Summer 09 - Michelangelo, Venice and Maratea, the most beautiful coastline in Italy?

Two new Michelangelo works (or are they really?); the world’s most spectacular new art gallery in Venice; an evening in Sydney dedicated to Puglia; and a week in Maratea, a hideaway in southern Italy favoured by Frank Sinatra and Princess Diana and said to be the ‘most beautiful stretch of coastline in Italy’ – we hope you enjoy the Summer edition of Volare, the quarterly Hidden Italy Newsletter.

A Taste of Puglia - 5 August ‘09

“Evidently, the God of the Jews didn’t know Puglia, otherwise he wouldn’t have given his people Palestine as the Promised Land.”   Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Puglia (1194-1250 AD).

Puglia is a beautiful and undiscovered part of Italy and we will be taking a new tour there in May (30 April to 12 May ’10). To introduce the tour we will be offering a 5% Early Bird discount for bookings before 30 September (valid also for the Sicily tour, 14 to 27 May ‘10) and we would also like to invite you to an evening of Pugliese wine, cheese and a virtual tour of Puglia at Mary Rossi Travel (Suite 1, 65 Berry Street, North Sydney) from 6.30 – 8.30 on Wednesday 5 August. If you can make it please let us know via the following email address: info@hiddenitaly.com.au  or info@maryrossitravel.com . I hope we can share some of our enthusiasm for this part of Italy. For details of the Puglia and Sicily tours, please see www.hiddenitaly.com.au/tours.  
 

Exhibitions Summer 09

‘Mapping the Studio’  (Centre for Contemporary Art, Punta della Dogana, Venice, until 22 November www.palazzograssi.it). No gallery in the world could have as spectacular a location as the new Centre for Contemporary Art in Venice. An extension of the Palazzo Grassi, the new centre occupies the old Venetian Customs Houses, opposite St Mark’s square on the tip of the point that separates the Giudecca Canal from the Grand Canal. The inaugural exhibition includes over 300 works of Francois Rinault, its founder and is part of the 2009 Venice Biennale (www.labiennale.org ).

Francesco Clemente - Shipwreck with an Audience (Museo Madre, Naples until 14 September, www.museomadre.it/mostre_show.cfm?id=13). One of the most important exhibitions in Italy this year is dedicated to Francesco Clemente, resident of New York, protagonist of the TRansavantguardia movement, and one of Italy’s major contemporary artists. The exhibition is being held in his home town of Naples and includes 170 works produced between 1974 and 2004, which show the artists return to the joy and colour of his early paintings after years dedicated to conceptual art.

Mario Schifano, All the Stars (MdM Museum, Porto Cervo, Sardinia, until 30 October, www.mdmmuseum.com). The MdM Museum is another new gallery with an enviable location, overlooking the harbour of Porto Cervo, the ‘capital’ of the glamorous Costa Smerelda in Sardinia. The inaugural exhibition here is dedicated to the Sardinian painter Mario Schifano (1934 to 1999) who like Clemente was drawn to New York. The exhibition focussing particularly on the artists nostalgic relationship with the earlier Futurist but also includes an enchanting collection of paintings on the night skies and deserts of Libya.
 

Events in Summer 09

Michelangelo in Naples: Christ Refound. Museo Diocesano di Napoli. The authenticity of a tiny wooden sculpture of Christ (normally held and the church of the Santo Spirito in Florence) recently bought by the Italian government for 3.5 million euro and attributed to Michelangelo has been challenged by the New York Times, among others. Under carabineri guard, the exquisite carved figure is currently on display at the Diocesan Museum in Naples. (www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/arts/design/22michel.html).

Michelangelo’s forgotten bell tower, the Duomo of Pietrasanta, Tuscany. (www.artearti.net/magazine/articolo/la_colonna_sonora_di_michelangelo ). Researchers from Florence University believe they have found another forgotten Michelangelo work – the bare-brick bell tower of Pietrasanta an historical town at the foot of the Carrara marble miners in northern Tuscany. The plain exterior of the bell tower hides an extraordinary interior: 600 steps that wind in a double spiral up to the bells. The internal cylinder has exactly the same dimensions as the ancient Roman Emperor Trajan’s twisting triumphal column in the centre of Rome, only in negative. The researchers Florence University believe that such an ingenious, audacious and jocular project could only have been conceived and built by Michelangelo, a reluctant resident of the town (there under papal instruction to open up new marble quarries) during the period of the tower’s construction between 1516 and 1520. The tower is visitable by appointment: 0584 795500, www.comune.pietrasanta.lu.it.

