Rome and Venice, Italy
by Anne Harrison
The heavy wooden door closed and I stood surrounded by silence. Flying anywhere from Australia takes a long time, and after a night and a day and a night I was exhausted. Tired and befuddled, I emerged into the chaos of Rome. I finally found a taxi, with a driver who careened down tiny streets where footpaths were more a suggestion than reality.
After he double-parked on the wrong side of the road, I alighted on the Via Sistine. The convent was just a few minutes from the top of the Spanish Steps. Once inside, the world became peaceful. Large wooden doors shut out the chaos of the street, and I stood in the quiet of a marble foyer. Convents and monasteries have offered hospitality for centuries, providing more economical accommodation than most hotels. Italy especially has a plethora of choices. The vast majority accept guests of both sexes, married or single, of any denomination – although some still pose a nightly curfew.
Rooms may be simple, but this does not imply austerity. Convents and monasteries are often to be found in Renaissance palazzos, Medieval walled towns or set amongst lavender fields and vineyards. Many hide artistic treasures; a painting by Rubens, or walls adorned by Fra Angelico. Each religious house has its own character, such as the monastery Convento Sant’Agostino in San Gimigiano which refused entry to HRH The Prince of Wales when he arrived after closing time. (Although probably apocryphal, the story alone makes the place worth a detour.)
In Rome, I stayed at Le Soure di Lourdes. My room overlooked a cloister, and of a morning the singing of the nuns in their private chapel woke me in time for a simple breakfast of rolls, cold meats, and lots of hot coffee.
In Florence, the Casa Santo Nome di Jesu is in a 15th C palazzo. I reached my room via a marble staircase, complete with trompe l’oil ceiling of putti and plaster relief. The window overlooked a large garden, complete with kiwi fruit, persimmons, pomegranates, grape vines and wisterias, with trunks as thick as my body. The arbour was a perfect place to sit and pass the afternoon when exhausted by sightseeing.
One evening, as I sipped prosecco and dined off a meal of delicacies from the markets, (plus some grapes purloined from the garden) I sat listening to a baroque choir (who were also guests) practicing for an upcoming performance.
Most convents provide breakfast – fresh rolls and strong coffee are a staple – and often dinner as well. In some, monks still make wine to recipes centuries-old. My first time in Venice, my choice lay at the end of a maze of cobble-stoned side streets and piazzas. The Instituto San Giuseppe stands beside a canal, with a door opening directly onto the water. As I crossed a small limestone bridge a gondola came to a boisterous stop to collect passengers.
The way to my room proved another maze of grand staircases and marble halls. Paintings covered the ceilings and walls – in a room large enough to host a masked ball, a fresco peeked out from under the scaffolding of restoration. Occasionally a nun in a black habit would wander by, smile and give a blessing, before continue on her way.
My room was simple and clean. The windows opened onto a terracotta skyline, with clothes strung on a line between two buildings. Across a flower-strewn courtyard a woman in black was busy in her kitchen, filling the air with delicious aromas. Every evening an extended family materialised for dinner. Geraniums hung everywhere in pots. In the distance a camponile tolled away the hours while towering (at a slight angle) over the other buildings,
Everyone should fly into Venice – with a window seat – at least once in their life. Suddenly the history of Venice makes sense, from whenshelter was sought from the invading Goths amongst the swampy, malarial marshes, to her days of seafaring glory. Even from the heavens Venice is breathtakingly beautiful, especially when bathed by an autumn sun while storm clouds swell on the horizon.
The next essential is catching a boat from the airport to the city, either on the public vaporetto, or by a much faster private boat. Our vessel was all streamlined wood, the skipper as sleek and polished as his vessel. Despite a complete lack of Italian, as soon as my husband began admiring the boat (being a long-time sailor himself) the skipper happily displayed the boat’s paces. As the rain finally poured down and visibility vanished, he raced along the narrow channel to the city, overtaking every other boat in a shower of spray.
The entrance to the convent Canossian Institute San Trovaso lies on a pretty canal, devoid of tourists. Being in the Dorsoduro area of Venice, the streets are far less crowded than the more popular areas, locals outnumber the tourists, and at night the area is quiet. An elderly nun opened the door, and we walked into tranquility. She led us through an inner courtyard, where some other guests sat sipping wine as their kids feasted on gelato.
Our room was clean, spacious and simple, with a balcony overlooking a courtyard of vines and roses. each morning I woke to the call of seagulls and the sound of church-bells. As is the way all over Italy, each church keeps its own, strict time, with the bells chiming a few minutes apart, never quite in unison.
