FLORENTINE BACKGROUNDS
The hills and valleys around Florence offer delightful promenades by
road to the automobilist as well as to those who have not the means at
hand of going so far afield. A commercial enterprise is exploiting them
by means of a great _char-a-banc_, or "sightseeing" automobile, which
detracts from the sentiments and emotions which might otherwise be
evoked, and at the same time annoys the driver of a private automobile,
for the reason that this public conveyance often crowds him on a narrow
road and prevents his passing. However, this is better than being
obstructed, as in former days, by a string of forty lazy cabs and their
drivers.
The round to Fiesole, San Miniato, Vallombrosa, and on through the
Casentino of romantic memory is delightful and may be made in a day or a
week, as one's fancy dictates.
The new road from Florence to Fiesole, that is the road made in the
mid-nineteenth century, was not a piece of jobbery or graft, but was
paid for by patents of nobility given by the municipality of Fiesole to
those who furnished the means. This was in the days when a Grand Duke
ruled Tuscany and monarchical institutions found favour.
Fiesole had its Libro d'Oro, and inscribed thereon as noble any
individual who would pay the required price. From fifteen hundred lire
upward was the price for which marquises, counts and barons were created
in Florence's patrician suburb.
Coming out from Florence by another gateway, through the Porta San
Gallo, runs the Fiesole highway. A landmark, which can be readily
pointed out by anyone, is the villa once possessed by Walter Savage
Landor and inhabited by him for nearly thirty years. Here the famous men
of letters of the middle years of the last century visited him. Here he
revelled amid memories of Boccaccio and wrote the Pentameron. There is
talk of buying the place and consecrating it to his memory.
All the way from Florence to Fiesole the roads are lined with typical
Florentine villas and country houses. The Villa at Poggio Cajano was
built by Lorenzo the Magnificent, who employed Giuliano da San Gallo as
his architect. In 1587 Francesco I died within its walls, and the
profligate Bianca Capello, whose history had best stay buried, also died
here on the following day. Their brother Ferdinand was responsible for
their taking off, as they had already prepared to put him out of the way
by the administration of a dose of poison. He stood over them, with
dagger drawn, and made them eat their own poisoned viands.
The Villa Petraja was a strong-hold of the Brunelleschi family which
defended itself ably against the Pisans and the marauders of Sir John
Hawkwood in 1364, when that rollicking rascal sold his services to the
enemies of Florence. The old tower of the castle, as it then was, still
remains, but the major portion of the present structure dates from quite
modern times.
The Villa Medici in Careggi was built by Cosimo Pater from the designs
of Michelozzi, and though no longer royal it is to-day practically
unchanged in general outline. It, too, was one of the favourite
residences of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and the conclaves of the famous
Platonic Academy were held here on the seventh of November, the
anniversary of the date of the birth and death of Plato. Here died both
Cosimo and Lorenzo, the latter on the eighth of April, 1492, just after
his celebrated interview with Savonarola. The Orsi family came into
possession of the villa later on, then "an English gentleman" and then a
certain Signor Segré.
Between Careggi and Fiesole, and on towards Vallombrosa, the villas and
palatial country houses of the Florentines are scattered as thickly as
the leaves of the famous vale itself.
The Villa Salviati is a fine sixteenth century work with a blood-red
memory of the middle ages, at one time the property of the singer Mario,
remembered by a former generation. The Villa Rinuccini has its grounds
laid out in the style of an English formal garden, and the Villa
Guadagni was once the home of the historian, Bartolommeo della Scala.
Of all the Florentine suburban villas none has a tithe of the popular
romantic interest possessed by the Villa Palmieri. The Villa Palmieri is
best seen from its approach by the highroad, up hill, from Florence. At
the right of the iron gate, the _cancello_, runs the old road to
Fiesole. Upward still the road runs, through the _cancello_, through a
wind-break of trees and around to the north façade by which one enters.
