Friendly Friday time capsules

• Manja Maksimovič

Here are some snippets from my local area where history is richest and which feel like capsules of time, ending with some people of importance with good PR.

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Amanda’s last photo in her Friendly Friday post made me think of a surprising last year’s visit to my nearest town Capalbio on the hill and its tower in which I found a room I was reluctant to leave with the grand piano that Giacomo Puccini used to play. As I wrote then, it doesn’t happen every day that you’re completely blown away by the town where you live.

In Italy there are so many historic artefacts and locations that the country would go bust if it wished to restore all that has merit. This is why it is still possible to uncover major finds on a daily basis: an underground cave with a lake under Rome, a dead Etruscan buried in the sand on the beach, a pyramid-like structure that nobody knows how old it really is (it’s near Bomarzo and I still need to visit it), and on, and on.

I haven’t encountered any time capsules as such in my life, or had to make one in school. The only one I’ve heard of is Future Library, for which selected writers, starting with Margaret Atwood in 2014, wrote and will write a book each year which will only be revealed in 100 years. How about that.

I’m not a big history freak and don’t search it out in shape of museums and tombs often, but in Italy history finds you without trying and aims at you its time arrow. I’ve gathered some such instances, places and objects that caught my eye. There it is, Puccini’s piano, in the first photo of my gallery.

  • The piano in the Capalbio tower that Giacomo Puccini used to play. The entire structure makes for a fascinating visit with some dodgy stairs to manage to reach the top.
  • Another chance encounter: The Devil’s bridge (Ponte del Diavolo) next to Castello dell’Abaddia near Vulci, the Etruscan city and one of the legendary 12 peoples of Etruscan civilisation.
  • The Abaddia castle houses a small museum. What is the chance that out of all possible Etruscans we get to meet her happy face?
  • Another Etruscan smile. Telling you, those Etruscans were a happy bunch. This is from the Vetulonia museum, another of big 12. Father got excited upon learning that Etruscans called their city Vatluna, so similar to Slovenian “votlina”, meaning a cavern or a chamber.
  • A Vetulonia tomb. Unclear whether this has been built according to original design or what. It doesn’t seem prehistoric enough.
  • Etruscan ghost, dressed for the occasion.
  • Also Etruscan by origin and nobody knows for sure what they were used for. Such tranches, called Vie Cave, are many in the Pitigliano – Sovana – Sorano triangle. I took a couple of happy visitors there but we got lost.
  • When the ancient settlement of Cosa in Ansedonia near me had an open-door day, I was lucky to be guided by a couple of American archaeologists. They were not too amused when I asked about the Etruscans. “This was a Roman settlement.” Ah well… Who will keep them all in check?
  • Romans then. The Sovana Cathedral is one of the oldest in the region, dating from the 8th Century.
  • This was a lovely walk along Via Appia Antica in Rome. These stones we walked on are a real deal from back then.
  • The tomb of Caecilia Metella, one of the highlights along Via Appia Antica. We didn’t enter, all this can be seen from the road. They have so much stuff that they flaunt it this way.
  • The Arch of Constantine in Rome. I haven’t done most of Roman attractions yet. Rome is eternal. I have time.
  • Siena won me over at first glance. I’d never go there for the races though.
  • The Abbey of San Galgano, 40 min SW from Siena, is where my history Geiger counter tickled the most. What on earth a past me was doing there?
  • Another abbey between me and Siena in the perfect location: The Abbey of Sant’Antimo.
  • Italy’s wonders are never-ending, and I’ve only seen a tiny bit of them. This is Orvieto and its imposing cathedral.
  • Orvieto has something else: The Well of St. Patrick with a double helix staircase where they used to haul water with mules. You can walk to the bottom.
  • Rome was fond of gifting its she-wolf symbol around. This is in Pisa. The thing is that “lupa” can mean a she-wolf or a prostitute. Who do you think was more likely to nurse those twins?
  • If you love somebody and she dies, you create a Park of Monsters in her honour. Sacro Bosco in Bomarzo was commissioned by Pier Francesco Orsini in the 16th Century when his beloved wife died.
  • Another bit of history from the other side of Italy, the grounds of Miramare castle near Trieste and the border with Slovenia. It was built for Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Habsburg. This piece of art he collected is “Amazone“ by Moritz Geiss.
  • Niccolò Machiavelli wrote “The Prince” in 1532. I haven’t read it but something tells me he started a whole lot of trouble with it. When asked about him, amore said it succinctly: “He was a bastard.” In Florence they are proud of him.
  • EUR is a part of Rome not many tourists visit. Its wide boulevards and architecture take you to another time that is not so well-written in history. This is The Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana from 1938, nicknamed the Square Colosseum.
  • This cross stands at the top of Monte Argentario on the peninsula near me in lower Tuscany. Only one time we drove to the top but the weather and the road were awful.
  • This didn’t help. The cross was put up by Duce Benito Mussolini. It’s like calling Hitler Führer on an official monument. Still. Now. Gross.
  • Whereas this guy… He keeps doing it from his Holy Seat in Vatican. Some say he is the most important person in the world. We reached the square, amazed at the masses that came to greet us, and then he started to speak. Why plan anything, I wonder.

