Discover the old times charm of Marzamemi

Marzamemi is a beautiful ancient tuna fishing village in Sicily, not far from Siracusa.

It was built during the Arab domination of Sicily. The name itself “Marzamemi” has an Arab root. “Marsa” in Arab means “harbor”.

Also the tuna fishery dates back to the Arab domination, while the fishermen houses were built in the 17° century, when the whole area was sold to the prince of Villadorata, who built new houses and structures to empower the fishing activity.

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Fishing tunas and other large fishes was a profitable enterprise until the half oh last century. Later overfishing has reduced the natural reserves and today the sea is almost empty. For long time the harbor has also been an important base for the trade of the thick, alcoholic red wine produced in the South of Sicily. But the quantities vanished with the years passing by and the final cut came when the railway was closed. Now the station building stands oddly among Mediterranean plants in the middle of nowhere and the tuna factory is closed since decades. The buildings have been converted to host meetings, ceremonies, weddings.

But in spite of its sad fate, the village has an enormous appeal. The enchantment of Marzanemi is still alive and no visitor can escape;  everybody is hit by the beauty of this old stones that increases while the sun goes on along  its path and approaches the horizon.

The heart of Marzamemi is Piazza Regina Margherita, flanked by the Palace of the Prince, the Loggia degli Scieri, the tuna factory , two facing churches and the fishermen’s houses: in a bunch of square meters is concentrated the whole charm of this village. Here you can really feel the sense of history radiating out from every old stone.

When you enter the square and use a bit of your fantasy you can imagine you’re stepping back in time. This is the place where at the end of every working day the fishermen gathered to meet, chat, share a glass of house made wine and look at the horizon to forecast weather. Imagine the silence of those days, fractured only by whispering voices and the sound of waves, the men tired after hard work, the women waiting for them at home. Today the reality is different, with crowds of people visiting the site, bars and restaurants.

But when the sun approaches the horizon, the shadows get longer and the light warmer a new sense of wonder pervades this small village before the final calm of the night.

 

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Deep South and close to Africa

The island knows no other human voices, no other footprints. On the Offshore Lights you can live any story you want to tell yourself, and no one will say you’re wrong: not the seagulls, not the prisms, not the wind. (M.L. Stedman)

Down, down, down to the extreme tip of Sicily until there is no path anymore, then walk further towards South, along a boulders walkway that surfaces only with the low tide.

Here we are finally: we have set our feet on ‘Isola delle Correnti, the southernmost and probably the most isolated point of Italy.

We are further south than Tunis, as much south as Algiers, and yet in Italy.

Few buildings, a lighthouse. But nobody’s around: the last lighthouse keeper has left the island at the end of last century. Since then, here live only seabirds. And you can clearly hear them, together with the wind and the waves made by the clash of two different currents belonging to two different seas.

If you don’t like loneliness, better to come here in summer: at least you’ll be able to spot some people on the beach on the mainland. Otherwise only waves and seagulls.

While on the island, don’t forget the time passing by and keep track of the ephemeris: you have to come back before the tide rises again. Otherwise the boulders link with the mainland will be underwater and you either swim or spend the night on the island.

Only with seagulls as company. Or maybe some ghost….

 

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In a dark and awesome night…Nusco fascinating bonfires

This is the story of a dark night. The darkest night of the year.  At least, this is what they say in Southern Italy.

We are in Nusco, in Campania, province of Avellino, on a windy hilltop at almost a thousand meters height.

With the morning light, from here you get a wonderful view over the valley of the Ofanto River and the Southern Apennines mountains.

But now it’s night, the night of January 17th.

It’s dedicated to Sant ‘Antonio Abate (Anthony the Great), the Christian saint who stole the fire from the devil to give it to mankind; the protector of animals (including pigs); the saint who helps finding lost objects.

And it’s the night of the bonfires, or focaroni as they call them here.

