Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Digging in . . .

We've got permission to replace the windows in our little palace; thus, the project has begun.

outside window opening


travi (lintels) center-cut local chestnut trees

I've been doing some research in what I'd like to call the "lost years" of the palace history. On the deed is listed a construction year of 1600 yet the first Count Roverizio di Roccasterone, after whom the palace is named, was installed in 1722. So was it in his family's possession from the start?  Recently I've found another mention of the palace, which dates it to around the 15th century but no mention of who the first occupants might have been. The fact is, as least so far, no-one knows the palace's true age or who had it built.  Unlike England, Italy has no Doomsday Book so I must look for clues provided by the building itself.

Windows removed

We are going to replace the old windows with exact copies, down to the materials and techniques used during the last renovation; whenever that was. During the last renovation the window openings were made smaller than previous times; as is evidenced by much higher arches and additional higher lintels, which were exposed during the removal of the frames. The windows have eight lights and the panes are larger than anything possible during the 17th century so the last "go-around" probably took place in the 18th or 19th century.



old windows to be replicated

Sometime in its more recent history one of our rooms was sacrificed to create a huge oven, which was used to bake bread for all of Ceriana. Several people in town remember it being in use as late as the 1960s. The oven's opening faces the large room we're hoping to make the dining hall. Behind the small opening is a huge 3x3 meter domed oven that was built in the room behind the wall. The oven's room flanks what was a proper chapel with what was an opening to that room; filled-in long ago, again, to create the oven.


oven door and flue


The floor of the chapel was obviously ripped up exposing the earth beneath. Some of the chapel's pavement stones are still piled in a corner; identical stones make-up the "floor" of the oven so I'm supposing that the missing chapel stones were called into action when nourishment of the body was surpassing the need for nourishment of the soul.


former chapel/legnaia


Due to the oven's size we know that a huge amount of wood had to be at hand and the chapel became the logical legnaia (wood-shed) as the wood-chips and bark-bits on the floor bear witness.
Can we assume, since the chapel and flanking room were sacrificed in this way, that the nobility who once occupied these rooms were long gone? I think so. Surely the Roverizio di Roccasterone family used their chapel for devotion and had a proper kitchen and scullery in other rooms of the palace; in fact, in another room currently owned by another family, there is convincing evidence of an ancient kitchen.

In our "room of mystery," i.e. "oven room," there is a small and crudely constructed curved stairway providing access to the outside-top of the oven dome. These steps probably served the builders of the oven and were later used to carry up chestnuts to be dried on top of its hot surface; a blanket of hulls offers us this supposition. Rich and I spent a couple of days scooping out dirt and construction rubble (zetro) from this room to uncover these steps; the dirt was not so mysterious a find, as a very resourceful muratore found a convenient dumping place that served no other function. I'm assuming this "dump" was made when the oven went cold . . . within the past 50 years or so.


Oven room:  note the details above the oven mound.

Another find in this room was an ancient iron oven door. The door's shape reflects a gothic-arch; it's incredibly heavy and is very well used. Was this a much older oven door taken from the palace's original kitchen to, perhaps, be recycled for use on the "new" oven? Was the idea of using this oven door abandoned due to its cumbersomeness and semi-corroded state? My plan is to give it a light brushing, oil it and display it as a piece of the building's history and one of the building's mysteries.




So what we've surmised is that the chapel's destruction and oven's construction was done only after the "original" occupants lost their claim to the nobility and the palace was divided into several parcels and sold off. . . probably during the 19th century. The town needed an oven and the palace was a logical choice. As far as what the building was before 1722, who knows? If indeed it does date back to the 1400s, as my most recent source claims, I've got to look for many, many more clues.


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

What Hath We Wrought? (Keeping Count)

We've acquired a renaissance palace . . . okay, really just four rooms of the Palazzo dei Conti Roverizio di Roccasterone.

Entrance to the Portico of the Palace

The "palace" was built around the late 16th, early 17th century* and was occupied by Giovanni Maria Pianavia who was made "Count of Roccastarone" by Amedeo II of Sardinia in 1722. It's quite possible that Giovanni never even saw the small hamlet of Roccasterone, north of Nice, but being of noble birth he had to have a title after-all!


Portico and three of our "windows"

Its history is rather dubious, most of it; rumored. It sat for more than a hundred years before Giovanni Maria was made Count, so who were its original occupants? Ceriana has no tangible records of the Count and we've yet to uncover any renderings of what the place might have looked like in its heyday. Perhaps it was a refuge of sorts of the Pianavia's or Roverizio's?