Convents and monastery are not only in cities, but also in idyllic countryside settings. Stays are not restricted to Italy, and some are to be found in the most unexpected of places. An example is the 12th century monastery Kriva Palanka, hidden in the Osogovo Mountains of Macedonia [TOP PHOTO]. It is worth a visit for the medieval frescoes alone.
One I dream of visiting is L’Hospice du Great St. Bernard in the Swiss Alps. Until recently, the Augustine monks bred and trained St Bernard dogs for mountain retrieval work; now they provide a home for the animals over the summer months.
A convent stay may not initially appeal to everyone, but it is something well worth experiencing, not simply as a cheaper substitute for a hotel, but as a travel adventure in its own right. Seen as such, staying in one can only add to a holiday.
8-Day Best of Italy Tour from Rome Including Tuscany, Venice and Milan
If You Go:
Many convents and monastery now have their own website complete with email and online booking system. The websites below can help you choose:
♦ www.monasterystays.com – An extensive Italian listing
♦ http://www.santasusanna.org/index.php/resources/convent-accomodations – Concentrating mainly on Rome, but with some other Italian cities as well
♦ www.goodnightandgodbless.com – Although the book is more extensive, the website has world-wide listings
About the author:
Anne Harrison lives with her husband, two children and numerous pets on the Central Coast, NSW Australia. Her jobs include wife, mother, doctor, farmer and local witch doctor – covering anything from delivering alpacas to treating kids who have fallen head first into the washing machine. Her fiction has been published in Australian literary magazines, and has been placed in regional literary competitions. Her non-fiction has been published in medical and travel journals. Her ambition is to be 80 and happy. Her writings are at anneharrison.com.au and hubpages.com/@anneharrison
Osogovo Monastery, Macedonia by MacedonianBoy / CC BY-SA
All other photos are by Anne Harrison:
A quiet alley near our convent
Rome’s Spanish Steps
Casa Santo Nome di Jesu, Florence
Entrance to Instituto San Giuseppe, Venice
A room with a view, Venice
The Squero San Travaso
The wonder of Venice
A gondola in Florence, naturally
by Sarah Humphreys 
An unknown architect finished the Basilica of San Vitale in 547 on the spot where St Vitalis was martyred by being buried alive. Richly ornamented mosaics inside depict scenes from The Old Testament, including the Sacrifice of Isaac, Moses and The burning bush and Cain and Abel. Decorative leaves, fruit and flowers encircle the Lamb of God on the vault of the presbytery. Glittering mosaics pay homage to the Emperor Justinian I and his Empress Theodora.
Exiting from the back of San Vitale, you will come across a small, ordinary-looking brick building, which contains Ravenna’s finest treasures. The powerful Roman Empress Galla Placidia, who wielded extreme power as regent for her young son Valentinian III, probably commissioned the tiny Mausoleum which bears her name. Shaped like a Greek cross, the building has sunk 4.5 feet into the ground due to subsidence. The limited space within the structure means visits are restricted to five minutes only, guaranteed to be intense moments.
The Basilica of San Apollinare Nuovo houses a series of impressive mosaics dating from 500 under rule of the Arian King Theodoric, which show scenes of Christ’s miracles, parables and The Passion. The lower rows of mosaics date from 560, when Ravenna was under Christian rule, and feature saints, martyrs and a procession of Virgins led by The Three Magi, sporting animal-print leggings. According to legend, Pope Gregory had the earlier mosaics blackened to prevent worshippers from being distracted, and many of the original Arian mosaics were removed. It is still possible to see some disembodied limbs that evaded destruction.
The Chapel of St Andrew, housed in the Archbishop’s museum, is the smallest private early Christian oratory to have survived until the present day. Dazzling mosaics create a shimmering tapestry of saints, angels and decorative motifs and 99 species of birds are shown against a splendid starry sky. Christ is shown as a warrior, crushing the figures of a serpent and a wild beast.
The only UNESCO World Heritage Site not to contain mosaics is the Mausoleum of Theodoric. Its unusual structure, consisting of two decagonal parts topped by a monolithic dome, is formed from Istrian stone blocks. The combination of Roman, Barbarian and Medieval architecture fascinated The Romantics and The Mausoleum was popular with tourists on The Grand Tour.