It’s not only a religious ritual. It’s a reminiscence of ancient paganisms that evoked the light in one of the darkest nights of the year. A rite of transition from the darkness of winter to the light of the forthcoming spring, and the ideal lighting of the Carnival.

In the past, when people lived here only of agriculture and pastoralism, these were the days when – while the fields were resting in the snow – the farmers could enjoy few days of idleness before starting to prepare the new plantings. The fires are the acme of this enforced but pleasing rest, an ephemeral escape from a wretched life.

Woodpiles are stacked in front of every church, in every open space and square of the Old Town.

The biggest piles are in front of the parish church and the town hall.

As darkness advances, the wait grows. At a given signal (fireworks in the air!) all the woodpiles are lit and the festival begins.

The fires illuminate and heat up. They drive away the darkness, strengthen the hope that soon springtime will come to break this cold.

Around them people sing and dance and costumed characters wander around. They eat and drink to throw the cold away.

Over the years the festival has lost some of its archaic and mysterious characters; its popularity slightly debunks its charm.

Modernity stepped over archaism in terms of commodification.

That’s not completely negative. Now you can find for sale that traditional food that once you could only get if invited in somebody’s house.

The lord of the festival is pork. It can be enjoyed in a thousand different recipes, from sausages to cicoli .

Another traditional preparation is the hanged cheese. A form of caciocavallo cheese is suspended (hanged) over hot coals and the melt is spread on a slice of bread, sometimes with the addition of oil and/or truffle.

 

If you’re mouthwatering while reading this, just know that tasted personally it is actually much better!

Later in the night the crowd of tourists comes to eat and warm up by the last fires and to delete the charm of the night.

If you want to get off the beaten path, just know that there is a tradition of competition among all the villagers to create the biggest and best “private” bonfire.

Here, in the alleys, away from the crowd, everything is more genuine. It is not uncommon to be invited for a glass of wine or for something more substantial, like laine. They are a handmade pasta like tagliatelle but a bit shorter and thicker. They are boiled and served with cheese and mushrooms or with ragout and are an absolute and rare delicacy.

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San Pietro Infine, centerpoint of an epic battle: shadows of war

San Pietro Infine is a tiny medieval village in Southern Italy, almost halfway between Rome and Naples.

It is uninhabited and completely in ruins.

If you’re interested in history, you probably know what Cassino means in WWII.

But does San Pietro Infine tell you anything?

Probably not, even if it lies few kilometers south of Cassino.

Because of its position, on the slopes of Monte Sambucaro,  it was the centerpoint of an epic battle between the American V Army, and the German 29th Panzer Grenadier Division.

Americans were on their way to Rome and Northern Italy.

Germans had set their stronghold few kilometers north of San Pietro Infine, along what was called the Gustav Line.

San Pietro was an important outpost: almost inaccessible, with good view over the valley and the main road.

Germans could patrol every possible access point for the enemies coming from South-East.

And the allied troops had to destroy that stronghold built on a ravine, where all the houses were a good shelter for guns and snipers, to have a free passage towards Cassino (and this is another sad story…) and Rome.

The battle for San Pietro lasted almost two weeks, and at the end of it the Germans were defeated, the village was completely destroyed by earth and air bombing.

As a side effect,  the population was decimated.

Most part of the inhabitants had refused to leave the village (and where could they go?) and had sought shelter in natural caves that are at one side of the village.

But bombs make no difference and they destroy even natural caverns. So at the end of the battle more than 130 civilians had been killed, over a population of almost 1.500.

John Huston, the great film director, during the war served in the Army with the rank of Captain.  His main duty was produce films for the Army Signal Corps. He made a documentary about the battle, a beautiful work that was censored by the Army because it pointed out on some strategic mistakes and failures of intelligence that originated almost 1.200 casualties among the Allied forces.

If you’re interested you can watch it here:  https://archive.org/details/battle_of_san_pietro

Today, San Pietro Infine is a ghost town.

After the war, the village has been rebuilt few kilometres away.

