IN LIGHT OF HALLOWEEN...... THE ENGLISH CEMETERY IN FLORENCE

Considering it's Halloween, and tomorrow All Saint’s Day, I thought it appropriate to write a few lines on the so-called ‘English cemetery’ in Florence. Located in piazzale Donatello, the cemetery appears like an elevated island of the dead in the middle of the ever-busy ring road around Florence. However when first constructed it would have looked quite different.

Contrary to the nickname of the cemetery, it wasn’t created exclusively for English citizens -  quite the opposite. The Swiss Evangelical reformed church bought the land from the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Leopold II, in 1828, to build an ecumenical cemetery (thus, open to all Christian faiths; Orthodox and Protestant), the first in the area. It was located outside the still standing and perfectly intact medieval city’s walls from the 1330’s.

In 1865 when Florence became the capital of the newly unified Italian peninsula, the city’s walls were destroyed as part of the renovation project headed by Giuseppe Poggi. The cemetery became engulfed into Poggi’s renovation project and finished by being in the middle of a busy multiple lane dense traffic thoroughfare, as well as being was remodeled into the current oval shape. The medieval walls were torn down and replaced with a tree-lined ring-road encircling the city. Neoclassical buildings were built along the ring-road and suburbs renovated. Many of the new Florentine residents moving to the city due to its new capital status, as well as the bourgeois Florentine families, bought houses along these avenues. Moreover, Poggi planned for artist’s studios to be in the area surrounding the cemetery island thus giving name to one of the major streets leading off the ring-road ‘via degli artisti’.

Tomb of Elizabeth Barrett Browning

There is a predominance of English buried in the cemetary, hence the nickname. However, this belies the intention of the place which is conveyed by the tombstones. The inscriptions are in numerous languages, French, German, Cyrillic, Greek, Danish and Romansh. The cemetery was closed in 1877, however the Florentine council has recently allowed it to be used by the Swiss church (which still owns it) for cremated remains only. One of the most famous people buried here is the English Victorian poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), who lived for many years in Florence with her husband, the poet Robert Browning (he is buried in Poet’s corner in Westminster Abbey). The Swiss Giampietro Vieusseux, founder of the Gabinetto Vieusseux (a reading room which became the one of the main meeting places for intellectuals in Florence during the Risorgimento) is also buried here.

Tomb of Gabinetto Vieusseux

The best known painting by Arnold Bocklin (1827-1901), the Swiss symbolist artist, is the ‘Isle of the Dead’ of which there are four versions painted by the artist, inspired by the English cemetery of Florence. The first three versions of the subject were painted in Florence, he had his studio very close by, and they are deeply personal as it was where he had buried his seven month old daughter. The painting shows a dense cluster of Cypres trees on an isolated area with an aura of eternity.

Isle of the Dead by Arnold Bocklin 

RIP-ROARING FLORENCE - THE MARZOCCO

Since the medieval period, the lion has been the animal symbol of Fiorenza (medieval Florence).

The lion, representing the Republic of Florence, became known as the Marzocco. The origin of the name is believed to derive from Martocus – or little Marte or Mars, referring to the god of War. When the statue of Mars, at the foot of the ponte vecchio bridge, washed away with the bridge in the 1333 flood, it was replaced by a lion sculpture which the citizens called little Mars.

In the 1300’s a Marzocco lion sculpture, the collective symbol of Florence, was the only sculpture in the town hall square (Piazza della Signoria). All the other sculpture was placed there much later, from the 1490’s onwards. The lion can be seen in the background of one of the scenes from the private family chapel of the Sassetti family in the Santa Trinita church by Domenico Ghirlandaio, frescoed in the early 1480’s. 

The lion is to the left of the town hall building and there is no other sculpture in the square nor under the open portico loggia. The Marzocco that is now there is a copy of the splendid sculpture by Donatello. Carved out of local grey ‘pietra serena’ stone from the surrounding Florentine hills, he proudly holds the coat of arms of the Florentine Repubblic, the giglio (red lily on a white back ground).

