Opulence and Decadence

Venezia is everything it's reputed to be...

...beautiful...

...decadent...

...romantic...

...and a fascinating playground for history buffs.

On most days, the tourists outnumber the residents.



















In many ways, not much in Venezia has changed since the 1700's...when it was considered the most sophisticated city in Europe.

The Canal Grande now has power boats in addition to gondolas plying its waters, but the buildings that line the canal look much the same as they did 300 years ago.







Venezia was once Europe's largest city.  How did that get to be..and what's happened since?

Venezia first became a city when the barbarians toppled the Roman Empire, and thousands fled to the islands in the Venetian lagoon for safety.  In 726, it separated from the remnants of the Roman Empire, established itself as "The Serene Republic of Venice," and elected its first Doge (duke in Venetian dialect).

In the 900's, it competed with Genoa, Pisa, and Amalfi to become the dominant trade center of the Mediterranean.  By 1200, it had succeeded enough that this man...

Marco Polo...expanded Venezia's trade partnerships by opening overland trade routes with the Orient.




Marco Polo was not the first Venetian to travel to China, but he became a very successful merchant.  His book about his travels was a best-seller in the days before the printing press.

His house was located here...in the Milion neighborhood...so named because of the wealth his and the other trading houses brought to Venezia.


By this time, the Serene Republic had become a potent political force.  It had wiped out the Dalmatian pirates, set up vassal states in Split and Dubrovnik, and conquered Crete, Cyprus, and the Greek islands.



While the other city-states in Italy were scheming  and jockeying among themselves for power, Venezia had its attentions turned outwards.

For centuries, it dominated the Adriatic, the Balkans, and relations with Constantinople.

Venetian interest in the Byzantine East is commonly reflected in its architecture...

...including the Doge's Palace, the seat of government during the 900 years of the Venetian Republic.

The Doge's Palace was built in 1172 but damaged by fire on two occasions.


The second fire, in 1577, forced the complete renovation of the interior and gave Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese among other artists a life-time of work.

At this point, Venezia was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe.



The city displayed its wealth in its public places with a show of opulence never before seen in the West.

The Hall of the Great Council was, at the time, the largest room ever built...quite an engineering as well as artistic achievement.

The walls of the Hall recount Venezia's military successes...like this Tintoretto depicting the battle of Zara...


...where the Venetians defeated the Hungarian Army and preserved Croatia as a vassal state.

Or, this detail  from the Battle of Leponto, where the Venetian Navy defeated the Ottoman Turks, to gain dominance of Mediterranean sea lanes.









Just below the ceiling of the Great Hall are portraits of all the Doges who ruled Venezia...save one.

Marina Falter tried to overthrow the government of the Republic...and failed.  He was disgraced and publicly executed.  As a final indignity, his portrait was blacked out in the Great Hall.




All the things that led to Venezia's success eventually sowed the seeds of its demise.  The Ottoman Turks conquered the Balkans.  Venetian traders returning from Asia brought the Black Death with them...killing off one-third of Venezia's population not once but on four different occasions.  Finally, Portuguese and Dutch traders, inspired by Marco Polo, proved sea trade with the East was more efficient than overland travel.


By the mid-1700's, Venezia remained a trend-setter in fashions, but its dominance in trade with the Orient had waned.

In 1797, Venezia lost its independence when Napoleon conquered Italy.  After Napoleon's defeat, it was annexed to the Austrian Empire.

Today, the city has declined to a state of what critics call "elegant decadence."





Its population is one-tenth what it was at the height of its power.

The baroque interior of San Marco cathedral... once the Doge's private chapel... is still jaw-dropping but glitters a bit less than it did in its heyday.

A close look at any building shows the effects centuries of decline and weathering have had.

The city is slowly sinking into the lagoon.




As the buildings settle over the centuries, the bell towers of many of the 139 churches list to one side...proving once again that Pisa is not Italy's only city with a leaning tower.

The narrow canals that run through the city turn its calle into dead-end labyrinths that even a good map can't help a tourist navigate.



Even the occasional motor launch put-putting down a canal barely interrupts the quiet you get with a car-free city.

For the even slightly-adventurous, wandering down the narrow calle provides a great way to get lost...

...and to stumble upon an unexpected treasure.

For years, we have been telling our friends about our favorite detective series...Donna Leon's Commasario Brunetti mysteries.


We therefore couldn't resist a visit to the Palazzo Falier...where, in the novels, Brunetti's in-laws live.


The palazzo is real, though it's not actually the elegant home of the fictitous conte and contessa Falier...who never fail to provide insights into the lives of Venezia's wealthy elite.

The winged lion...the symbol of Venezia

The Family Piccolomini

We have known for years that our town of Pienza is named for Pope Pius II.  He imagined, had designed, and ordered construction of Pienza as the world's first planned city.

We also knew that before he became Pope, Pius II was known as Enea Silvio Piccolomini.


We knew the Piccolomini family had been local nobility in the Val d'Orcia back to the time Pienza was known as Corsignano.


We figured it was time to learn more about the family.

At the right is the Piccolomini coat of arms.  It will play a prominent role in our quest for more of the family history.

First record of the Piccolomini family comes from the year 1220, when the Holy Roman Emperor gave a grant of land in the Val d'Orcia to the family as a reward for loyal service.  This loyalty to the emperor would shape the family's history for the next 300 years.

As the Renaissance dragged the Italian economy from feudal to modern, friction developed between the new merchant class (known as the Guelphs...who supported the Popes) and the landed aristocrats (known as the Ghibelline...who backed the Holy Roman Emperor).  This friction erupted into a full-scale civil war in Tuscany that lasted 150 years.






By the year 1400, the Piccolomini's were well established in Siena as well as the Val d'Orcia.

