Venice is a city of surprises, filled with contrasts and apparent contradictions that, somehow, fluidly coexist. It is a city of water and of stone, the most pliant and most solid of natural substances. For much of its history Venice has been guided by BOTH church & state and by both honor & profit. And, like the Roman god Janus, Venice has always faced in two directions at the same time: to the West and to the East.
But most improbable of all is Venice’s amazing historic arc . . . over a millennium Venice went from a marshy hideaway for refugees to one of the greatest economic and political powers in the world.
Whenever I visit La Serenissima and revel in the architectural confection of St. Mark’s Basilica and the Gothic grandeur of the Doge’s Palace I am reminded of the twin pillars upon which Venice built its improbable success: an unwavering faith in a higher being and a more earth-bound faith in the ingenuity and resourcefulness of its fellow Venetians to navigate and triumph in a challenging world.
Venice and all of Italy will bounce back and once again astonish and delight us all.
Andra! Tutto Bene!!
Throughout its rich and storied history, Rome has come back from invaders and setbacks of all descriptions.
The Eternal City will surely do so once again. The world’s prayers are will you.
******************************************
As you all know, the situation in the country we all love so much is dire. ‘We the Italians’ founder, Umberto Mucci has undertaken a fundraising campaign to assist on behalf of the Spallanzani Hospital, the leading Italian hospital for infectious diseases. Spallanzani Hospital represents one of the front lines of doctors, nurses and researchers who are working tirelessly to save as many lives as possible. In this video link the hospital’s Director General, Marta Branca, explains the situation and what the Spallanzani Hospital needs most urgently. https://www.gofundme.com/f/we-the-italians-against-coronavirus
Please donate and help the Italy that you love and want to visit again. No amount is too small; and please share the video link on your social media accounts. Whatever you are able to do as well as your prayers, will be gratefully appreciated. Both Marta and ‘We the Italians’ promise that the entirety of funds raised will go directly to the hospital and be used for the most urgent needs related to the coronavirus crisis.
To subscribe to Postcards from the Boot, click here.
Orvieto’s cathedral doesn’t have the global profile of Saint Peter’s in Rome, Saint Mark’s in Venice or the Duomo in Florence, and if the Catholic church were to do a survey of Italy’s most glorious churches it might even trail Milan’s cathedral or Siena’s stunner. But if you arrive in Orvieto on a blue-skied day and stroll up Via Nebbia, then turn the corner with all the tourist signs and cast your gaze heavenward, there’s a good chance that you’ll forget all the others, at least for a while. There before you is the Duomo, in all its grand Gothic glory. Construction began in 1290 but wasn’t completed until three hundred years later, and by that time, according to one historian’s count, it had become the collaborative product of 33 architects, 152 sculptors, 68 painters and 90 mosaic artisans.
Art historian Jacob Burckhardt called the Duomo “the greatest and richest polychrome monument in the world.” Pope Leo XIII suggested that on Judgment Day the Duomo’s beauty would levitate it straight to heaven … I think so too!
Copyright - Postcards from the Boot.