Stepping Up the Garden Path

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Francis

The Italian autumn is a particularly suitable time for tidying up the garden. The searing summer heat has worn off, the forest’s changing colours provide a kaleidoscopic wonderland and the thought that winter won’t be too far off concentrates the mind, particularly as far as stacking up wood supplies is concerned.

At the rear of our house are two features worthy of note. First are the remaining rows of bee-hives left by the former denizen of our house, signor Pagni. Although the bees have long since departed and the hives are now regrettably rotting away we are still keeping them there as a feature. One might ask why we didn’t take up bee-keeping and continue Pagni’s apiary line. We had thought of that but a special agricultural license has to be obtained and that license can only be got if one has passed a bee-keeping course. Moreover, Pagni unfortunately received objections from some Longoio villagers who thought his hives were too close to their house and they were in danger of being stung. (In fact, I don’t quite believe this was the case and that it was just another occasion where some villagers wished to lord it over poor Pagni because he was an outsider).

The other feature of the back garden is the water butt fed from the roof drain. We placed it there ten years ago and used its supply mainly to fill our little pond, especially when we kept Muscovy ducks there.

With help we have now managed to connect the three levels via a staircase build out of our sawn up trees. It’s opened up an area of land formerly difficult to reach because of its overgrown steepness. With this addition we’ve decided to make an extension to our kitchen garden and the vicinity of the water butt is proving most useful.

Our cats seem to like the new extension too!

At the Limits of Limano

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Francis

Autumn, together with Spring, is our favourite time for walks. The summer heat has worn off and, particularly after the solstice of September 21 nature begins to assume a distinctively multi-coloured mantle: the chestnut trees ripen their fruits and the forest floors are dotted with a variety of mushrooms. Here’s a platter of mushrooms we managed to find the other day. Congratulations to my wife for her keen eye in locating the often elusive porcini (ceps).

It’s also a good time to revisit the various villages which comprise our comune of Bagni di Lucca

A few days ago we found ourselves in Limano on the northern side of the Lima River. It’s a delightfully peaceful place spread between two hills with a main square dividing its two halves.

First mentioned in a document of 893 AD as a village under the jurisdiction of Vico Pancellorum it became a feud of the Suffredinghi family and passed under Lucca’s rule in 1200.

We walked up Limano’s north hill and found ourselves before a chapel with a very well-kept garden and some amazingly good stone-work.

This is the oratory of Our Lady of Grace. Dating from 1684 it is built in local limestone using material recovered from the old parish church which had been abandoned because of a landslide. I suspect this is why the stonework is so good; it may date from the eleventh century at the full height of the Romanesque style. The oratory is accessed through a portico supported by four columns and is covered with slate stone plates.

Inside, the effigy of the Madonna delle Grazie, the venerated patron saint of the town of Limano, is preserved.

We returned to the main square where, on the first of August, near the sixteenth century fountain, a festa with traditional country dancing takes place here.

The participants of the “Festa in Piazza Gave” sing and dance in characteristic costume, marking the occasion when shepherds traditionally came down from the mountain pastures to sell lambs.

In the latter half of the twentieth century the festival declined, but has happily been revived by the “Limano Nostro” association. I’ve said more about these festivities in my post at

https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2016/08/03/country-dancing-in-limanos-piazza-gave/

Limano’s southern hill is steeper than its northern neighbour and proceeds past the parish church of San Martino built in 1776 and renovated in 1908. Unfortunately the church was again closed during our visit but I am told the choir’s decoration, the work of Arturo Chelini, is worth looking at. Maybe next time?

At the top of the hill are the remains of the castle. Most of what’s left of it is incorporated into existing houses but there’s an area where a covered passage gives one a good idea of the former castle’s defences.

It’s near here that a friend has recently purchased a house with great views.