Other notable sites include the extraordinary underwater crypt in the cathedral of San Francesco, complete with goldfish, and the “House of Stone Carpet”, the remains of a Byzantine house complete with huge decorative floor mosaics. Just next to the Cathedral is the final resting place of Dante, who died in Ravenna in 1321. Although exiled form Florence in his lifetime, the city has continuously appealed for the great poet’s remains to be returned. Ravenna has constantly turned down this request. On the 2nd Sunday in September, olive oil donated by the city of Florence, is brought to Ravenna to light the lamb that hangs over Dante’s tomb.
Although the main sites in Ravenna could be seen in a day, it is well worth spending longer in this peaceful city. The place where Dante finished his “Divine Comedy” and Byron started writing “Don Juan”, was recently voted the number one place to live by “Il Sole 24 “ financial newspaper and it surely won’t take you long to see why.
In 293 BC, Rome suffered from one of the many pestilences which proved the tribulation of the Ancient world. Seeking divine aid, a delegation of high priests and doctors made a pilgrimage to Aesculapius’ temple at Epidaurus. In response to their prayers and offerings, one of the temple’s sacred The success of the quest was thus assured. Upon the ship’s return to Rome, the snake slithered into the Tiber and crossed to the reed-covered island, which lay opposite the city’s port. This was so obvious a sign Aesculapius desired a temple here, not only was one built but the island itself hewn to resemble a ship. Large structures of white travertine were built at either end to augment the resemblance to prow and stern, complete with a bust of Aesculapius and his caduceus. In the centre of the island an obelisk was raised to suggest the main mast of a Roman galley. Thus dedicated to the powerful god of healing, the Isola Tiberina has been associated with the care of the sick ever since.
With the growth of Rome, the reputation of the Isola Tiberina’s temple and its doctors grew such that the sick ventured here from all over the Empire to seek healing. Like its namesake at Epidaurus, the temple became famous for the drinking of its miraculous waters, and for dream cures. Most probably opium (or a similar opiate) was used to produce a drugged state filled with dreams, hallucinations, and a susceptibility to suggestion. Hypnosis was a key factor; priests appeared in the dim, smoky light dressed as Aesculapius, and sacred snakes and dogs flickered their tongues over ailing body parts. The fame of these cures was to outlast both the Roman and Greek Empires.
The hospital can be reached from the Left Bank via the Ponte Fabricio, which links the Old Ghetto to the island. At the junction of the two join stands the Pierloni-Caetani Tower. Built by the Pierloni family before 1000 AD at one of the most strategic approaches along the Tiber to Medieval Rome, it was used first by the Pierlonis and then the Caetanis for control of the river. Jewish in origin, the Caetani family was to produce a pope, Anacletus II. The Adjacent Pierloni-Caetani Castle, which fronts onto the Piazza San Bartolomeo, served as a fortress for several fugitive popes in the Middle Ages. It became a Franciscan monastery in the 17th century, and is now the Tiber Island History museum.
About the author:
Recognizable to any medieval citizen, the Baptistery and Duomo remain the heart of Florence. Dante’s ‘bel San Giovanni’ is one of the city’s oldest and most famous buildings. Medieval houses still line the Piazza Duomo, many still proudly displaying a stone coat of arms. Like many Florentines of the time, Dante was baptized in the large octagonal font of the Basilica. The building itself dates back to the 4th century. The 13th century mosaics covering the ceiling show with graphic detail the horrors and glories of the Last Judgment. Dante never saw Ghiberti’s famed doors, for they would not grace the building for another century.
For the hardy, 463 steps lead from the floor of the Duomo and up through a labyrinth of corridors and stairwells to the top of the cupola. (The most difficult part of the climb is over the arch; there is a spot here for lovers to place a padlock and throw away the key. In hidden corners remain marks left on the brickwork by the medieval builders.) The cupola soars to the height of the neighbouring hills. The view embraces the history of Florence, with many a medieval street following the course of their Roman precursors. Private palaces survive, and a few towers – or torre, outlawed in 1250 – still remain.
Dominating the Palazzo Vecchio, the Piazza della Signora has continued as the centre of political activity since the Middle Ages. Heavy traffic has been banned since 1385. The imposing façade of the Palazzo Vecchio has remained virtually unchanged since it was built (1299 – 1302) – Dante writes of how the houses of the Ghibelline Uberti were demolished after the triumph of the Guelfs, and the new Palazzo built on their ruins. (The Piazza della Signora is itself built over Roman ruins.)