For Friendly Friday Photo Challenge hosted by Amanda at Something to Ponder About: Time capsule

This day in my blogging history

26 thoughts on “Friendly Friday time capsules”

  1. You have given us a lot to digest her in your Friendly Friday Post, Manja, but I guess you are making up for lost time. (no pun intended). Some awesome time capsules and why not when you leave where you do?
    What is the attraction of Siena? Everyone seems to love it. I was repulsed by the Mussolini cross and the Prince and fascinated by the Roman road. Can you imagine the work needed to build those kinds of roads back in the day? I do remember the Etruscans from Ancient history at school – why didn’t the Americans?

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    1. Thanks, Amanda. Well yes, I’d like to make up for the year in which I was not really active much on my blog. It is called Mexcessive, after all.

      Siena is… pretty, warm, compact, walkable, a superb amusement park for adults. And that sienna colour of the walls, so nice.

      I didn’t get your last question? Why didn’t the Americans what?

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      1. I remembered the Etruscans from Ancient history lessons at school but you said the American archeolgoists insisted it was a Roman settlement – did they not call the early Romans Etruscan peoples at all?
        Or did I misunderstand your text?

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      2. 😀 I’m not the best person to ask. I know they fought wars between each other but eventually kind of merged. Etruscans brought the culture, Romans brought the fierceness. Still evident. 😉

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  3. Oh, this is brilliant! I loved seeing your walk through some historical finds…the Abbazia di San Galgano is one of my favourite places on earth, and that Etruscan ghost is a total spoof because of the 21st century camera!!

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  4. have a good friend named Tarquin Hall. He used to be a war/foreign correspondent. He is now a mere author. Tarquin is an Etruscan name and his lineage is Etruscan. You can take his word for it that the Etruscan and Romans were miles apart. Duke

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    1. What fun, Duke! Tarquinia was one of the big 12 Etruscan cities. It’s half an hour away or so. I haven’t been to their Etruscopolis yet. Sounds a bit too like Disneyland. There are some Slovenian scholars who claim that Slovenians stem straight from the Etruscans. Our languages are surprisingly similar. Is Tarquin writing about Etruscans too? It’s amazing how little is known for sure about them. Thank you! Come over with your friend, we could make fun of the Romans. 😀

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  6. Quite a tour through the ages Manja.

    It reminds me of a discussion I had once with a German colleague. We were both working in Australia at the time & he recalled visiting a heritage site where the local tour guide was raving about how old the building was. “How old?” he asked. “Two hundred years old!” she said. He rolled his eyes and said his family house was that old. I can relate to the guide. Here in Canada & US, 200 year old buildings are a big deal. Buildings from the 3rd century! That’s a really big deal.

    Ha Ha on your last comment about the Pope. Maybe he’s just the warm up act for the main attraction- you!

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    1. Hihhi, quite, I drew a mean crowd! And yes, it’s true. Old is so relative. I remember the photo my sister took on her first visit to the US. It was of a bag a woman was carrying that advertised a brand, saying it had “35 years of tradition”. We found that very funny for some reason. Thank you, Sandy, I’m glad you enjoyed the tour.

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    1. Hahah, K, this is great. Deja vulnerable. 😀 Sounds like a title of something cool. Well, I’ve been back there, to San Galgano, since that first time and I had a similar sensation. As if I’d seen it all before, a long time ago. Might be the postcards with which I played as a child. (This still features in my sense of photography. I watched a photography contest series online and the first two rules the young photographers were given were: do NOT just click, and do NOT take postcard pictures. I’d fail on both accounts immediately.)

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  8. You are positively saturated with history there. I remember how it was living in Europe. I started to become blasé about it after a while. Shame on me…

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  9. Ah, you’ve reminded me how much I love Italy! I’ve not yet been to Sienna but it’s high on the ‘next time’ list. I love your photo of the old bridge, and the Abbazia di San Galgano looks stunning 🙂 We visited the Puccini family home in Lucca a few years ago – fascinating.

    I also love your idea of highlighting posts from previous years (I will have to investigate some of them one day soon). I’ve not been blogging for a year yet but when I reach that point I may pinch that idea!

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    1. Thank you kindly, Sarah, also for deciding to stick around. I got this idea suddenly to go through all my five blogs (I started in 2014!) and see what I was posting each day. Especially now that nothing much happens in my world, I’m glad to look back and see all the fun we used to have. I was in Lucca only once. I loved it but didn’t visit any landmarks. I hope you return to Italy one day! There is so much to find here.

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