The hills were clothed with heavy mist and it began to rain, the first rain we’ve had for weeks. Autumn has clearly come! The following night came the big tempest – the night was alight with electric flashes and at one point the thunder shook the foundations of our house like an earthquake. I think that as much as the pure blue skies and the sunshine I would miss these dramatically operatic Italian storms if I returned to live in England!

Fish Friday at Chifenti

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Francis

It’s quite difficult to decide what place offers the best ice creams in and around Bagni di Lucca. Each one of us clearly has their favourite one.

We particular enjoyed the gelato at Rudy Bar on the Brennero road just before the turn-off for Benabbio. We would often combine this visit with a meal at the bar’s restaurant next door called L’Osteria Del Buongustaio and a check-up of our car with Boldi’s motor workshop nearby.

I have described the Osteria Del Buongustaio in my post at:

https://longoio.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/still-no-borghesi-but-all-is-not-lost/

It was therefore a bit of a disappointment when we found Rudy Bar and the Osteria Del Buongustaio closed down when we finally managed to return to Bagni di Lucca this year.

Some friends meanwhile praised the meal they’d had at a bar and trattoria next to Jo-Jo, Chifenti’s ex-disco and the youthful haunt of our family doctor Vito who used to be a bouncer there while his wife sold the entry tickets.

Much to our pleasant surprise we discovered that the Osteria Del Buongustaio has been reborn here and, indeed, has been running for almost two years. For some time the family had managed both places in parallel but this began to prove too much and so the original location in Via del Brennero was closed down.

Anyway our lunch was very much to our satisfaction. As it was Fish Friday I chose spaghetti alle vongole (cockles).

This was followed by a branzino (sea bass).

The contorno (veg) was simple enough, tomatoes, carrots and onions and chips which fortunately (unlike another place we dined at) were prepared in house and not from a frozen supermarket bag!

My wife chose ravioli

followed by a leg of chicken.

We could not resist the ice cream which remains as good as we ever remember it.

It was a nice, modest but very satisfying meal all for the price of ten euros each (plus the ices). We even had enough left over to fill in a doggy bag kindly packed for us by the owners:

No booking is necessary and one can choose to eat either in the interior area or in a covered conservatory- like extension which was beautifully decorated with a variety of flowers including orchids.

Incidentally there are traditional differences between ‘ristorante’,’ trattoria’ and ‘osteria’. Although by no means clear-cut ‘ristorante’ is at the top of the list for formality, variety of menu and price-range. A trattoria is more casual than a restaurant. One doesn’t really have dress up for one and often the trattoria offers more local dishes and specialities than a ristorante. The osteria, which translates into English as ‘tavern,’ is supposed to be the humblest of the three in terms of price and décor though this is by no means a strict rule. Our ‘osteria del Buongustaio,’ for example, provided meals as good as any that can be found in Bagni di Lucca’s ristoranti and trattorie.

Suspense about Tibetan Bridges

Posted on September 23, 2020 by Francis

The sign ‘Al ponte Tibetano’ (‘To the Tibetan bridge’) entices one to expect a vertiginous rope affair cast over a fathomless abyss, reminiscent of a scene from that Powell and Pressburger film ‘Black Narcissus’.

In fact, when one comes across these bridges in our part of the world they turn out to be suspension bridges for walkers and, instead of ropes cast across a chasm, they are supported by steel cables.

I’ve described the most spectacular of these suspension bridges, the one spanning the Lima River near Mammiano at:

https://longoio.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/suspense/

There’s another one I’ve written about at Vagli di Sotto in my posts at:

https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2016/10/10/a-tibetan-bridge-in-the-garfagnana/

and

https://longoio3.com/2017/10/11/vagli-lakes-circular-walk/

However, I hadn’t quite realised that Bagni di Lucca has its own ‘Tibetan bridge’. It’s near the Pian di Fiume village rescued from oblivion and turned into an ‘agriturismo’, or country holiday resort, by our resident chemist and former mayor Massimo Betti.

