for the columns of the mid-16 th -century Mercato Nuovo (popularly called the Straw Market). Not much time passed before pietra serena became so sought after that the Grand Dukes of Tuscany decided to restrict access to the Fiesole quarries found between San Francesco and Fontelucente, and those at Mulinaccio below Maiano. By the early 20 th century, most quarries around Florence had closed. Probably the last Florentine monument with stairs and columns carved out of pietra serena was the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, begun in 1911. However, after the Second World War, one of the pietraforte quarries of Boboli was reopened, specifically to provide stone for the rebuilding of the bombed Ponte Santa Trinità. But even when they are abandoned, quarries are not forgotten. Some are commemorated in street names, such as the Vicolo della Cava, a tiny lane off the Costa San Giorgio that once led to a quarry above Boboli. Some survive because they’ve been put to other uses, such as the Cava delle Colonne, which John Temple Leader in the 19 th century turned into an artificial lake in his park at the Castello di Vincigliata. Maiano is the location of one of the best known abandoned quarries, a huge amphitheatre carved out of the hillside, now used by rock-climbers. Nearby, in a small building constructed for the use of the quarrymen by the same Temple Leader, is the renowned restaurant Cave di Maiano (055-59133, open daily for lunch and dinner). The fare is appropriately wholesome and very tasty. Eating out on the spacious terrace overlooking the hills on a balmy evening is a memorable experience. Many other quarries are preserved in the local memory and visited by excursionists, especially on the north side of the Arno. For the past two years, the group Anpilandia has organized a Sunday hike in May following the trails of the old quarrymen in Fiesole and Settignano (for information contact Consiglio di Quartiere 2, 055-2767841; or ask Sig.ra Rita at Trattoria Osvaldo at Ponte a Mensola, closed Tuesday and Wednesday, 055 602168; while there, taste her wonderful farfalle al frantoio!). Sabine Eiche, a Canadian writer and art historian living in Florence, has published extensively on Italian Renaissance architecture, gardens and drawings. She is an authority on the history and culture of the Duchy of Urbino and is preparing a book about the local cuisine. Her most recent book is Presenting the Turkey: The Fabulous Story of a Flamboyant and Flavourful Bird. (http://members.shaw.ca/seiche). Florence SAM’ S Amsterdam MARKETS Try Sam’s for a bit of America !! Over 250 products imported by Sam’s from the USA SAM’S HAS IT ! In the center of Florence near the Bargello Museum Via Ghibellina 117r. - Tel. 055-7189020 Store hours: Mon-Sat 11.00 am – 7.00 pm www.samsmarkets.com
www.theflorentine.net Life in Italy 19 Thursday 7 September 2006 Travel & LEISURE Getaways for everyday Two historical parks for exploring culture and nature By Jo Linsdell ‘A historic garden is an architectural and horticultural composition of interest to the public from the historical or artistic point of view. As such, it is to be considered as a monument.’ Article 1 of the Florence Charter, 1982 Boboli Gardens THE BOBOLI GARDENS The immense stretch of green that extends from the hill behind the Pitti Palace as far as Porta Romana is one of the largest and most elegant ‘Italian style gardens’ in the world. It reached its current extension and appearance through several stages of enlargement and renovation work carried out over the years. The Boboli Gardens, part of the Medici gardens at the Pitti Palace, was laid out for Eleonora di Toledo and Cosimo I in the 16th century. With the declining fortunes of the Pitti family, Buonaccorso Pitti, great grandson of Luca Pitti, sold the palace to Eleanor di Toledo, wife of Duke Cosimo I Medici and daughter of Emperor Charles V in 1549. This extensive out-door ‘masterpiece’ covers a vast area of 320,000 square meters and contains a magnificent collection of fountains, grottoes and elegant statues. The gardens were designed by the famous landscape architect, Niccolo Pericoli (known as ‘Tribolo’). However, when he died his work was continued by Bernardo Buontalenti (1585- 1588) and completed by Alfonso Parigi the Younger (1628-1658). Though during the 19th century, the Boboli gardens were slightly modified, most of its beautiful landscape still retains its original creations. The Medici family had planned the area as a small township, enclosed by a long wall, for their family. Extraordinary and extravagant, the Medici royals employed over 200 servants to maintain this amazing oasis of green. As one of the largest open spaces in the city, ‘Il giardino