The entire south side of the house is in the form of a loggia, with a
great wide terrace in front, below which is the sloping garden with its
palm trees and azaleas.
[Illustration: VILLA PALMIERI]
The Villa Palmieri and its gardens are somewhat the worse for stress of
time; and the wind and the hot sun have burned up the shrubs and trees
since the days when Zocchi the draughtsman made that series of formal
drawings of Italian gardens, that of the Villa Palmieri among the
number, which are so useful to the compilers of books on Italian villas
and gardens.
Fiesole sits proudly on its height a thousand feet above the level of
the sea. The following anonymous lines--"newspaper verse" they may be
contemptuously described by some--make as admirable a pen picture of
the little town as it were possible to reproduce.
"A little town on a far off hill--
(Fiesole, Fiesole!)
Mossy walls that defy Time's will,
Olive groves in the sun a-thrill
Thickets of roses where thrushes trill
Winds that quiver and then are still--
Fiesole, Fiesole!"
Fiesole forms an irregular ground plan, rising and falling on the
unequal ground upon which it is built. The long and almost unbroken line
of Cyclopean walls towards the north is the portion which has suffered
least from time or violence. The huge stones of which the Etruscan wall
is composed are somewhat irregular in shape and unequal in size, seldom
assuming a polygonal form. This Cyclopean construction varies with the
geological nature of the rock employed. In all the Etruscan and Pelasgic
towns it is found that, when sandstone was used, the form of the stones
has been that of the parallelopipedon or nearly so, as at Fiesole and
Cortona; whereas, when limestone was the subjacent rock, the polygonal
construction alone is found, as at Cosa and Segni. This same observation
will be found to apply to every part of the world, and in a marked
degree to the Cyclopean constructions of Greece and Asia Minor, and
even to the far-distant edifices raised by the Peruvian Incas. Sometimes
the pieces of rock are dovetailed into each other; others stand joint
above joint; but, however placed, the face, or outward front, is
perfectly smooth. No projection, or work advancing beyond the line of
the wall, appears in the remains of the original structure.
[Illustration: FIESOLE]
Fiesole is a built-up fabric in all its parts; its foundation is
architecture, and its churches, palaces and villas are mere
protuberances extending out from a concrete whole. Fiesole is one of the
most remarkably built towns above ground.
Fiesole's great charm lies in its surrounding and ingredient elements;
in the palaces and villas of the hilltops always in plain view, and in
its massive construction of walls, rather than in its specific
monuments, though indeed its Duomo possesses a crudity and rudeness of
constructive and decorative elements which marks it as a distinct, if
barbarous, Romanesque style.
The views from Fiesole's height are peculiarly fine. On the north is the
valley of the Mugello, and just below is the Villa of Scipione Ammirato,
the Florentine historian. Towards the south, the view commands the
central Val d'Arno, from its eastern extremity to the gorge of the
Gonfolina, by which it communicates with the Val d'Arno di Sotto, with
Florence as the main object in the rich landscape below.
The following is a mediæval point of view as conceived by a Renaissance
historian. He wrote it of Lorenzo the Magnificent, but the emotions it
describes may as well become the possession of plebeian travellers of
to-day.
"Lorenzo ever retained a predilection for his country house just below
Fiesole, and the terrace still remains which was his favourite walk.
Pleasant gardens and walks bordered by cypresses add to the beauty of
the spot, from which a splendid view of Florence encircled by its
amphitheatre of mountains is obtained."
"In a villa overhanging the towers of Florence, on the steep slopes of
that lofty hill crowned by the mother city, the ancient Fiesole, in
gardens which Tully might have envied, with Ficino, Landino, and
Politian at his side, he delighted his hours of leisure with the
beautiful visions of Platonic philosophy, for which the summer stillness
of an Italian sky appears the most congenial accompaniment."
This is the twentieth century, but those of mood and mind may experience
the same as did Lorenzo di Medici four hundred years ago. The hills and
vales, the Arno and the City of the Lily, with its domes and towers,
have little changed during the many passing years.
