In the center of the clock face, another dial shows the phase of the moon, which was especially important for predicting tides. The tide is highest at the full and new moon, and lower when the moon is waxing or waning. This information is still useful today, since, not only does Venice operate mainly by boat, but also because high tide is when there will most likely be acqua alta.Inside the clock tower, we saw the mechanisms that move all of the separate parts. Today, everything is situated in the center and run by electricity, but originally everything had to be run manually. The cables holding the weights that controlled the clock had to be wound by hand cranks, gears had to be oiled, and everything generally had to be kept running, well, like clockwork. Since the keeper of the tower had to be, literally, on the clock at all hours, he and his family had their living quarters inside the tower. The mechanisms were once situated against the walls in order for there to be living space in the center.
Being the keeper of the clock was a position of some prestige, so it tended to be kept within families, with the secrets of the clock's inner workings being passed from father to son, or uncle to nephew, or to cousins, or so on. Even so, over the centuries changes were made and information was occasionally lost. One keeper was bewildered by a pair of closed doors on the floor above the clock face, but he soon saw opportunity. The supposedly empty spaces soon became home to the two "digital" wheels that show the hour and the minute (changing every five minutes).
It was only later, upon opening a locked door, that he discovered the spaces were originally meant to allow the passage of an procession- an angel and the three wise men- around Mary and the baby Jesus. A previous keeper had removed them for repair, intending to replace them much sooner.
Originally, the procession made its round hourly and had to be powered by a hand crank. However, no one was willing to remove the "digital" wheels permanently, and removing them and putting the procession in place requires far too much effort to do hourly, so now the angel and wise men have only to work twice a year. The statues are surprisingly complex for their age; as they make their turn around a clock face, they brush against a lever which triggers their movement. The angel blows the trumpet, and the three wise men tip their crowns.
At the top of the tower, there are two more animatronic statues- the two moors who ring the bell. The right moor strikes the bell two minutes before the hour, and the left moor strikes it on the hour. We were up on the terrace just in time to see them strike four o'clock. VideoAfter that, we climbed all the way to the top to get up close and personal with the moors, and also see the two little hammers at the back of the clock. These strike the bell 156 times at midnight; 156 is the sum of all of the other strikes during the day.
When our clock tower tour ended, it was time for a visit to San Giorgio Maggiore, another awesome gothic church, and, after that, Thanksgiving dinner.Other than having vast quantities of food, dinner was anything but traditional. There was no turkey in sight, nor mashed potatoes, nor pumpkin pie... But that didn't stop us from getting plenty to eat. We started with bread and several types of seafood. There was bacala, smoked salmon, shrimp with some kind of dressing, and a cold pickled sardines and sauerkraut dish. After that there were plates of vegetables. The stuffed red peppers were surprisingly good. Then came a cheese tray and plate after plate of sliced meat (various types of beef and pork/ham). For dessert (also part of Audrey's birthday festivities) we sampled a collection of delicious pastries.
The best part of the evening, though, was receiving Thanksgiving cards and goodie bags; I don't think I've ever enjoyed candy corn quite so much. It was a little difficult for everyone to celebrate such an important family holiday so far from home.The following day (or for some, later that evening) it was back to business as usual. We've realized that we don't have much time left in Italy, and, while we're ready to be home, there's still so much we could do here, so we're using our weekend time to its fullest while we still can. Thanks to the train strike that led to the Pisa-in-the-rain adventure, I had an extra day on my Eurail pass to use, so Friday I got up early and caught a train to Bologna. I didn't have any plans; I just wandered, saw the sights, and took pictures. I came upon an outdoor market and purchased a set of gift boxes, which will be useful for packing fragile things as well as wrapping gifts, and later I found my way to yet another tower. At only three euros, the opportunity to climb it was a bargain I couldn't pass up. I regretted the decision before I reached the top- I think this was the tallest tower yet- but it was well worth the effort once I finally got there.