dei Boboli’ is most definitely a great picnic destination. These forty-five hectares (or 111 acres) of hillside park owe their Parco della Cascine name to the Boboli family, the former owners of some of this land. Full of inviting walks, the gardens are among the finest classical parks of this kind and have various features worth seeing, as well as providing a beautiful view of Florence from the highpoint of the terrace of the Kaffeehaus (was added in 1775). The quietest entrance is on the Via Romana. One of the most notable features is the Viottolone, a long avenue lined with cypress trees. There are many different elements that enrich the landscape, including a rose garden, fountains, grottoes, garden temples and statues of mythical gods and goddesses. There are also paths that will take you to a higher level, where you can enjoy the breathtaking scenery and some of the finest panoramic views of the city. Boboli Gardens Piazza Pitti - Florence Open from 9.00am-4.30pm daily; closed on the fi rst and last Monday of each month. Admission costs 6 euro. Accessible to disabled people. Le Cascine Piazza Vittorio Veneto - Florence Open everyday. Admission free. Accessible to disabled people. PARCO DELLE CASCINE The Cascine (or ‘farmhouses’) were part of the property which Alessandro and Cosimo I dei Medici purchased and turned into a game reserve and area for the rearing of cattle. The Cascine park is bound by three waterways of various sizes and importance: the river Arno, the river Mugnone and the Macinate canal (dug in 1563). ‘Il parco’, which covers 118 hectares of land, is Florence’s largest public park. Its history has always been closely bound up with that of the city: from the Medici to the Lorraine, and from the Kingdom of Italy to the present day. During the Medici reign the estate also included a piece of land called La Sardigna, and an irregular rectangle of land between the Carraia bridge and the Prato gateway. Possession of this land, both inside and outside the city walls, ensured continuity between the city and country life the Medici family led in the 16 th century. When the Medici family line died out in 1737, the property passed to the Grand-Duchy of Lorraine, and the Cascine were used more as a place of leisure, for walks and for parties. In 1786, Giuseppe Manetti began work on reorganising the Cascine to create the large park, with furnishings and architectural elements of symbolic significance. These include the ‘Little Royal Palace’, the Quercione watering-place (also known as the Fontana delle Boccacce), the pyramid-shaped ice store and the Pavoniere (two Neoclassical temples used as birdcages). Although they were only opened to the public on special occasions from the 17 th century onwards, it was during the brief Napoleonic interlude, under Elisa Baciocchi, that the Cascine became a real public park. In the second half of the 19 th century, it became even more popular as a walking or riding place than other traditional Florentine destinations, such as Fiesole or Pian dei Giullari. In the early 19th century, Giuseppe Cacialli extensively renovated the park. In 1869, it became the property of the City of Florence and was again restored, this time by architect Felice Francolini. During the 20 th century, this well-loved park became the venue for a range of sporting activities such as horse racing, tennis, target shooting, clay pigeon shooting, swimming (in the Pavoniere pool), and the home of the Faculty of Agricultural Science and the School of Airborne Warfare. For all the changes it has witnessed over the last century, Le Cascine has lost none of their original monumental qualities. Vast prati, or lawns, bordered by a wood of Atlantic cedar trees, elms, pines, horse chestnuts, oaks and poplars, are still to be found inside the park, each one with its own individual name, such as Prato di Via delle Cascine, Prato della Tinaia, Prato del Quercione and Prato delle Cornacchie. This popular park is a favourite with joggers, horse riders and families with young children, especially on Sundays and Tuesday mornings, when it’s market day. Towards Piazza Vittorio Veneto on the park’s east side is an open-air swimming pool (used during the summer months), while to the west is the park’s amphitheatre, a popular summertime venue for dance performances and concerts. Horse racing takes place not far from here at the Ippodromo delle Muline. Jo Linsdell has lived in Italy for six years and works as a freelance writer. Her book Italian for Tourists is available to buy at www.lulu. com/jolinsdell
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Italy's favourite son, finally moving out - The Florentine

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