Out from Florence by the Porta alla Croce runs the road to Vallombrosa,
which may be reached also from Fiesole without entering Florence by
taking the road leading over the Ponte a Mensola. Just beyond
Pontassieve, some twenty kilometres distant, the road to Vallombrosa
leaves the Arezzo highway and plunges boldly into the heart of the
Apennines.
Of Vallombrosa Lamartine said: "Abbey monumental, the Grande Chartreuse
of Italy built on the summit of the Apennines behind a rocky rampart,
protected by precipices at every turn, by torrents of rushing water and
by dark, dank forests of fir-pines." The description is good to-day,
and, while the ways of access are many, including even a _funiculaire_
from Pontassieve to Vallombrosa, to approach the sainted pile in the
true and reverend spirit of the pilgrim one should make his way by the
winding mountain road--even if he has to walk. Indeed, walking is the
way to do it; the horses hereabouts are more inert than vigorous; they
mislead one; they start out bravely, but, if they don't fall by the
wayside, they come home limping. But for the fact that the road uphill
to Vallombrosa is none too good as to surface and the turns are many and
sharp, it is accessible enough by automobile.
Various granges, hermitages and convent walls are passed en route. At
Sant'Ellero was a Benedictine nunnery belonging to the monks of
Vallombrosa in the thirteenth century, and in its donjon tower--a queer
adjunct for a nunnery by the way--a band of fleeing Ghibellines were
besieged by a horde of Guelphs in 1267.
Domini and Saltino mark various stages in the ascent from the valley. Up
to this latter point indeed one may come by the _funiculaire_, but that
is not the true pilgrim way.
Up to within a couple of kilometres of the summit chestnuts, oaks, and
beech are seen, justifying Milton's simile, the accuracy of which has
been called in question on the ground that the forest consisted entirely
of fir.
"Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks
In Vallombrosa, where the Etrurian shades,
High overarch'd, embower."
Four miles beyond Paterno, after passing through a fine forest of pines,
the traveller arrives at the Santuario of Vallombrosa:
"Cosi fu nominata una badia,
Ricca e bella ne men religiosa
E cortese a chiunque vi venia."
--_Orl. Fur. can. 22, st. 36._
Among the remarkable men who have been monks of Vallombrosa, was Guido
Aretino, who was a member of this house when he first became known as a
writer upon music (about A. D. 1020). After having visited Rome twice,
upon the invitation of two succeeding popes, he was prevailed upon by
the abbot of a monastery at Ferrara to settle there. Some writers have
ascribed to this Guido the invention of counterpoint, which is scarcely
less absurd than ascribing the invention of a language to any
individual. However, it is pretty certain that he was the first person
to use, or to recommend the use of "lines" and "spaces" for musical
notation.
High above the convent of Vallombrosa itself rises Il Paradisino (1,036
metres) with a small hermitage, while Monte Secchieta is higher still,
1,447 metres. Vallombrosa, its convent and its hermitages are in the
midst of solitude, as indeed a retreat, pious or otherwise, should be.
If only some of us who are more worldly than a monk would go into a
retreat occasionally and commune with solitude awhile, what a
clarifying of ideas one would experience!
Back of Vallombrosa and the Paradisino the upper valley of the Arno
circles around through Arezzo, Bibbiena and Poppi and rises just under
the brow of Monte Falterona which, in its very uppermost reaches, forms
a part of the Casentino.
From Pontassieve where one branches off for Vallombrosa one may descend
on Arezzo either by Poppi-Bibbiena or Montevarchi, say seventy
kilometres either way.
The Casentino and the Valley of the Arno form one of the most
romantically unspoiled tracts in Italy, although modern civilization is
crowding in on all sides. The memories of Saint Francis, La Verna, Saint
Romuald the Camaldoli and Dante and the great array of Renaissance
splendours of its towns and villages, will live for ever.