The bridge spans the Lima about a couple of kilometres outside Bagni on the way to Abetone on the Brennero road and we crossed it a couple of days ago. It offers delightful views over the river which at this point also provides good bathing opportunities.

The first modern suspension bridge was built by Thomas Telford in 1826 and crosses the Menai straits in Wales connectingYnys Mon (Anglesey) with the mainland. Nottolini, the Luccan architect and engineer, visited Britain specially to study Telford’s methods and returned to build the iconic chain suspension bridge known as ‘il ponte delle Catene’ at Fornoli. I’ve written about this pioneering bridge in my post at:

https://longoio3.com/2018/09/20/bridging-a-much-needed-gap/

There is a smaller version of the bridge, for pedestrians only connecting the Circolo dei Forestieri square with the Brennero road.

I love bridges of all types but the suspension ones are my favourite!

The Forgotten Fiesole

Posted on September 21, 2020 by Francis

Going up from Florence towards the beautiful heights of Fiesole there are two buildings that are easy to miss. Yet they contain much that is of beauty. One of them is the Badia Fiesolana which stands by a very steep road. We almost saw it a couple of weeks ago. I say ‘almost’ since the Badia is in the midst of a thorough refurbishment and was completely covered by scaffolding and plastic sheeting. This is what the unfinished façade should normally look like.

The second building of note is half way up the main road to Fiesole and is the convent of San Domenico. We were always passing it but finally decided to stop. Just as we were approaching the building the front door closed and was locked. I made what I thought would be a vain attempt to see if anyone would open it for us. I gave two knocks and the door opened. We asked the elderly gentleman who unfastened it for us whether it would be possible to have a look at a painting I knew was housed in the church. He very kindly obliged and I was set thinking ‘He seems very trusting. What if we were thieves? “I was somewhat taken back at its lack of security especially as Italy continues to suffer considerable depredation of its artisti treasures. However, I could not resist the invitation to see the picture.

I was struck by the fantastic entrance stairway into the convent:

We entered the church, which was redone in the seventeenth century in baroque style,

I almost immediately gazed upon the painting which is by Fra Angelico, and represents one of his most significant works: the Madonna and Child with Saints Thomas Aquinas, Barnabas, Dominic and Peter Martyr dating from 1425. Interestingly the usual golden background that Fra Angelico used for most of his paintings was here replaced by a landscape painted by someone a hundred years after the original picture had been completed.

The convent of San Domenico in the locality of San Domenico, Fiesole, is a Dominican monastery founded in 1406. It was founded on the initiative of Giovanni Dominici and the bishop of Fiesole Jacopo Altoviti, both of whom were Dominican friars of Santa Maria Novella, one of Florence’s two great gothic friary churches, the other being Santa Croce which belongs to the Franciscan order.

It was, therefore, the second Dominican convent in the Florentine area before the construction of the convent of San Marco in Florence, where the friars moved towards the middle of the fifteenth century and where Fra Angelico painted some of his sublimest frescoes. I have described these masterworks in my post at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2017/01/18/a-museum-all-to-myself-in-florence/

The elderly gentleman who opened the door for us turned out to one of the convent’s Dominican friars and showed us round the rest of the building where there are also two wonderful Beato Angelico frescoes: a large crucifixion:

And a Madonna and child together with its sinopia (background sketch):

The front portico, by Matteo Nigetti, was financed by the Medici Neofiti family, a family of converted Jews who was protected by the Medici and who had the identical coat of arms by concession.

Outside the convent is a fountain which supplied refreshing waters to a variety of ancient and modern personages as its inscriptions relate:

We are so glad that we finally decided to stop at San Domenico and not pass it by!

Bagni di Lucca’s Doctor Vito with ‘A Space for You’.

Posted on September 18, 2020 by Francis

The animal medical centre at Ponte dell’Ania where I have taken stray cats for free neutering, has moved to Gallicano and its former premises are now a centre for alternative and holistic medicine.

