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Itineraries
– Itinerary II (second part)
by Gustavo Cannizzaro
The
Teatro Vecchio (old theatre) ex church of San Leo
The 1600s church was
built by local hands. It is planned in the shape of a Latin
cross, some of its features, such as the dome, suggest more
ancient roots, but because its builders were local hands, the
technical construction model was probably the ancient Basilian
domes. It was damaged in the earthquake of 1783 and was restored
during the following years. It was the home of the Arch-confraternity
of the Immacolata until 1842. After that the building was deconsecrated
and turned into a schoolroom then a theatre and finally into
a municipal storage place. In 1985 following the restoration
subsidised by the Municipal Administration, the building became
an exhibition room, for conferences and displays and concert
hall for the town’s brass band: “Città di Caulonia”. Leaving
the theatre and carrying on down the Via del Carmine one reaches
the small Largo del Carmine where the church of the Arch-confraternity
of the Immacolata and the Souls of Purgatory, stands.
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Church
of Immacolata
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This
home of the homonymous arch-confraternity, used to be part of
the destroyed convent of the Agostinians. The church’s facade,
recently restored, is laterally delimited by double pilasters
on which the cornice and the gable rest. The only decorative elements
are the great doorway and the niche above it which is decorated
with a fresco of the Immacolata. Leaning on the left side of the
church is the beautiful 1700s bell tower, also recently restored
in its brilliant colours which were typical of southern XVIII
and XIX century architecture. Inside, the church is embellished
by late 1800s stucco decorations. It has one nave and four lateral
altars, two of which date back to the 1700s. The barrel vault,
with stucco decorations, has a big, central, oval painting dated
1933 and signed by the Neapolitan artist G. M. Girosi.
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Church of Immacolata (interior)
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It
depicts the proclamation of the Immacolata’s dogma. The balustrade
in blended marble separates the nave from the presbytery. On the
altar there is a statue of the Immacolata in white marble which
Frangipane recognised as XVIII century Sicilian style. The wooden
sculpture of Christ belonging to the XVIII century, with its pathetic
expression and its fashioning follows the great Neapolitan sculptural
tradition. Also the wooden statue of the Immacolata, XVIII and
XIX century,
is
probably in serrese style.
The statue originally had other elements to it: clouds, angels
and a full cape which were eliminated and substituted by a real
cloth dress and cape so as to facilitate the statue’s transportation
during processions. Lastly, there is the starry halo of the Immacolata,
made by the goldsmith Franco Cannizzaro and his brother Emilio
Fameli. The halo is made of two concentric rings of about 850g
of gold. On the external ring, at equal intervals, there are eight
pointed stars in gold plate with a half carat brilliant in the
centre of each one. The two rings are held together by a pattern
of geometric triangular rays which enclose small gold globes with
stylised palmettes which radiate from a one carat blue sapphire.
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Among
the furniture there is an organ with an independent resonance
box with a span divided by a small pilaster decorated in gold
wood. The date, 1771, is inscribed on the doors which are painted
in oil colours to resemble marble. The pipes are distributed in
two spans (nine per side, descending externally). The registers
with pommel stay rods are on the right of the “window” keyboard
and the pedals are encased. Next to the church is what remains
of the elegant garden.
Backing
away from Largo Carmine, Via Teatro is met.
It it inclined and narrow and it snakes between
the stone houses ending on the very steep Via Sant’Antonio.This
last street ends with the homonymous old Gateway which used to
be the main entrance to the city. Of all the four entrances to
the town, this is the best preserved one. The external facade
of the gate is surmounted by the Carafa coat of arms while the
internal facade still has its original wooden architrave. Like
all towns of ancient origin, it was encircled by walls and gates.
Wanting to reconstruct these walls as they were in medieval times
would be difficult because of scarce information until the XVI
century; however as for the 1600s and 1700s, there
are both documents and prints to testify them. Farther Fiore,
at the end
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Via
T. Campanella
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of the XVII century, wrote: “the city is enclosed by strong walls
with ramparts at regular intervals, with huge bronze cannons which
make it invincible”. In the print published by the abbot Pacichelli
during the first years of the XVIII century, it was obvious how
the 1600s walls had been made to exploit the place’s natural defences.
Along the entire north western side of the town where there is
a high cliff, there is no fortification at all, while on the south
eastern side there is an uninterrupted wall. In the southern area,
precisely where the church del Carmine stands, because of the
land which descended towards the valley in narrow terraces, there
is a defence system of watchtowers and ramparts. Along all the
oriental side, the walls are studded with watchtowers until the
draw bridge. The defence system is completed by four entrances.