Colosseum, Rome  (http://archeoroma.beniculturali.it/it/eventi/mostre/vespasiano). To celebrate the 2000th anniversary of the birth of its founder, the ‘good’ emperor, Vespasian, new exhibition spaces have been inaugurated inside the Colosseum itself, which reveal the fascinating nuts-and-bolt story of the gruesome amphitheatre (including explanations of how the bloody games themselves were operated and staged and of the complex the logistics and practicalities of managing the 40,000 plus audience) illustrated by the recent finds from the on-going excavations carried out on the site.
 

Hidden Italy Summer weekend: Maratea, the most beautiful coastline in Italy?

Maratea is a small elegant port of 5000 people sitting at the tip of a strip of land that separates the southern regions of Campania and Calabria. Perched 300 metres above the Mediterranean, it is surrounded by forests and mountains and is the ’capital’ of what some people say is the most beautiful stretch of coastline in Italy. It is a vibrant and well preserved town with a long history (its little museum contains more than 50 anchors from ancient Roman and Greek ships that wrecked along its rocky coast) that comes alive in July and August. Well off the traditional tourist trail, Maratea is the perfect place to enjoy a truly Italian summer holiday.

How to get there:

Maratea is not easy to get to, which is probably why it is so well maintained and exclusive – its one of those places you have to aim for rather than simply drop in to on the way to somewhere else. Towards the bottom of the western coast of the peninsula, its is on the Autostrada del Sole (the A1) about halfway between Naples and Reggio Calabria or 3 hours and 45 minutes on the Eurostar train from Rome (which stops at Maratea’s little station during the summer months).
 

Where to stay:

There is only one place to stay in Maratea – the 5 star Hotel Santandrea which was built in the 1950s by Count Rivetti di Biella (a textile magnate from Turin). The count chose the location very carefully, surrounding the hotel with nine hectares of parklands which have striking views over the mountain ranges behind and over the blue Mediterranean in front, on a clear being able to see the conical forms of the volcanic Aeolian islands on the horizon. The Santandrea has a long literary tradition and is the only luxury hotel between Amalfi and Taormina. There is a range of other hotels in the area, from a 4-star hotel in an ancient monastery in Maratea to a number of very comfortable B&B’s (www.mondomaratea.it).

What to do:

Enjoy the vibrant life of this little town. Piazza Buraglia is the heart of the old town, a vibrant square circled by cafes packed with locals and visitors. The town’s best shops are here, including Brando, a local textile manufacturer that has been producing fine cloth since 1888. The young at heart seem to prefer the picturesque fishing port, with views over the boats and music and ‘spectacolini’ in the square in front of the Antica Café del Porto. For the last couple of years Maratea has also hosted an interesting cultural festival during August, with exhibitions, installations and concerts.

But the real reason for coming to Maratea is the beaches, thirty two kilometres of pretty much uncontaminated beaches, bays and pebbly coves, which start in the north at Acquafredda, descending south past the more severe rocky coastline around Cersula to Fiumicello, a long sandy beach popular with families, and then on to the more fashionable spots at Filocajo, Jannita and Illicini, before finishing at the most alluring of all: la Secca da Castrocucci, a small island linked by a sandy isthmus.

The Appenine Mountain range rises steeply behind Maratea (the Sirino ski resort is only 20 kilometres as the crow flies) and offers a green refuge from the beach life. The Massa Valley (500 metres above sea level) is famous for its produce and in August has two sagre (or local food festivals) to celebrate its homegrown mozzarella and tomatoes. There are also three national parks within an hours drive of Maratea, including the Pollini National Park in the mountains behind and the beautiful Cilento National Park to north – both ideal for walking.
 

Where to eat:

There are three classic address for dining in Maratea: the Locanda delle Donne Monache (0973 877797) set in an ancient monastery in the centre of the old town; sitting eating seafood on the terrace of the Trattoria Za Mariuccia (0973 876163) overlooking the fishing boats in the port; and, to experience traditional cooking at its best, the Giardino di Epicurio in the Massa Valley (0973 870130).