The centre is called ‘Uno spazio per te’ (a space for you) and this is its programme for 2020:

A couple of evenings ago we attended a seminar on psychosomatic medicine given by our family doctor and iconic Bagni di Lucca personality Doctor Vito Valentino

Vito combines learning with fun and vividness. His talks are almost like theatrical monologues and he manages to make his audience easily aware of things they might not even have considered.

Psychosomatic medicine has been around since at least ancient Greek times and the saying ‘a healthy mind in a healthy body’ encapsulates the essence of what it’s all about. The problem today is that with all its specialisms the field of medicine has become so dissected that doctors of physical treatment may ignore the knowledge of psychological therapies and vice versa. In fact, all states of health and well-being depend on a complex interaction between mind and body. To give a very basic example: walking is encouraged as a means of improving both psychic and physical health. Too many people today just don’t do enough walking. Since taking this aspect of our well-being more vitally I have tried to keep up my daily intake to a minimum of ten thousand paces using my phone’s pedometer app to monitor this. I have found that my own periods of feeling low seem to coincide with those days where I am just ‘lying about’ and do a minimum of steps. Of course, this also adds a physical aspect in that one accumulates weight and most of us get somewhat upset when we pile on our kilos!

Vito clearly distinguished between external and internal self. Our external self is what everyone else notes about us: our appearance and our behaviour. This become public property and in many cases almost depersonalises us since in so many social situations we only act out our interaction with others using a constructed persona. Furthermore, we may even become intimidated by the apparent ‘possession’ of others into our private person.

The truly private ‘self’ is our interior being which no-one but us can have any really deep knowledge of. Indeed, we often become very upset when others create an image of our inner self which is at complete variance to the one we know and believe to be ourselves. It’s here that the trouble starts. When the inner self becomes confused with the outer self then personality disorders really start forming themselves. Only if one has complete faith in one’s own inner being can one vanquish those daemons of the outer world – daemons which can be embodied by people who, through their own delights or, rather, their insufficiencies, enjoy placing their fabricated image of our inner selves tormenting us no end.

This aspect is, of course, well represented in ‘natural’ cultures i.e. those societies which have not entirely capitulated to western concepts of economic prosperity, artificial reality, somatic pharmaceuticals and psychological pseudo-jargon. The witch-doctor may release a person from possession by the soul of another as equally entrap that person into an image of their inner selves completely at odds from the one they truly know to be themselves.

This situation happened to me in an instance when a particular person did, indeed, attempt to ‘possess’ me. The physiological effect of this was to make me suffer a painful attack of shingles – an event which re-occurred until I had rid myself of the ‘possessed’ spirit – one of the closest situations I have ever had of experiencing powerful psychosomatic symptoms.

Vito illustrated his talk with various objects, including a set of spheres, and interspersed his ideas with a variety of points one of which relates to a Native American tribe who were wondering whether it was going to be a hard winter or not. They consulted the wise man of the mountains who said that indeed it was going to be one of the hardest winters on record, upon which they went to the forest and started chopping down loads of trees for firewood. Later on they returned to the wise man of the mountains and asked him ‘are you still sure it’s going to be a very severe winter?’ ‘Yes it is’ he answered. ‘But how do you know?’ ‘Because when I look down on the forest I see lots of people manically felling trees for firewood…’

To one side of the chair where Doctor Vito sat was a notice proclaiming: ‘Vis Sanatrix Naturae’, meaning ‘the healing strength of nature.’ I’m sure that Wordsworth had this in mind when he penned those immortal lines:

Let Nature be your teacher…

One impulse from a vernal wood

May teach you more of man,

Of moral evil and of good,

Than all the sages can.

There are many other activities covering a panoply of themes listed on the centre’s programme.

For further information do consult ‘Uno spazio per te’ facebook page at

https://www.facebook.com/ASD-Uno-Spazio-per-Te-155262395135360/

Ponte a Cappiano’s Canal

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Francis

If we motor to Florence from our house in the Lucchesia the one thing we always do is to avoid the Firenze-Mare autostrada both because one has to pay a toll on it and because frankly, it doesn’t enable us to discover new sights easily.