Bologna had a much different feel from Venice. It had its old parts, ruins here and there, but they were just that- parts. Venice, as a whole, feels old. This, in itself is odd because it's actually one of the newer parts of Italy. Venice was not an ancient Roman city; rather, it was formed by Roman refugees fleeing barbarian invaders. The difference, I believe is due to some resistance of the modern and the simple inability to accept some aspects of the modern (the most obvious is the lack of cars on most of the islands, because they're simply not big enough). This is not to say Venice is not a modern city, but its narrow streets, crumbling walls, and museum and museum like spaces (anything one can take a tour of), and even daily things like riding in boats make it a place that is decidedly not like any other. Venice feels like an old city with modern touches. Bologna, on the other hand, feels like a modern city with old touches.
Saturday, I remained in Venice, but I took a break from my homework to do some shopping. As I approached the Billa on Strada Nuova, I found my path blocked by a line of demonstrators waving or wearing Venetian flags. I believe the demonstration was a call to help preserve Venetian culture, and, like the mock funeral, it shows that Venice is not dead yet. It is not a museum city. However, I find the fact Venetians seem to believe they need to fight so hard against the idea a little worrisome. I hope this aren't the last, valiant efforts of people fighting a losing battle.
Here's a short video. The bewildered "grazie" is from me. I was a little nervous when two people left the group and approached me- after all, camera-toting tourists are exactly what Venetians don't like- but they just handed me a little Venetian flag and went on their way.
The winged lion is the symbol of Venice (a non-winged lion represents Saint Mark). The open book indicates a time of peace, though, with sword-in-paw, the lion looks prepared to fight, if need be. I think the demonstrators have a good policy: if you can't beat them, get them to join you. I'm sure many tourists are or would be interested in the preservation of Venice. It's sort of a tourist's playground, but there is much more to it than carnevale; there's important history and culture as well.Sunday I travelled again, this time to Monselice, a little town I noticed on the way to Bologna. With its fortress, high on a hill, I thought it looked like a cool place, and, after some initial train-related problems, I was well rewarded for taking a chance.
I was unfortunately unable to visit said fortress at the top of the hill, since November is in the off season, but I found my way to the castello (castle) just in time to take a tour. I joined a group of Italian tourists, but after the tour guide explained everything in Italian, she always summarized for me in English. While there, I learned some new and surprising things. First, in the armory, one of the displays was a collection of stilettos. Stilettos were one of the few weapons effective against knights in chainmail, but I never before knew that they were also used by priests to put people (wounded soldiers or people suffering from diseases) out of their misery. Upstairs, we saw the nobles' bedroom, and I learned that beds were shorter in the past not only because people were shorter (as I've always heard) but also because nobles slept sitting upright, propped up on cusions. They did this to separate themselves from their servants and from the dead. In a small room, off the chapel, that was used like a Sachristy, there is a very peculiar depiction of the Madonna and Child. For one thing, Jesus is drinking a bottle, odd enough in itself, and it's a certain type of bottle which would have been filled with milk and also poppyseeds, which were used to soothe babies during teething. Another important detail is the baby's bare bottom; both that and the bottle are meant to show Christ's humanity. In the kitchen, there was one final highlight. (Final because I can't list them all, not because these were the only things that stood out.) The tour guide called it a semi-automatic spit. Similar to the origninal mechanisms in the clock tower, a hand crank was used to raise a weight. The weight would then slowly lower over fifteen minutes and turn the spit, cooking the meat evenly on all sides.One of the most interesting parts of the castle tour was seeing Venetian influence far from Venice. Monselice isn't far from Venice (I believe it's the stop just after Padova) and we know that Venice was once an Empire with fairly substantial holdings, but that's still somewhat hard to imagine in the Venice today. The castle in Monselice, though, was once owned by a Venetian family, and the personal touches they gave the place help give an idea of La Serenissima's reach. These touches include Venetian terrazzo (a mixture of stone chips in a cement matrix that forms a very flexible surface- perfect for a city built on wood piles and settling) floors, a chimney decorated like a gothic tower, and a courtyard made to look like a small Venetian campo. Sadly, I was not able to take pictures inside the castello, but there is a photo gallery on the official website. link
No comments:
Post a Comment