Gardone Riviera - and the Vittoriale degli Italiani

Today we'll visit a town on the east side of the Lake of Garda in Italy - it's called Gardone Riviera, and because of its special environment - the town is enclosed by some small mountain ranges, providing protection from winds and cold - it's famous for its mild climate. That's why one of the first larger hotels of Lake Garda was built here - the Grand Hotel, built in 1884 by the Austrian (then mayor of Gardone) Ludwig Wimmer:

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Gardone has a small, but nice promenade - here with the Grand Hotel in the background again:

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But today Gardones main attraction is not that it is a nice and peaceful health resort - it's famous because one of the most incredible Italian poets chose Gardone as his old-age residence - now serving as a museum called Il Vittoriale. We'll visit it soon - but first have to climb up to the upper part of Gardone, called Gardone Sopra. On our way we find this nice ensemble of houses:

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And we'll also risk a look at this rather pretty side street:

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But now we're there - let's enter "Il Vittoriale degli Italiani" - that loosely translates to "Victory memorial of the Italians". It's a very, very strange memorial indeed, mainly one of the poet Gabriele d'Annunzio who lived here from 1921 until his death in 1938.

Why is it strange? Because d'Annunzio, an extremely popular poet & writer, was also a war nut, volunteering to participate in the first world war - he was already 52 years old back then! He did some Kamikaze missions in the first world war, e.g. flew a plane to Vienna to distribute leaflets to the enemy, cruised with a battle ship, and at the end of the war in September 1919 even seized the city of Fiume (nowadays Rieka in Croatia), declared an independent state and governed it in pre-fascistic style until December 1920 - before he retired to his new residence at the Lake of Garda.

At the lake he constructed a quite large complex out of a villa he bought there - after he finished all the work he could look at his own private square, called the "Dalmatian Square". You see his main house, the Prioria, at the left and a loggia at the right:

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The loggia BTW is a very nice one; here a look standing inside it, looking towards the "Prioria" (center). On the right you see that the loggia is open in direction to the lake:

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In his Prioria he had a large number of quite dark (he had trouble with his eyesight in old age and shunned light too bright) and immensely richly decorated rooms that show a very special taste - cultures, religions and modern technology clash wildly, e.g. one room was dedicated to death, one to music, one served to receive friends, one to receive enemies, and several were of course used for writing. In the golden and red dining room he had a large sculpture of a tortoise (incorporating its real shell) that died because it ate too much - it served as a reminder to his guests to moderate themselves ...

Photography unfortunately was strictly forbidden in the Prioria, so you have to have to be content with this view of the Prioria taken from the private gardens:

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In the private gardens we now discover some strange things typical for d'Annunzio, like these canon shells on classical pillars:

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Or this rather incredible combination of eagle sculptures and neo-Romanesque arches:

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But it gets really strange when we visit the large area around the villa; here a look from the top of a hill: on the right we see the rooftops of the villa, but what's that slightly left of the center? A ship among the trees?!

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It really is! D'Annunzio requested and got a real large battle ship - called "Puglia" - from the Italian marine, and got it - he planted it in his gardens, looking towards the lake:

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It's fully equipped, as you may see here, taken from the front of it:

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He also requested and got a anti submarine motorboat he had used for one of his other first world war adventures - he used to do fun cruises on the Lake Garda with it, and it's also on display at the Vittoriale:

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And after his death strange things continued to happen - in the 1950s a large Mausoleum was designed and built, providing a very majestic resting place for the poet, overlooking his "Vittoriale" ...

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... and of course also with a nice view of the Lake of Garda, as you may see here - the other sarcophagi are reserved for other compatriots BTW:

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So, that's it from this strange man! I won't dwell on the further political implications of the life and works of d'Annunzio, e.g. his complicated connections to the Italian dictator Mussolini - you can find enough about that on the web.

A few more pics of the Vittoriale - e.g. from the plane he flew with - at my Vittoriale gallery here.

Sirmione - Pearl of Lake Garda, Italy

A tourist and health resort for more than 2000 years? That sounds interesting - and indeed it is: Sirmione is a very special town at the Lake Garda in Italy, and was a sought after holiday and health location starting even in the first century BC. Main visitors back then were the Romans - coming from Verona, the main Roman city in north-eastern Italy at this time.