Our favourite route is to head towards Empoli and then take the FI-PI-LI superstrada linking Florence with Pisa and Livorno. The first section takes one through the Cerbaie which are quite similar to the heathlands of the North Downs near Guildford in the UK. In fact, both are geologically of the same structure. Le Cerbaie is, however, the morainic uplands deposited at the end of the ice-age glaciers which once covered Tuscany and formed the Arno valley. You’ll know when you enter the Cerbaie since beautiful woodland spreads along much of it. Here is the protected natural area of Montefalcone which rises west of the Fucecchio Lake (great for bird-watching) and reaches a height of 500 feet.

At around half of our journey time we like to stop at a sweet little location called Ponte a Cappiano.

Ponte a Cappiano is located near the exit channel of the Fucecchio Marshes, by the slopes of the Cerbaie and takes its name from the Medici Bridge of the same name and from the Cappiano hill, which overlooks the bridge.

The existence of this bridge is documented from the early middle Ages: it was managed by the Altopascio Hospitallers and the ancient Via Francigena passed over it.

In particular, in the itinerary of Sigeric, Archbishop of Canterbury, it represented the journey’s twenty fourth stage; the locality was then called Aqua Nigra, most likely because of the dark water of the Usciana canal, an outlet of the Fucecchio Marsh.

In 1325 the bridge was destroyed during the conflict between Florence and Lucca. It was later rebuilt and fortified with a tower and defended with drawbridges. The structure was equipped with a lock to regulate the flow of water but also favoured the fishing of eels, a mill and a water saw for cutting wood.

The Cappiano Bridge was even drawn by Leonardo da Vinci!

The current bridge was built in the first half of the sixteenth century by Cosimo I de ‘Medici when both the open bridge and the covered bridge were constructed. Further buildings were added; these included the tavern, the ironworks and the house of the bridge administrator.

As the plaque on the bridge states:

Cosimo Medici Duca Di Fiorenza
Ha Rifatto Questo Loco Da’ Fondamenti
Per Benefizio Pubblico,
Et Non Sia Chi Lo Disfaccia Più
Con Isperanza D’acquistarne Commodo Al Paese
Sappiendo Ogni Volta Che S’è Disfatto
Essersi Perduto
Di Sotto L’uso Della Terra
Et Di Sopra Della Pescagione
Senza Acquisto Alcuno

Which translates as:

Duke Cosimo Medici of Florence

Rebuilt this bridge from its foundations

For the benefit of the public,

And let no-one destroy it again

With the hope that it will bring comfort to the land

Knowing that every time it has been destroyed

We have lost

The use of the Earth underneath us

And above us the fisheries

Without any gain.

Indeed, the whole of this area is a maze of waterways, rivers and canals largely set out by the Medici dynasty to drain the swamps and provide a communication system for barges.

Our pit stop at the bar in Ponte a Cappiano’s Main Square provides a welcome break on our journey and enables us to reach Florence and tackle its traffic with renewed strength!

(Incidentally ten years have passed since we first discovered this bridge and the photos date back to September 2010!)

The Enchanted Spring of Morgan Le Fay

Posted on September 13, 2020 by Francis

It was in April 2013 that we took a trip to the south of Florence on our valiant but since sadly departed Fiat Cinquina without any particular aim in mind. In Italy, directions to places of interest are indicated by brown-coloured signs. One such notice, south of Grassina, captured our attention: “fonte di Fata Morgana” – the enchantress Morgana’s fount (remember your Ariosto and ‘King Arthur’s Morgan le Fay?)

(The Enchantress Morgan Le Fay by Frederick Sandys)

A delightfully narrow road directed us through olive groves with branches reminiscent of Daphne’s arboreal transformation to escape the attentions of Apollo.