Walking beneath the arch into the Via Santa Margherita leads past the 12th century Santa Margherita de’ Cerchi, where the poet married Gemma Donati (they were betrothed when Dante was nine). It is also where he first saw Beatrice Portinari, the woman he immortalized in his writing. Beatrice’s father, Folco Portinari, is buried here.
Standing near the site of the original Roman crossing of the Arno, this was the city’s only bridge until 1218. In Dante’s time the Ponte Vecchio was home to butchers and grocers; since the 16th C it had been the place to shop Florence’s most spectacular jewellery.
On the left of the church runs the Costa di San Giorgio; Galileo once lived at No 9. At the end of the road stands the Porta San Giorgio, the oldest of the surviving city gates (Florence was still a wall city in Dante’s time.) A steep walk away is perhaps the most unspoilt of all the Romanesque churches in Tuscany: San Miniato al Monte. It’s classical façade of green-grey and white marble has looked down over Florence since 1018.
The delightful medieval town of Narni in Umbria would perhaps have gone almost unnoticed, apart from being considered to be the exact geographical centre of Italy, if it hadn’t been for C.S.Lewis. While examining a Latin atlas of Europe, he came across the name Narnia, which soon took on a whole new meaning. Although Lewis never visited Narnia, or Narni, as it is now known, it may not be pure coincidence that the tomb of Blessed Lucy of Narni can be found in the town’s impressive cathedral. Images of mythical beasts in stone and iron decorate the ancient buildings and streets. The lion features prominently.
Guided tours of Narni Underground nowadays begin in the church, which was consecrated as “Santa Maria delle Rupe”, although the discovery of a copy of a fourteenth century contract revealed the church’s original name as being Chiesa di Sant’Angelo or S. Michele Archangelo (St Michael The Archangel). Although the church has sustained considerable damage, due to water infiltration, beautiful frescos of Christ on the Cross and symbols of the evangelists still adorn the walls and the ceiling is painted with stars and a symbol of The Lamb of God. The Archangel Michael features fighting a dragon and weighing souls. Several skeletons were found in tombs in the floor of the church, which has still not been completely excavated.
Convinced there was still more to discover, in May 1979, the young potholers, whose efforts to draw attention to their discovery were largely ignored, found a blocked up door in a garden on the other side of the wall. Being denied permission to try and open the door, the friends took advantage of boisterous festivities, during the local medieval celebration the “Corsa all’Anello”, to cover noise while they made a hole in the door. They were stunned by what they discovered. A short passage led to a large windowless chamber, which later came to light had been used by The Court of the Inquisition to “extract” confessions from those accused of polygamy, blasphemy, witchcraft and adultery- crimes which labelled them as heretics. “The Room of Torment” now contains models of gruesome torture instruments used on these ill-fated souls, including the rack and Judas cradle. Beyond the chamber, the group came across a tiny cell, completely covered in mysterious graffiti. The inscription “Santo Uffizio” (Holy Office), was the key to leading them to understand the area had been used by The Inquisition.
The graffiti in the prison cell appears to have largely been the work of one desperate prisoner, Giuseppe Andrea Lombardini, whose name is inscribed on the wall under the date 1759 and the remains of the word “Innocent”, which was erased by his guards. Lombardini left a series of cryptic messages and mysterious symbols ,made from a mixture of brick dust and urine, that seem to have a peculiar mixture of origins. Masonic symbols, such as a triangle with a dot, symbolising the eye of the Grand Architect of the Universe merge with strong Christian symbols such as crosses, religious monograms and a representation of the legend of St Nicolas. An image of a tree surrounded by doves is thought to symbolize the tree of life. A sinister falconer catching birds under the tree may represent the church, or the Inquistion itself, destroying freedom. The sequence 7, 24, 42, 70 is repeated in 3 areas within the cell. The sum of the interior numbers is 66, whereas that of the exterior numbers is 77, therefore implying the battle between good and evil. It is interesting to note that the graffiti artist deliberately replaces the letter D with the letter T in his inscriptions, which is believed to express hatred for the Dominican order who ran the Inquisition. Suns, moons, ladders, Jesuit and cabalistic images leave secret messages that have still not been completely deciphered.
In 2004, it was discovered that Trinity College, Dublin housed a number of important documents referring to the Inquisition including transcripts of the trial of Domenico Ciabocchi, confirming the existence of The Inquisition in Narni. Following this discovery, Robert Nini, one of the intrepid potholers and now president of Narni Underground, wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XIV) who granted him permission to consult the secret archives in the Vatican.