The Marzocco by Donatello was placed here in 1812 when the original medieval lion was in a bad state of affairs.  He had been made for the new snazzy papal apartments in Santa Maria Novella for the advent visit of Pope Nicholas V.

The street behind the town hall is called the Lion street (via dei Leoni) precisely because it was here that they kept live lions in cages for the authentic rendering of their animal symbolism. Already, from the 1200's, live lions in the flesh were kept in the Bargello building, which was then the Palazzo della Podestà (home to the official elected foreign arbitrator to oversee Florentine matters of council). The lions were then moved to the area near to the Baptistry, before being located to the area behind the town hall in 1350 and, thus, giving name to the street. They remained here for circa two hundred years until Cosimo I de Medici, in the middle of the 1500's, moved them to the area near San Marco, at the recently constructed ‘Giardino dei Semplici’ (the botanical garden).

Grand duke Pietro Leopoldo of the Lorraine-Hapsburg family (the rulers after the extinction of the Medici line from 1737 until unification in 1861), in the second half of the 1700’s, decided to do away with them altogether. In the chronicles much is written about the lions, their behaviour, births and their characters. There were sometimes up to the twenty-eight in the cages behind the town hall. On the night of Lorenzo the Magnificent’s death, two of the lions tore one another to pieces!

The two lions patrolling the entrance to the loggia dei Lanzi were placed here in 1789 by the Lorraine-Hapsburgs, having brought them up from the Villa Medici in Rome where they had been guarding the staircase in the villa’s garden since 1600. 

The lion above is from the 2nd century B.C and the one on the left is from the 1590’s, commissioned to pair his ancient brother by the Grand Duke Ferdinand de Medici, a great lover and collector of antiquities. 

THE GREATEST ACCESSORY - WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD

I love a good chevalric order and the symbol of the uber prestigious Order of the Golden Fleece is my absolute favourite.

Cosimo I de Medici, Duke of Florence at the time, was awarded the honour of becoming a member of the much coveted boys club in 1545. It was a limited membership of 50 (increased in 1516 ) and couldn’t be passed on to heirs.

Portrait of Cosimo I de Medici wearing the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece by Bronzino

The order originated in 1430, by the Duke of Burgundy (Philip the Good) in celebration of his wedding to the Portuguese princess Isabella of Aviz. The Burgundian lands were subsequently absorbed into the domain of the Hapsburgs, explaining why Cosimo received the knightly membership from the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V of the Hapsburg family.  Membership was excluded to heretics and so it became an exclusive catholic order during the Reformation.  The dedication of the order to the ‘golden fleece’ refers to the mythological story of Jason, who, along with his team, the Argonauts, managed to obtain the golden fleece which was being kept in a tree guarded by a dragon, a deed which was necessary for him to claim his birthright.

Jason with the Golden Fleece by Peter Francavilla in the Bargello

The order’s patron saint is St Andrew, whose calendar day is 11 August, the day on which Cosimo I received the honour in the cathedral of Florence. The badge of the order is in the shape of a gold fleece hanging from a jeweled collar of fire steels in the shape of B (for Burgandy) and linked by flints. Cosimo is shown wearing the collar in many portraits as well as appearing painted into various political scenes in the Medici palaces

Fresco on the ceiling of the staircase from the first to the second floor of the granducal apartments, showing the Golden Fleece collar

In 1561 Cosimo received the authority from Pope Pius IV to create his own chivalric order, the Order of St Stephen, Pope and Martyr. He was the first Grand Master of the order and his successors, as the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, inherited the leadership. 