And then we were at the fount – an ornamental water feature once decorating the gardens of Count Vecchietti and dating back to 1522.

An inscription on a wall plays on the count’s surname (which also means “old men”) translatable thus:

Reader, I am that enchantress Morgana

Who, young, made others young:

Here at the old man’s because I once was old,

Made young again by his fountain.

We were unable to test the water’s claims since the gate leading to the source was firmly shut. What a pity!

Seven years later we were finally able to touch the waters of the enchanted fountain. We had contacted the comune of Bagno a Ripoli who now owns the property and Silvia from the comune kindly allowed us access. However, she dissuaded us from drinking the waters on health grounds!

In the Italian sixteenth century artificial grottoes became increasingly important elements of garden design. In Florence there are two well-known examples by Buontalenti in the Boboli gardens and the fashion spread to such villas as those at Pratolino and Castello. The Fonte di Fata Morgana belongs to this tradition which extended into northern Europe; Alexander Pope for example, was enamoured of the grotto he built for his villa at Twickenham.

The Fonte was built by Bernardo Vecchietti between 1573 and 1574 on a spring that was located in the land surrounding his villa called “Il Riposo” on the slopes of the Fattucchia hill. Raffaello Borghini described it in his 1584 book. Inside, the source was decorated with the marble statue of the Fata Morgana to which the source is dedicated, sculpted by Giambologna. Unfortunately the statue has gone from its original location and is now in a private collection.

images-1

The building is L-shaped and built as a theatrical backdrop. The entrance and the windows are finished in Alberese stone and the architraves have rusticated gables. On the left there is a sixteenth-century tabernacle in pietra serena.

Inside the building there is a fountain consisting of a basin in pietra serena, supported by a rough base whose shape recalls a mermaid’s tail. The water that should overflow from the stone basin cascades into the hexagonal basin below, at the centre of which is the brick base that once supported the statue of the Fata Morgana.

Regrettably no water has flowed for some time now.

On the sides of the fountain, two symmetrical portals complete the setting. From the one on the left, via a small staircase, you can access the upper level where there are small rooms, one of which was used as a kitchen.

The whole seems to have been created to amaze the viewer with a magical and fantastic feeling expressed by the decorative and architectural elements of the source and enhanced by the charm of the surrounding countryside which envelops the Nymphaeum in an almost unreal atmosphere.

Recently acquired by the Municipality of Bagno a Ripoli, the Fonte Della Fata Morgana has been restored by the Superintendence for Architectural Heritage and Landscape and for the Historical, Artistic and Demo-ethno-anthropological Heritage for the Provinces of Florence, Pistoia and Prato. In 2016 the Municipality promoted a crowdfunding action to obtain resources for its maintenance.

It was lovely to be able to finally enter into the secret chambers of the Fata Morgana seven years later. The number seven indeed holds a magical significance especially for us as we were married on the seventh day of the seventh month of nineteen seventy seven. We would like to thank Silvia who at such short notice enabled us to visit Fata Morgana’s house. We are still unable, however, to verify that the waters truly restore our youth. At least they took us back seven years!

Fiesole’s Holy Field

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Francis

Fiesole is well known for its classic grandstand view of Florence. It is also visited for its ancient ruins which date back to the Etruscan era and its picturesque Franciscan monastery. For us this beautiful and tranquil place has another location whose special significance will become evident at the end of this post.

Fiesole cemetery, situated by a hillside between the town’s cathedral and the monastery, was founded in 1792. It remained relatively bare of monuments until the late nineteenth century when Michelangelo Maiorfi expanded its area and built a loggia designed to accommodate loculae and private chapels.

One of the odd things about this loggia is the sudden abrupt change in the design of the arches at two points. I don’t know this should be so; perhaps the architect couldn’t make his minds up. Which arch design do you prefer?