On the western side is Porta Amusa, so called because it went
from the town to the homonymous river, thus to Roccella and Gioiosa.
On the south eastern side is Porta Allaro, also this leading to
the homonymous river and so to Motta Placanica. Under the castle
was the “pusterla” as small entrances which rose on narrow and
low passageswere called. Lastly, on the south side of the town
stands the Porta del Redentore, now Porta Sant’Antonio after the
nearby church. About this entrance Father Fiore wrote: “…Porta
del Redentore, or royal entrance with a tall bastion above it
from which two great walls are visible which are flanked by bronze
cannons which defend it in times of trouble, from May to October,
manned by citizens who stand guard night and day”. Returning up
from Porta Sant’Antonio, Via San Biagio rises immediately to the
right.
The
narrow and steep alley ends in a flight of steps which lead
near to the apse of the small church of San Biagio. Turning
right at the beginning of this alley, on the left is the 1st
Vico San Biagio interesting for its spontaneous buildings and
a beautiful stone staircase which, after a small ramp, splits
into two asymmetric ramps sustained by a typically southern
vaulted brick wall. The alley ends in a precipice from which
one can admire the vast panorama of the high part of the town.
Today the San Biagio area has lost its old morphology thanks
to the hydro-geological reassessments which eliminated quite
a number of houses that made up one of the most ancient areas
of the historical centre. Thanks to consolidation work, a small
clear area has been obtained and a small square has been built.
Returning to Via San Biagio and carrying on along it, number
9 exhibits an interesting entrance doorway in granite and pink
tuff. That is all that is left of an interesting building which
was the old convent of Santa Maria di Valverde before it was
moved to the high part if the town. Descending, and turning
right onto via San Gerolamo one reaches the small San Gerolamo
square, and, after a steep descent, one crosses Via Vallone
to reach the begining of Via Tommaso Campanella which snakes
back up hill, with brief steps interspersed, to the place whiere
the palazzo Asciutti, with its important late 1700s granite
doorway, rises. This entrance is the work of Serresi hands and
it repeats the decorations of the entrance to the ex convent
of San Giovanni Teresti at Stilo in the arch’s frame. Via Tommaso
Campanella becomes less narrow in the tract in front of this
building , it then becomes Largo Manganello which leads to the
clearing known as Bellavista. From here, the panorama is that
of the last tract of the valley of the Allaro river made beautiful
by the green citrus plantations which stretch to the Ionian
Coast. The inhabitants of Focà and of Marina di Caulonia are
also a part of the panorama. The small square of Bellavista
is supportes by a wall of local stone built in 1954. At the
foot of this wall is the “Mascina” (a Greek word which indicated
the place where myrtle grew in abbundance). The urbanisation
of this area began in 1930 and among its buildings are the Municipal
palazzo, built in fascist style, and the new church of san
Zaccaria which houses an interesting electro-mechanical nativity
scene and three big paintings by Ciccio Ammendolia in 1967,
of the Beata Vergine, Christ, and San Zaccaria. Leaving San
Zaccaria, which is also a bus station, one meets Via Roma which
descends to Via Port’Allaro. Passing the Porta Allaro, at the
civic number one, there is a doorway built in tuff which is
surmounted by a coat of arms on which the date, 1771, is inscribed.
Retracing a few steps one finds the Portella hill. Like all
the internal streets, it has been re-paved in river stones as
it used to be before the 1960s when cement covered it. This
hill joins Via Strati and leads to the high part of Caulonia
as a kind of shortcut. At the top of via Strati, Via Nobili
begins. It sports narrow spaces, dumping arches, gangways and
cramped houses and leads to Via Badia. The first part of this
road leads to a small square where traces of an old palace,
now completely ruined by alterations super-imposed constructions
and adaptations. It is still possible to see the granite staircase
which splits into two flights after the first. The structure
is completed by a loggia which develops on two sides. The staircase
has been deprived of its wrought iron which decorated it for
years. Opposite this palazzo are the ruins of another palce
which stand as testimony to the way in which the town’s buildings
reached above the “Miserte” area with their bastions. The Miserte
were balconies that went right round the cliffs on which Caulonia
is built. They crumbled away following earthquakes and atmospheric
phenomena. Via Badia carries on to Largo San Nicolello which
is encompassed by the side of the church of Santa Maria dei
Minniti on one side; from here, after a short descent, one returns
to Piazza Mese.
Asciutti palace
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Allaro gate
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Asciutti palace |
Vineda (Mese square)
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ex Nescis palace
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Sant'Antonio gate |
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Hyerace palace
Cricelli palace
Mese public square
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by
M. P. Castagna