Medici arms surmounted by a coronet and surrounded by the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece

The objective of the order when formed was to combat the growing threat of the Turks on the Tyrannian sea.  The initial seat of the order was in Elba but was later moved to Pisa. It was an ingenious way to unite the nobles from the recently conquered Siena and Pisa, now under the rule of the Medici dukes, with the Florentines in a unified front against a common enemy. St Stephen, Pope and Martyr was important to Cosimo as it was on this saint’s calendar day, 2nd August in 1554, that he defeated the French led by the exiled Florentine Marshal Strozzi at the battle of Marciano. The two bronze statues in the chapel of the Princes show the Medici Grand Dukes wearing the cloak of the Grand Master of the Order.

Cameo of Cosimo I (holding the collar) and Eleanora with children in the Silver Museum in the Pitti Palace

A WEEKEND AND PASTA IN SARDEGNA

The gastronomic adventure never ceases here in Italy. I have just spent the weekend in Sardegna and discovered two new types of pasta typical to this lovely wild island: fregola and culurgiones.

Culurgiones is a type of pasta which originated from the Ogliastra area (central east of Sardegna) and now enjoyed all over the island. It belongs in the same family as the tortello and raviolo, being a ‘pasta ripiena’ or pasta with filling inside. This filling changes slightly according to the season and the area, but the form stays the same. Inside is a potato base with either goat or sheep cheese according to the season, with mint or garlic.

The culurgiones are oblong in shape and have a slight half moon curve to them due to the way that the fresh pasta is closed at either end with the fingers. They are decorated with some diagonal incisions which, when combined with the shape, take the form of sheaves of wheat when on a plate. Served warm with a pecorino cheese grated on top they're delicious. They can also be served with a tomato sugo.

Fregola is completely different - it is similar to couscous only slightly larger in form. These small balls of pasta are often served with fish broth or a fish sugo or a more delicate and light broth. They are made by rubbing the mixture (semola grano duro and water) together between the hands until the little balls form, thus giving origin to the name  (‘sfregare’ means to rub one's hands together). 

Typically from Cagliari and Oristano, the pasta is found packaged in shops all over Sardegna, though it is not necessarily on the menu in trattorias outside of its native region.

SPRITZ, BELLINI OR JUST STRAIGHT UP FIZZ - PROSECCO ALL ROUND!

I LOVE PROSECCO!  I truly am in love with prosecco and I know that many others share this love!

Its charms claim many victims here. I was not overly affectionate towards the bubbly before coming to Italy, but I am now. I love it straight up, as well as the Venetian twist in the form of the spritz (1/3 prosecco, 1/3 Campari or Aperol, 1/3 water, served with an olive or an orange slice), and also the Bellini cocktail (prosecco and fresh peach juice).

Venetian spritz

Interestingly, the spritz, the Venetian aperitivo drink par excellence, was born during the period of Austrian occupation at the beginning of the 1800’s and morphed out of the spritzer (white wine and soda). The Bellini cocktail, born in Venice and named after the Venetian master painting family from the 1400’s, is fresh peach juice and prosecco. 

Cafe Florian

Florian, one of the historical cafes in Venice and one of the oldest cafes in Europe, opened in 1720 and situated in Piazza San Marco, does an immensely chic thing - they make the Bellini cocktail only when the peaches are in season.

The Bellini cocktail

Before the peach season, they serve the Tieplo cocktail (strawberry juice and prosecco), after the peach season, they serve the Titian (concord grape or ‘uva fragola’ in Italian and prosecco), then the Tintoretto (pomegranate juice and prosecco), followed by the Puccini (manderine juice and prosecco) and finally the Mimosa (orange juice and prosecco).

The Mimosa

The Bellini thus find themselves in familiar seasonal company, surrounded by other great Venetian masters such as Titian, Tiepolo and Tintoretto, and they are relaxed by the Puccini music whilst swimming in prosecco.  What could be better than that?

 Prosecco is both the name of one of the types of spumante (the generic name of Italian bubbly), as well as the name of the particular type of grape which is used as the major component and, in some cases, the only grape used in its production. It is made in the Veneto region in northern Italy, most particularly concentrated around the areas of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene. 