Grand Staircase

"Neptune" greets all visitors to the palace



In the Sanremo library I found reference pinning the Pianavia family to Pigna, a terme (thermal spa town) nearby. The fact that Giovanni Maria Pianavia became Conte Roverizio di Roccasterone, leaves me a bit confused; nevertheless, I found a listing of the family holdings to include:  a "Palazzo" in Sanremo (Palazzo Roverizio still exists); and a "Castello" in Ceriana.



Now I ask, "did we buy rooms in a palace (palazzo) or a castle (castello)?" Well, at this point, we bought a project (progetto) that will keep us occupied for some time; perhaps a century or two.

More to come. . .
Room 1 (Front Room)


Room 2 (Dining Hall?)


Room 3 (Chapel)
Room of Mystery!
* since writing this I've discovered another source which dates the palace to "around the 15th century" so, what's another 100 years?

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Don't Get Me Started!






Okay, I give! When I started to write about a life in Italy, I had made a decision to highlight only the positives. After-all, how could a life in retirement on the Riviera be anything but positive? Well, hold on; here I present a few of the challenges of living in Italy.


Speaking


The following is an example of what Italians hear when I speak . . .

First must tell about the language problem. When talking I translate every word and think I will never talk well until I'm thinking too the language. When entering a shop first explain I, my Italian is poor and hoping that they speak English to me, I ask always, "speak you English?" they answer always, "a little," which really mean, "nothing!" When this happen I must find the words to get what I want.

I've recently stopped explaining that my Italian is limited; I think they get that right off.



Driving


One has a year, from the date of becoming a "resident" to obtain an Italian driver's license. I got my "residency" in 2008 and, if I had been told at that time about the driving requirement, I could have taken the test in English. Instead, through an unfortunate incident another American experienced, I found out about this requirement only last year, I also found out that the test was now ONLY offered in Italian, German and French. No problem, thought I, I'll just study the 800 pages of True/False test questions, written in an "Italian" one never hears in the shops!

Without anymore unnecessary information (I'd have to tell you the details in private),  I can now claim that I possess a driver's license from a different E.U. country which respects the fact that I've been driving safely for almost forty years.

One more thing about the driving here; I'm not convinced that Italian drivers obtain licenses by passing exams. 



Eating 


Since I'm putting my cards on the table, let me talk about what else you'll find on an Italian table.

I, of course, LOVE Italian food and since living here, I have tweaked my Italian recipes and techniques to better align myself with what's considered proper Italian cooking. I now make lasagna with a proper besciamella. I now use less garlic and when I do, it's used correctly. My pasta is cooked according to the time listed on the package. I make my own tomato sauce from home grown tomatoes. I prepare and eat smaller portions of meat and I always know where and when the animal was born, raised and killed. 
I eat raw sausage with the best of the Cerianaschi. And yet . . . I'm craving:  hamburgers, burritos, tacos, American/Chinese take-out, Indian Food, and Twinkies.

When Rich and I go out to dinner here, it's a sure bet it's Italian! And it really doesn't matter where we end up, it's all good, but . . . 




 Vacationing

It seems Italians might be a bit unadventurous; they love what they have; it's usually the best, and that's that! This contentment with all things Italian, if it can be called that, extends from their tables to their leisure time. August 15th rolls around and the bulk of the population is on vacation, destined to the same lidi their families have enjoyed for generations. Italians love their beaches; really, what's not to love about a beach? Italian pediatricians still recommend several weeks of sunshine for their young patients; thus imprinting sun-worship from a very early age.  Beaches here are organized in rows. Rows upon rows of beach chairs or beds. Rows upon rows of umbrellas. It's all very organized, it's all very regular, it's all very Italian. 

Occasionally an Italian couple might take an exotic vacation to, say, the U.S., or the Maldives, or Machu Picchu, but usually only if it's an organized tour with other Italian couples. They go as a delegation so that they're never without the comfort of their countrymen. In a pack, there's always someone who's better with the language; someone who's better with the money; someone who's been there before and knows where to find the best Italian restaurant!


in somma . . . 


We Americans are spoiled by endless variety, our many choices. The very fabric of America is woven with diversity; diversity and variety defines us, it's our mindset, and we are uncomfortable when choices are few. 

So, aren't we really just like them; looking to find comfort in what we know best? 








That's not really a "negative" is it?