A piece of Paradise in Perugia

Without neglecting the many other lovely spots in the city of Perugia, I would like to tell you about one in particular. Hidden behind the San Pietro Church there´s - very well kept by the Agricultural College of the University of Perugia – the Orto Medievale (medieval garden).

Typical for those times, the design of the garden is based upon a lot of symbols. I am not going to reveal all of them, but you can ask for a map 1, available in several languages, that explains them so you can completely understand them and make sure you won´t miss anything.

The first, oval shaped part of the garden represents Paradise. In the oval are three circles, each with a tree. The first tree is the Albero della Vita (tree of life), in the middle, on a `mountain` stands the Albero della Luce e della Scienza (tree of light and knowledge).

Four little wells spring forth from the mountain, called water, wine, milk and honey.

The last circle contains the Albero della Conoscenza del Bene e del Male (tree of knowledge of good and bad). You won´t be suprised that this last tree is a fig.

The centre of this Paradise is divided in twelve equal parts symbolizing the Zodiac. Each part contains the herbal plant that belongs to its zodiac sign.

Outside of Eden, you reach the Dark Forest that represents the Bad, the Sin. Yet, it´s is also the Holy Forest, with a.o. The Tree of Perfection, Tree of Spirit and the Tree of The Cross.

In the tower next to the Dark Forest you can see a reconstruction of an alchemist´s laboratory, before entering the second zone of the holy forest where the Tree of Justice, the Tree of Youth and many many others reign.

Leaving the forest you step into the Garden of Health that hosts many medical herbs, followed by the Holistic garden with its aromatic herbs. There, seven little round basins symbolize the influence of the stars. Below the so called Podium, a small cave contains purifying water running from two little falls.

Descending again you will reach the Theatrum that is built on the remains of an ancient fountain and a patio which is covered by vines and roses.

Passing an ancient sarcophagus you will return to the entrance. I would not be surprised if the only thing on your mind, like it was on mine, will be `I want to walk back in again.`

1 The explanation is based upon `Il Giardino dello Spirito`  (Alessandro Menghini)

Assisi and its arts and craftsmuseum

Do you know this sensational, exited feeling when you discover a completely new spot located where you never expected it? This happened to me. I visit Assisi a few times each year for the past twenty years, showing the city to my guests or sometimes just to have a quick look at the Santo Stefano and its small garden (my favourite church in Assisi).

Assisi of course is a `no-to-be-missed` city when you are lucky enough to be in Umbria. This time though, I particularly enjoyed it because I found the 

Museo Arti e Mestieri dell´Umbria.

Founded by Davide Costantini and inaugurated in 2012, the museum tells the story of the Umbrian citizens´ daily lives, rich or poor, and the every day objects they used.

(c) Jan Vos

The museum is situated half way the Corso Mazzini, right next to the San Francesco Piccolino in the eponymous square. It´s a unique spot, not only because Assisi´s worldfamous saint San Francesco was born there, but also because inside the museum you will find the remains of a medieval house.

In the middle of it, there´s a medieval well, it shows an aquaduct and it has medieval walls as well as remains of the original pavement.

I could think of no better location to show the tools that were used in the kitchen at those times, covering not only the Middle Ages but a larger period as well, or the furniture people used in their homes, like a table dated at 1400, but one can also admired the toys used to keep the children busy.

Some of the exhibited possessions are really rare and shall not easily be found anywhere else.

Which means that even now, I felt jealous of a few objects shown, like the fabrics that must have been of an excellent quality, considering de state they´re in ages later.

An especially nice gesture you become when leaving the museum: an attest, signed by both the founder, Assisi´s mayor and the Regionn of Umbria on which you can fill your own name.

If you want to learn more and see a lot better pictures:

The museum´s entrance is free. It´s open every day from 9-13.00 and 13.00-18.00.

Its website is very informative.

Narni underground

This time in march I finally got the opportunity to do something that had been on my wishlist for years: visit Narni Underground.

It is, of course, always some kind of an adventure to descend below the earth and see what lies beneath. I mean, who has not dreamed about discovering lost caves and hidden treasures?

But Narni Sotterranea – the Italian name – attracted me in particular for I had been reading about its history before an therefor already knew that the area has been well kept and the research had been thorough. It promised to become a very interesting visit.

It did. As soon as I met our guide, Aroti Meloni, in personal, I could tell she was enthousiastic and passionate about the ins and outs of these underground spaces and obviously well experienced.

Narni Underground reveals the remains of an original monastery, the San Domenico, that became destroyed in World War II, forgotten and overgrown with vegetation after that, until in 1978, a group of young speleologists – they were all minors – discovered the entrance, with some help of an old man who had a vegetable garden on that spot.

(c) Narni Sotterranea - all rights reserved

In 1994 it was possible to make the areas accessible to the public. The first room reveals a former church from the 12^th century, decorated with beautiful religious fresco´s. It´s original name, as discoverd in a document, was Sant´Angelo, after the Archangel Michael, whose image is shown in a fresco at the left.

(c) Narni Sotterranea

The second area contains an ancient cistern in good state, used to collect the rainwater. Two instruments exposed in the room show us how, in the Roman epoque, land distances and differences in earth level were measured in order to construct linear roads and aquaducts. The aquaduct Formina di Narni, with a length of 13. km, was built this way.

After these two rooms the history became more obscure. The next room possessed a collection of torture instruments that were used by the Inquisition. Documents that were accidentally found at Trinity College in Dublin and further research in the Vatican archives confirm that the room had indeed been used by the Inquisition. One of the documents found was the complete report of the trial of Domenico Ciabbocchi, a man from Todi who was condemned for bigamy (learn more about this story here).

(c) Narni Sotterranea - all rights reserved

The last room had been the prison. Its walls and ceiling represent the interesting but sad story of a prisoner locked up there for months, biding his time by scratching insciptions in the walls. He created different colours by mixing stone powder with urine. The poor prisoner used many symbols, like the numbers 4, 3 and 7 respectively to signify the Earth, a triangle to indicate Elevation and the last to describe God. Other frequent symbols are pigeons, representing Peace but yet held captive a by a thin wire tied to a tree.

(c) Narni Sotteranea

And.. there´s a row of numbers, 7-24-42-70. There are theories about the meaning of them, but not one is proven certain. May you can solve this mystery?

It may be obvious that all my great expectations came true with this visit. I strongly recommend you to go and see for yourself, for there is a lot more to experience and relive at Narni Underground.. (and I haven´t even told you about Narni-Above-Ground) .

Narni Underground is accessable the whole year around. For schedules, bookings, routedescription and more information: www.narnisotterranea.it