Prosecco grapes

Other versions of spumante in Italy that are well known are Franciacorta in Lombardy (northwest of Brescia), Asti from Piedmont (area of Asti) and Lambrusco from Emilia and Trento DOC.

The prosecco grape is also sometimes mixed with pinot blanc and pinot grigio grapes to make prosecco sparkling wine.  It is made using the charmat process rather than the champagne method, meaning that the second fermentation takes place in the pressurized tanks rather than in bottles.  The shorter fermentation process preserves the freshness of the grapes, and the flavor, and is ideal for the type of grape that prosecco is, being praised for its freshness.  Prosecco comes in both fully sparkling (spumante) or lightly sparkling (frizzante) wine versions. Prosecco spumante has two grades, ‘brut’ or ‘extra dry’. Extra dry is slightly drier than brut.

Prosecco is a winner for all occasions -  wonderful as an aperitivo, but also it's the perfect accompaniment to a fish meal, or white meat such as chicken.
So serve it up and spread it around - it makes everyone happy and is an essential ingredient to the dolce vita - brut or extra dry, it’s the way to go!

The perfect marriage - a spritz and a prosecco!

PORTOVENERE – THE PORT OF LOVE AND BEAUTY

Arriving at Portovenere by boat

Venere is Venus in Italian and so the name of this exquisite little village is Venus’ port, aptly named as it is indeed romantic and gorgeous. It is in the region of Liguria (north east of Tuscany) and just south on the coast line from the Cinque Terre. A boat leaves very frequently throughout the day from Portovenere to the Cinque Terre, so it is possible to stay overnight here and catch the boat up to the Cinque Terre to explore the fishing villages for the day, but then return to the warmth of Venus for the evening. Portovenere is very picturesque.  The houses are tall and narrow and painted bright colours and  are protected by medieval walls which expand into the wonderfully preserved fort above.  Perched scenographically on the coastal cliff point of the town is the romanesque church of Saint Peter (consecrated 1198).

San Pietro

Another romanesque church, Saint Lawrence, is nestled high up amongst the houses, close to the fort. There are some B&B’s and hotels, as well as restaurants and bars. Directly in front of Portovenere looms Palmaria island. There are two places to stay on the island, a B&B and the Locanda Lorena, a restaurant/hotel, where I stayed for two nights.

Locanda Lorena on Palmaria Island

A walk around the island takes a little more than two hours on a very basic goat track. It is wonderful and rustic with spectacular views. 

Scenic walk,  Palmaria Island

There is one small private beach establishment where it is possible to rent umbrellas and deck chairs for the day. This is the only one for Palmaria and Portovenere so there are many daytrippers to the island, catching the boat over (the same one that then continues to the Cinque Terre) and so it can be quite busy. Otherwise, people lie on the rocks at Portovenere.  

Locanda Lorena has a handful of rooms above their very popular restaurant below (serving predominately fish). For clients of both the hotel and the restaurant there is a free boat shuttle which goes continuously between Portovenere and their jetty on Palmaria island and which, I must admit, I took full advantage of. In the morning, I went across to Portovenere to explore the churches and the fort, and in the evening back over again to have a gin and tonic before returning to the restaurant below my room for a fish feed. Their boat is one of the fabulous wooden old style riviera boats from the 1970’s (made by ‘Riva by Ferretti’), and so I felt very diva-ish with the wind in my hair and the beautiful colours of the sunset as I was skimming across the water for my aperativo. 

At Portovenere there are a few shops selIing the typical Ligurian regional products (pesto, testaroli pasta, olive oil) as well as a very cool little ceramic bottega where I indulged (www.labottegadirena.com).

La Bottega di Rena

Portovenere and Palmaria island, like the Cinque Terre, were designated world heritage sites by UNESCO in 1997.

ICE MAGIC

The Italians are passionate about many things and gelato (literally in English ‘frozen’) is seriously high up on that passion list of theirs. Eaten by all ages, it is a national obsession. That it is good stuff is probably about one of the only things that Italians from the north to the south, east to west, would agree wholeheartedly upon !