Here took place some of the severest conflicts in the civil wars of the
Guelphs and Ghibellines, and in numerous ruins of castles and hill-forts
are retained memorials of the many struggles.
Just where the Arno traverses the plain of Campaldino was the scene of a
celebrated battle on the 11th of June, 1289. The Aretines, who formed
the chief portion of the Ghibelline party, were routed with a loss of
1,700 men killed, and 2,000 taken prisoners. Among the former was the
celebrated Guglielmino Ubertini, Bishop of Arezzo, who fell fighting
desperately in the thickest of the fray, having rallied his troops upon
the bridge at Poppi, half a mile further on. Dante was present at this
battle, being then twenty-four years old, and serving in the Guelph
cavalry.
The Casentino is the most opulent district in all the region of the
Apennines. Six centuries ago the Counts Palatine of Tuscany held it;
then came the Popes, and then Dante and his followers. The chronicles of
the Casentino are most fascinating reading, particularly those concerned
with the Counts of Guidi.
Guidoguerra IV, Count Palatine of Tuscany in the early thirteenth
century, was a sort of Robin Hood, except that he was not an outlaw. He
made a road near the home of the monks of Camaldoli, and intruded armed
men into their solitude, "and worse still, play actors and women," where
all women had been forbidden: moreover, he had all the oxen of the monks
driven off. He played pranks on the minstrels and buffoons who came to
his palace. One minstrel, named Malanotte, he compelled to spend a bad
night on the rooftop in the snow; another, Maldecorpo, had to lie and
sizzle between two fires; while a third, Abbas, he tonsured by pulling
out his hair.
Literally translated Casentino means "the valley enclosed." It is a most
romantic region, and the praises of its mountain walls and chestnut
woods have been sung by all sojourners there, ever since Dante set the
fashion.
The life of the peasant of the Casentino to-day is much the same as in
Dante's time, and his pleasures and sorrows are expressed in much the
same manner as of old. Strange folksongs and dances, strange dramas of
courtship, and strange religious ceremonies all find place here in this
unspoiled little forest tract between Florence and Arezzo; along whose
silent paths one may wander for hours and come across no one but a few
contented charcoal-burners who know nothing beyond their own woods.
On the lower levels, the highway leading from Florence to Perugia and
Foligno rolls along, as silent as it was in mediæval times. It is by no
means a dull monotonous road, though containing fewer historic places
than the road by Siena or Viterbo. It is an alternative route from north
to south; and the most direct one into the heart of Umbria.
On arriving from Florence by the highroad one passes through the long
main street of Montevarchi, threading his way carefully to avoid, if
possible, the dogs and ducks which run riot everywhere.
A great fertile plain stretches out on each side of the Arno, the
railway sounding the only modern note to be heard, save the honk! honk!
(the French say _coin_, _coin_, which is better) of an occasional
passing automobile.
Up and down the hills ox teams plough furrows as straight as on the
level, and the general view is pastoral until one strikes the forests
neighbouring upon Arezzo, eighty kilometres from Florence.
Here all is savage and primeval. Here was many a brigand's haunt in the
old days, but the Government has wiped out the roving banditti; and
to-day the greatest discomfort which would result from a hold-up would
be a demand for a cigar, or a box of matches. At Palazzaccio, a mere
hamlet en route, was the hiding place of the once notorious brigand
Spadolino; a sort of stage hero, who affected to rob the rich for the
benefit of the poor--a kind of socialism which was never successful.
Robin Hood tried it, so did Macaire, Gaspard de Besse and Robert le
Diable and they all came to timely capture.
Spadolino one day stopped a carriage near Palazzaccio, cut the throats
of its occupants and gave their gold to a poor miller, Giacomo by name,
who wanted ninety _francesconi_ to pay his rent. This was the last
cunning trick of Spadolino, for he was soon captured and hung at the
Porta Santa Croce at Florence, as a warning to his kind.