Between 1913 and 1915 five municipal chapels were also built at the base of the loggia. These are named after saints linked to Fiesole and its territory: Antonino Pierozzi, Bernardino da Siena, Alessandro di Fiesole, Andrea Corsini and Saint Romulus. They were all decorated by the Chini pottery and ceramics manufacturers. Galileo Chini was the firm’s leading light and I have discussed this major art nouveau creator in my post at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2016/03/21/tiger-hunting-in-viareggios-most-exquisite-art-nouveau-villa/

Galileo Chini himself lavishly decorated the Fiocchi chapel, with glazed ceramic inserts which suggest a Viennese secessionist style.

Between 1930 and 1947, the entrance was completed with the addition of a bay to the loggia intended to contain the fallen of the First World War. Finally, in the 1950s, the last extension was completed with a modern building, loculae and ossuaries.

There are some notable citizens buried In the cemetery, not only Italian but also from the large community of foreigners residing in the surrounding area. These include the chapels dedicated to the Spence and Dupré families.

The first contains the memorial to Luisa Teresa Renard, the wife of the painter William Blundel Spence who lived at the Villa Medici. Her sensitively modelled effigy is among the most significant works of the sculptor Odoardo Fantacchiotti. The two little children are particularly charming.

The second chapel contains the tomb of the sculptor Giovanni Dupré and his family, including his daughter Amali who was also a sculptor. On Giovanni’s grave is a copy of a ‘Pieta’ (term used to describe the figure of the dead Christ) which he carved for Siena cemetery while Amalia carved the monument for her sister Luisina, who died at a young age. There are also other sculptures and a painting of the resurrected Christ by Antonio Ciseri.

However, despite the fine art displayed by these memorials we are drawn towards a more intimate plaque placed on the inner face of the entrance wall and shaded by a cypress.

It is the last resting place of my wife’s parents.

The Walls of Florence

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Francis

The walls of Florence. What walls? Unlike many cities and towns in Italy there appear to be no walls surrounding this gem of the Italian renaissance. Yet before 1860 Florence had one of the finest defensive systems of any city. Extending over five miles the walls were designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, the architect also of the Palazzo Vecchio and the basilica of Santa Croce in the fourteenth century. Florence’s walls were punctuated by great gates which also served as customs posts bringing in some useful cash into the city’s coffers.

In 1861 the unification of Italy changed the situation for Florence. Rome had not yet been captured and Turin became the temporary capital of the new kingdom. In 1865 the capital was transferred to Florence and the city fathers decided that its mediaeval street were unfit for purpose and that the place needed improvement. City development architect Poggi’s master plan brought some new features which are still appreciated today, especially the ‘viale dei colli’, the panoramic road which winds up to piazzale Michelangelo on Florence’s south bank. So much of great historic and artistic value, however, perished. Among these the greatest losses were the demolition of the ancient city heart centred around the old market and ghetto and also those walls. It would have been perfectly possible to have constructed a circle of roads outside the walls as has happily occurred in Lucca to magnificent effect but speculation was rife and Florence’s walls were demolished, often by dynamiting them – so solid were they – and French-style boulevards built where the defensive bastions had been situated.

Luckily many gateways were spared: the Porta San Gallo and the Porta Romana, for example, and they stand as reminders of what must have been perhaps Italy’s finest walled city. These gates have lost their original appearance for with the advent of fire power in the sixteenth century they were truncated to half their heights in order to be able to withstand damage from the new generation of weapons. Only one remains to its original height: the Porta San Niccolò by the South bank of the Arno river in the eastern part of the city.
Standing at a height of 45 metres the Porta is an imposing structure which we have often admired on our visits to Florence. With its set of three large arches and its cantilevered steps it had tempted me to climb to its top but it was always closed to visitors. Fortunately it is now managed by a friends of Florence association and visits can be booked.

Our guide was a very knowledgeable young lady who told me the history of Florence’s walls I have related above. The climb up those stairs was dizzying but even more spectacular were the views of this utterly rapturous city from the top.

I leave you with our photographs of those views!