There are signs of it around the old city.

When her became pope, Pius II built a large palazzo just a three-minute walk from the Campo (Siena's Main piazza...pictured above).











Today that palazzo houses, among other things, a pizzeria named "Below the House of the Pope."





The fortunes of the Piccolomini family waxed and waned along with their Ghibelline allies all through the long civil war.  Three times they were run out of Siena, only to return when their faction regained power.

By looking carefully for the family coat of arms, you can see where in Siena the Piccolomini family exerted influence.  In the case of the crest at the left, it's on a building that now houses a sporting goods retailer.

More impressive is their crest on this building...corporate headquarters of the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.


The bank was founded in 1472, making it the world's oldest functioning bank, and one of Italy's largest.

Just below the bottom row of windows are the family crests of the founders...the Piccolomini coat of arms prominent among them.


Over the years, the family produced its share of notables: two popes, a cardinal, head of the Jesuits, an astronomer who discovered craters on the moon, and the patron of Galileo Galilei.

The Siena Cathedral is no doubt the city's most grandiose building.

The Cathedral dates back to 1215.  The large front doors (that's Carol standing in front of them) are that tall because mounted knights, armed with their lances, could enter the Cathedral to be blessed before heading off to war.

The marble of the interior is set in black and white stripes, the colors of the city.  It contains sculptures by Michelangelo, Bernini, and Donatello.



It also contains a lasting tribute to the Piccolomini family.

In a prominent position just to the left of the Cathedral's apse, is a monument to Pope Pio II, the builder of Pienza.

Across the nave is a similar statue of his nephew, who became Pope Pius III.


Pius III is an interesting footnote in the history of the Papacy.

In 1503, when the first Borgia Pope, Alexander VI died, The College of Cardinals deadlocked when voting for his successor.  Neither the supporters of the Borgias nor the supporters of the Rovere family could muster a majority.  As a compromise, the College selected Francesco Piccolomini, an ailing but well-respected member of the Papal Curia.  Francesco chose the name Pius III, out of respect for his more famous uncle.




Twenty-six days after his selection as Pope, Pius III died.  The official record lists the cause of death as gout, but rumors at the time said he was poisoned.

Pius III's most notable achievement resides in the Siena Cathedral.  Again, the family coat of arms provides the clue.

On either side of a small door inside the Cathedral are carved the Piccolomini coat of arms.  Because the crest is topped by a cardinal's hat instead of the Pope's mitre, you can tell what's inside was done at the behest of a Pius III when he was a cardinal.




And what's inside those doors is spectacular:

The Piccolomini Library.




It contains:

The world's largest collection of illustrated Medieval manuscripts on display.











As well as a series of frescos depicting the life and accomplishments of Pope Pius II, painted by the Umbrian artist known as Pinturicchio, whose other claim to fame is as the teacher of Raphael.






Enea Silvio Piccolomini, before he became Pope Pius II, was an accomplished diplomat.

He negotiated a truce between the warring Scots and English.

He negotiated the tricky betrothal of the Holy Roman Emperor to the Princess of Portugal, thus ending the centuries-long feud between the Emperor and the Papal States.

As a reward for his diplomatic skills, Piccolomini was made a Cardinal in 1456.



















Once elected Pope, he tried to settle with the Ottoman Turks, who were moving north, towards Hungary, conquering the Balkans as they went.


When that didn't work, he called a conclave in Mantua to organize a final "Crusade" against the Turks.













The interested parties signed on, but only the Venetians actually mounted a fleet.  The war effort sputtered to a halt.


Pius II understood the threat to Europe that the Turks posed (60 years later Suliman would lay siege to Vienna, the capital of the Holy Roman Empire).


He personally took charge of the Crusade, traveling to Ancona to prod the assembled armies into action. There, he fell ill with malaria and died.






So, today, the Piccolomini family heritage remains alive...in a beautiful library that preserves some of the greatest art from the Middle Ages...





...in Italy's third largest bank,




...and in Pienza, la cite' di nostro couri (the home of our hearts).

Hollywood Comes to Pienza

When we first arrived in Pienza, we heard rumors that Dustin Hoffman was in nearby Multipulciano filming a new movie.  A few days later, Roger passed a film crew shooting what he thought was a commercial at the Porta Cappuccino in San Quirico.  We didn't think much of it.  Then...

...one day this week, we walked into the central piazza in Pienza, and didn't recognize it.

Our favorite bar where we would meet friends for coffee or a drink...

...was suddenly a Renaissance market.

City hall had suddenly been transformed into....

...the headquarters of the Medici bank.

The normally-quiet Piazza d' Espagna, where our friend Luca Bernadini has outdoor seating for his restaurant....

...had become prop and equipment storage for a movie.

 The production company shooting the film had appropriated the parking lot just outside the city's walls.

The trucks were loaded with lighting and sound equipment.

And of course, there was the trailer with the dressing room for the stars.

Several locals got cast as extras.

There were more animals in town for this movie shoot than even for the May Day Parade.

The weather was cold and blustery.



This kept the costume and make-up people very busy.

Whenever they could, the actors tried to grab a little warmth sitting in the sun.













As with all movie shoots, there was more down time...waiting for the lights and sound to set up for the next shot...than there was actual shooting.

Several of the actors with smaller parts were more than willing to pose for the gawkers (us among them).













If the weather holds, the production crew will spend two full weeks in Pienza.

When the actual shooting took place, we gawkers were kept behind the warning tape, well away from the action.










The film is called "The Medicis."  It will appear as a multi-part television series in several European and North American countries, scheduled for release in the Spring of 2016.

By the way, we were told Dustin Hoffman's character died off well before the shoot moved to Pienza.

While there were no stars we recognized at this locale, we and the rest of the locals have had a great time rubber-necking.