Not every hurried traveller who flies by express train from Florence to
Rome puts foot to earth and makes acquaintance with Arezzo. The
automobilist does better, he stops here, for one reason or another, and
he sees things and learns things hitherto unknown to him.
Arezzo should not be omitted from the itinerary of any pilgrim to Italy.
It was one of the twelve cities of the Etruscan federation, and made
peace with Rome in 310 A. D. and for ever remained its ally.
The Flaminian Way, built by the Consul Flaminius in 187 B. C., between
Aretium (Arezzo) and Bononia (Bologna), is still traceable in the
neighbourhood.
Petrarch is Arezzo's deity, and his birthplace is to be found to-day on
the Via del Orto. On the occasion of the great fête given in 1904 in
honour of the six hundredth anniversary of his birth, the municipality
made this place a historic monument.
Vasari, who as a biographer has been very useful to makers of books on
art, was also born at Arezzo in 1512. His house is a landmark. Local
guides miscall it a palace, but in reality it is a very humble edifice;
not at all palatial.
The Palazzo Pretoria at Arezzo has one of the most bizarre façades
extant, albeit its decorative and cypher panels add no great
architectural beauty.
Arezzo's cathedral is about the saddest, ugliest religious edifice in
Italy. Within is the tomb of Pope Gregory X.
Poppi and Bibbiena are the two chief towns of the upper valley. Each is
blissfully unaware of the world that has gone before, and has little in
common with the life of to-day, save such intimacy as is brought by the
railroad train, as it screeches along in the valley between them half a
dozen times a day.
Poppi sits on a high table rock, its feet washed by the flowing Arno.
The town itself is dead or sleeping; but most of its houses are frankly
modern, in that they are well kept and freshly painted or whitewashed.
The only old building in Poppi, not in ruins, is its castle, occupying
the highest part of the rock; a place of some strength before the use of
heavy guns. It was built by Lapo in 1230, and bears a family
resemblance to the Palazzo Vecchio at Florence. The court-yard contains
some curious architecture, and a staircase celebrated for the skill
shown in its construction. It resembles that in the Bargello at
Florence, and leads to a chapel containing frescoes which, according to
Vasari, are by Spinello Aretino.
Poppi is a good point from which to explore the western slopes of
Vallombrosa or Monte Secchieta. The landlord and the local guides will
lead one up through the celebrated groves at a fixed price "tutto
compreso," and, if you are liberal with your tip, will open a bottle of
"vino santo" for you. Could hospitality and fair dealing go further?
Bibbiena, the native town of Francesco Berni, and of the Cardinal
Bibbiena, who was the patron of Raphael, has many of the characteristics
of Poppi, in point of site and surroundings. It is the point of
departure for the convent of La Verna, built by St. Francis of Assisi in
1215; situated high on a shoulder of rugged rock. The highest point of
the mountain, on which it stands, is called La Penna, the "rock" or
"divide" between the valleys of the Arno and the Tiber. To the eastward
are seen Umbria and the mountains of Perugia; on the west, the valley of
the Casentino and the chain of the Prato Magno; to the northward is the
source of the Arno, and to the northeast, that of the Tiber.
To the east, just where the Casentino, by means of the cross road
connecting with the Via Æmilia, held its line of communication with the
Adriatic, is the Romagna, a district where feudal strife and warfare
were rampant throughout the middle ages. From its story it would seem as
though the region never had a tranquil moment.
The chain of little towns of the Romagna is full of souvenirs of the
days when seigneuries were carved out of pontifical lands by the sword
of some rebel who flaunted the temporal power of the church. These were
strictly personal properties, and their owners owed territorial
allegiance to the Pope no more than they did to the descendants of the
Emperors.
Rex Romanorum as a doctrine was dead for ever. Guelph and Ghibelline
held these little seigneuries, turn by turn, and from the Adriatic to
the Gulf of Spezia there was almost constant warfare, sometimes petty,
sometimes great. It was warfare, too, between families, between people
of the same race, the most bloody, disastrous and sad of all warfare.