Gelato is not simply the Italian word for ice cream, as it is indeed slightly different. There is more milk product and less cream used in gelato than in ice cream, which means that it is lower in fat content. The fat content in ice cream adds to the creaminess.  However, having less fat content doesn’t actually mean a less creamy texture, as one would logically conclude. The creamy texture of gelato is achieved by less air mixed in during the production process, something that is referred to in technical terms as ‘overrun’. An increased level of overrun is required in ice cream to keep it from freezing too solidly. Packaged generic quality ice cream often has 100% overrun, which means that it is half air. This helps to explain why it can be a big tub but not as heavy as it would be if it were gelato which has circa 20% overrun. The denser state of gelato means that the taste is more intense, and it is more like soft-serve ice cream than standard ice cream.

So, to summarize: gelato is addictive due to its dense, creamy texture, it has a high taste intensity and is less fattening!  The ingredients of gelato and ice cream are more or less the same (milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks, air and flavour) however in varying degrees.

OTHER TEMPTATIONS IN A GELATERIA:

Semi-freddo - This is equal part gelato with whipped cream. It has the consistency of a mousse.

Semi-freddo

Granita – it is water, flavour (fruit or nuts such as almonds) and sugar. The liquid base is poured into a shallow tray and frozen. At intervals it is stirred to break up the ice crystals as they form. It is typical of Sicily and served in a cup. Gourmands can also add a scoop of gelato (a winning marriage is almond granita topped with pistachio gelato).

Granita

A sorbetto – same ingredients as the granita but churned like ice cream to achieve a soft texture.

Sorbetto

La Serenissima twist: When in Venice, do as the Venetians do and after dinner order a ‘Sgroppino’. It is served in a glass champagne flute and is a dreamy concoction of lemon gelato and vodka.

Venetian Sgroppino

THE GELATO PLAY-OFF IN FLORENCE  (these are all ‘produzione propria’ - made in-house):

Gelateria dei Neri (Via dei Neri) – I always get the ‘Giotto’ (coconut, hazelnut, walnut) but there is gorgonzola & walnut flavour, ricotta & fig, mexican dark chocolate and chili (the kick comes afterwards, very cool).

Gelateria dei Neri

Perche No! (Via dei Tavolini) is located mid-way between the cathedral and the town hall, so very convenient. Flavours such as rose and lavender are sometimes on offer, as well as a great one I tried recently which was Eastern inspired with spices and ginger - it was a winner.

Gelateria Perche No!

Vivoli (Via Isola delle Stinche) mentioned in all the guidebooks. The rice flavour is a hit. It is more expensive than the others.

Vivoli

Carapina (Via dei Lambertesca) – this is the newest kid on the block and making lots of publicity with the foodies in Italy (an acclaimed Italian food critic, The Gastronauta, just included it in his top five gelaterias in italy!). Their aged parmesan cheese flavour is pretty cool. I love their business cards also folded into the shape of a cone, nice touch.

Carapina

Grom (Via delle Oche)– this chain is springing up like mushrooms all over Italy, born in Turin in 2003 and now gone global (Malibu, New York, Tokya, Osaka, Paris – crazy!).

My absolute favourite in Florence, I must admit, is just outside the centre, called Gelateria dei Medici (via di statuto 3-5/r) for those who are in the area. It is simply fantastic, as attested by the hordes of Florentines outside at all times of the day. 

I am an addict of the little balls that they make up of some of their flavours and then coat them with something delicious. My all time fave is the pistachio ball rolled in crushed pistachio nuts or the hazelnut rolled in crushed hazelnuts. Their house specialty is the ‘crema dei Medici’ flavor (cream and chocolate).

Finally, as a testament to the Florentines' love of gelato, every year towards the end of May there is a GELATO FESTIVAL in Florence!!!