But the abandoned and destroyed houses can be visited and are not far away from the motorway exit. An interesting detour for history lovers travelling between Roma and Naples!

If you stand in what was San Pietro’s main square, you easily understand the strategic importance of the village during WWII.  From here you can see great part of the valley below, the main road, some minor valleys towards South.

The old destroyed houses have been left untouched by human hands. Only vegetation has found its way through the old stones.

Walking through the alleys with nobody around and in total silence is a surreal experience, like traveling in time.

One could think that snipers are still hiding among the ruins and can imagine to hear the battle’s thunder.

You can easily recognize the whole urban structure among wild vegetation: alleys, little squares, corners.

I walked through an archway were once was the tavern, and it is the only artifact  that still stands almost untouched by bombs.

One can walk through the archway and on the other side there is “Casa Compagnone”.

The Compagnone family moved to the United States soon after the battle but they still have San Pietro Infine in their memories.

The site is not completely abandoned, some shepherds still wander mostly through the upper part of the village, and only few curious animals roam through the ruins.

On the highest point of the village there is a church.

Its ruins still dominate the whole scene from above and the imagination goes to different scenes of popular faith and war.

At the base of the village, not far from the main square, you can even visit the caves were the populations lived during the battle.

The ceiling is so low that, once stepped inside, one can barely stand.

Think how miserable should be the population’s living conditions during the battle: hundreds of women, elders and children gathered together for weeks in darkness and fear of bombing, with no fresh air, no water, no food, no facilities, and without knowing what was happening outside.

I found the visit to San Pietro Infine very instructive about the horrors or wars.

While wandering in those empty cobbled lanes my mind went to people who are right now suffering what the inhabitants of San Pietro suffered.

Think of people in Syria or in eastern Ukraine right now, think of former Yugoslavia few decades ago.

Ruined villages like San Pietro Infine are scattered on planet Earth, natural monuments to the atrocity of every war.

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A visit to the awesome Matera and how to get great pictures

The ancient town of Matera, with its “Sassi” district, is a fascinating city. It will delight all your senses.

You find it deep in Southern Italy, nested in a harsh yet beautiful rocky landscape: the karst semi-arid plateau streaked with canyons called Murge.

Sassi are the ancient heart of the city, a labyrinth carved out in the slopes of two distinct narrow canyons of calcareous rock, full of cave dwellings and old, beautiful buildings.

To visit the area a bit of physical effort is required. What you need is a decent physical shape and comfortable shoes. With this basic equipment you’re ready to go and get lost in the ancient part of the town.

You’ll find many blind alleys, lots of steps and no helpful sign.

Just descend the hill slope until you get to the bottom of the valley and always look around because surprises are everywhere: dwellings dug in the rocks, old beautiful palaces, churches.

The light is constantly changing; here are some simple rules for the photographers, to keep in mind:

1. early morning is the best time to get pictures of Sasso Caveoso from the Cave churches Park or of Sasso Barisano from Civita, the oldest part of the town;
2. late afternoon is ideal to get pictures of Sasso Barisano from the viewpoint of the modern city.

While dealing with stairways and climbing paths, you’ll slowly realize that Matera has its own soundtrack.

At night there are percussions rattling from the bottom of Sasso Barisano, while from a corner of Sasso Caveoso you can hear somebody playing a saxophone. Going on towards Punta della Civita (that hosts the academy of music) here it is a new melody: piano and reeds in counterpoint.

Don’t even miss the modern town: Piazza Vittorio Veneto is its real center, with nice buildings, a cinema, bars and restaurants, a multicolored fountain and a viewpoint over the Sassi area (Civita and Sasso Barisano).

Below this terrace there is another, ancient world: ruins of the medieval Matera, its lanes, shops and the water tanks that provided water to the whole town: you can visit it during weekends and it’s highly recommended.

A fragment of Spain is waiting for you not far from the cathedral: via Domenico Rodola flanked by beautiful buildings and trees in its final stretch that leads to the majestic Palazzo Lanfranchi and to another scenic viewpoint over the Sassi.

While walking, every now and then look at the sky, where falcons are flying around!

Lesser kestrels are cuddled and respected in Matera: artificial nests are placed outside the buildings for him, and the birds quite obviously welcome this treatment, since, as all falcons, they don’t build nest structures; a large colony of almost 3.000 Lesser kestrels lives in Matera and it’s beautiful to see them flying around the cathedral and over the city center.

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For more beautiful photos, please visit my website.

Who am I?

I am a free lance outdoor photographer based in Avellino, Campania, in Southern Italy, not far from Naples, Amalfi Coast, Pompeii and Herculaneum.

My photos have been published on the Italian issue of Digital Camera Magazine, on the Italian travel magazine Viaggi del Sole, on the Italian issue of GEO Magazine.

One of my travel reportages, about the Hadza tribe of Tanzania was performed in November 2010 in a collective exhibition titled Africa yesterday and today held by the “Chatwin Prize” in Genova.

 My main activity is based on travel reportages and landscape photos, and this has brought me to know in depth the most beautiful corners of the area where I live.

 

With the time I started to ask myself why shouldn’t I share with other photographers the beauties I was witnessing, being them the most famous (think of Amalfi Coast, Capri, Ischia) or the less known.

This is why I decided to offer photo tours and photo walks in distinctive sites located in the area where I live and around.

Being a landscape photographer my main goal is to express into an image the beauty of the places and the emotions I felt while clicking. And I would like to address the participants to my  photo tours and photo walks to capture in their images shot while with me what they feel rather than what they see. 

A postcard can be bought at every newsstand, an image with an emotion has a louder voice and a distinctive character.

Some of the best known sites I can get you to are:

Amalfi Coast (Amalfi, Ravello, Positano, some hidden gems scattered along it and less known).

Upon agreement I can also be with you along some of the most scenic walking path of the area, like: Sentiero degli dei (God’s path) that leads to Positano and offers fantastic views of the rugged coastline and – far away – the island of Capri, or Valle delle Ferriere: a very scenic path among rare plants, waterfalls and old paper mills

 Pompeii and Herculaneum

Paestum, majestic Greek temples scattered in a vast plain, among oint trees, between the sea and the mountains.

Caserta’s Royal Palace and Caserta Vecchia, a masterpiece of the Baroque with huge, impressive gardens and an ancient town with a gorgeous view

Procida, tiny, colourful, fascinating island in the gulf of Naples

Alberobello and Trulli, the whitewashed cone-shaped distintive buildings typical of that area

The “white towns” in Apulia (Ostuni, Cisternino, Martina Franca, Locorotondo)

Matera and “Sassi”

But if you like to be off the beaten path, I can suggest different itineraries where you can find less crowd, more silence and inspiration.

For example, the Wine Road in Irpinia:  among gentle hills and green landscapes (or ochre or yellow, it depends on the season) we will visit vineyards and wine cellars where the tasteful and well known Taurasi  is produced along with the more gentle white Greco di Tufo.

 

Or we can pay a visit to one of the many ghost towns located in this area: fascinating old villages, abandoned and partly destroyed but full of charm and photographic possibilities.

We can also have a tour along and old railroad, built in the XIX century and now abandoned: majestic iron bridges, old stations, rusty rails, beautiful landscapes and interesting villages.

 

There are many other possibilities, and it’s also possible to tailor a program on your needs and interests.

A photo walk is not less than two hours up to one whole day, while photo tours are usually one weekend long.

You’ll have the assistance of an experienced photographer who will also lead you to the best photographic spots. Upon request and arrangement I can offer pick up and transport service, accommodation and meals.

Based on my experience, the best time for this tours are springtime and early autumn, when temperatures are mild and the big crowd is away, but the tours are available all year long.

If you need any other info please don’t hesitate to contact me at

info@photosontheroad.eu.