Sirmione is located on a long peninsula located on the southern shore of the lake; the main area is shaped like a triangle, and has only one narrow street leading to it - and this street is guarded by a real menacing castle, the Castello Scaligero, built in the 13th century:

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Looking from an inner court we see that this castle is high and intimidating indeed - not built for pleasure, but for fighting:

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And looking to the western side of the castle towards the lake we see a nowadays quite rare example of a fortified harbor, incorporated into the castle:

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Finally this view from the castle towards the Old Town of Sirmione is a reminder that the castle not only protected the town - it also served as a means of oppression; a very inglorious incident took place in the late 13th century, as Mastino I. della Scala ordered the ruthless persecution of a religious movement criticizing the holy church - resulting in a true massacre, because half of the inhabitants of Sirmione belonged to this movement. Knowing this the castle suddenly looks only half as romantic - and the castle reaching out to the town people seems to be really menacing:

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We now wander along the shore of the peninsula until we reach its northern tip - and here, as 2000 years ago, some luxury hotels are located, with their own, very private terraces with a smashing view of the lake:

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It's simply too hot to visit the Roman ruins in Sirmione today, so we walk back to the Old Town to get some shade - and a view of this nice house on a corner:

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We now go to the largest Piazza in Sirmione, the Piazza Carducci, surrounded by bars and restaurants - right now even a concert is going on:

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The Piazza is directly connected to a pier offering another method to reach and leave Sirmione - by ship, on the the eastern side of the peninsula. And with this 370 degree pano (yes!) taken on that pier we finally leave this picturesque and very old town:

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P.S.: This was the ship I left Sirmione with this day - nice, isn't it?

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Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Is there fishing in Garda, Italy?

It's an early morning in July, before 6 am. My mission: Find proof if fishing is actually being done in the town of Garda at the Lake Garda in Italy. I'm a bit tired on my way to the harbor of Garda - I must indeed be very tired, because coming into the town I see one of the oldest buildings of the town - the Captain's Palace with its venetian windows - very bended and warped; look at the left:

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Hmm, once the Captain's Palace stood at the waterfront in Garda. Nowadays tourism seems more important, and the harbor obviously has been relocated to give room for some cafés. Nobody I can ask - but I see the water in the background and will head there:

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Ah, what a nice early morning view of the lake! And turning to the right I finally see the harbor. Well, well, lot's of nice boats in it! And on the far right I even see the Captain's Palace again. Seems that I have adjusted to the early morning time - it looks straight now, as it should be!

But let's have a closer look at those boats - quite a lot of them here:

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Are any of them really used for fishing? Or are they only here for touristic purposes - as a nice decoration? They look so clean! Let's wander around a bit, and ... yes, in the back of the harbor there are boats that definitely look like being used for fishing. And since the sun is rising now, we even can see more clearly:

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This fishing gear looks really funny sometimes:

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And another indication that fishing really is being done here - all the nets and ropes lying around:

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Hey, there's actually someone packing his net - gotcha:

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And on the lake there is a boat with a lot of gulls flying nearby - must be somebody fishing:

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Ah, here the proof: one of the fishers comes in.

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More proof: the early morning catch of another one!

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Okay, that’s it - I'm convinced that fishing is actually being done here. Now a last view of the harbor, now brightly lit ...

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... and then back to bed. The fishers are not on vacation obviously, but I am! :-)

Another day in Venice

Welcome to another short tour around Venice in Italy! Be prepared for a lot of panorama pictures – some “normal” shots will also be thrown in when necessary.

Let’s begin our day in Venice – it’s the 24th of July 2008, and the weather is fine - at the Sestiere (Quarter) di Cannaregio, near the central Railway Station St. Lucia. We’ll follow the tourist path to the Rialto bridge a short bit, but at the Canale di Cannaregio we veer off that way to catch a glimpse of the Ponte Guglie:

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A few “calles” (streets) and turns later we find ourselves at the Campo del Gheto Novo, formerly one of the first Jewish Ghettos in Europe, instituted in 1516 – in fact the name “Ghetto” or “Gheto” is derived from the Venetian expression for iron foundries located formerly at this place, “gheta”. From 1516 on the Venetian Jews were compelled to live in this region of Venice, but at least didn’t have to fear any pogroms or other forms of persecution like in other European cities. So the Jewish population grew, and because of the restricted space the only way to furnish more room for the people was to build additional stories – that’s why the Jewish Ghetto is the only part of Venice where you can find buildings up to seven or eight stories high – look at the left side of this pano:

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In the center of the pano you can see a white building in the background, right to the red one and partly hidden by a tree – this is the first Synagogue built in the Ghetto, the Scuola Tedesca, built for the German Jews. Very inconspicuous from the outside – the Synagogues were built on top of smaller buildings and so consist of the upper stories of those only - the Scuolas are richly decorated at the inside. The Scuola Italiana can bee seen in the right part of the image – the other white building with the five large windows. On the utmost right of the pano you can see one of the bridges connecting the Gheto Novo with the rest of Venice; in fact this particular bridge leads to the misleadingly named “Gheto Vecchio”, a small complex of streets that enlarged the Ghetto in 1541. Here you can find an eight story building, see here on the right (on the left you can see part of the Scuola Spagnola, another synagogue):

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We’ll leave the Ghetto now and walk further to the east of Cannaregio. You’ll very soon discover calles and canals almost devoid of any tourists, because you’re very far off the main touristic routes now – for instance this peaceful canal at the Ponte de la Malvasia:

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Please note the wooden constructions on two of the house on the left side of the pano – these are typical examples of Venetian architecture, called “Altan” or “Altana”, depicting a sort of additional balcony that the Venetians liked (and were allowed) to build on top of their houses.

We now leave Cannaregio, and take the Vaporetto Linea 14 – a sort of water bus – for the following five pics, showing our way along the Canale di Cannaregio …

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… into the Canal Grande, going beneath the Ponte degli Scalzi and passing the railway station St. Lucia …

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… veering into the Canale Scomenzera, entering the Sestiere di Dorsoduro and the commercial, less beautiful side of Venice …

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… and finally going along the large Canal della Giudecca …

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… to alight in the Sestiere di San Marco at the Piazza San Marco to have an obligatory look at the Gondolas moored there, waiting for tourists:

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There are certainly enough of them there, now that we’ve gotten into the “main lane” again:

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To escape the masses and to get an overview of things we risk the elevator ride up the Campanile di San Marco, and from there have a beautiful look at the Venetian Lagoon:

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You can see here from left to right: The South-Eastern part of Venice, East-Castello; the Island of San Giorgo Maggiore directly opposite the Piazza San Marco; the Giudecca - and behind all that - the Lido of Venice.

Following this pano to the right we get a nice view of the Western part of downtown Venice, with the entry of the Canal Grande on the left and part of the Piazza San Marco in the middle:

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We now leave and walk a short way to the Campo di Santo Stefano, the second largest square in the Sistiere di San Marco, with lots of nicebars and cafés - a beautiful place to rest. In the middle you can seea statue of Nicoló Tommaseo, a popular Italian author in the 19th century. If you look closely you can see a pile of books rising at his back. That’s why Venetians call this statue – a bit unkindly –‘Cagalibri'; this loosely translates to “book-shitter” …

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We now cross one of the few bridges over the Canal Grande – this time the wooden Ponte dell’ Accademia (see on the right side of the pano) to the Sestiere di Dorsoduro and have a look at this bridge and at some of the fine Palazzi at the Canal:

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We’ve now entered the quarter of art & higher education of Venice, with lots of museums and different university institutions. Here everything is less crowded, shops are a bit different, atmosphere is more relaxed – like in this café at the Calle Nuva Sant Agnese:

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We follow our way more or less along the Canal Grande until we almost reach the tip of Dorsoduro at the Campo della Salute – note the Vaporetto station at the left, the Campanile di San Marco visible in the background in the middle right, and of course the Chiesa Santa Maria della Salute on the right:

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We enter the Chiesa for a short look into its unusual and bright interior; it has an interesting history: In 1630 the Doge of Venice promised to build a church if only the devastating wave of plague would end that robbed Venice a full third of its inhabitants. This was approved by the Senate, who also decreed that every year at the 21st of November the city’s officials should parade from San Marco to this church to commemorate the end of the plague. This is still done each year and involves the building of a special pontoon bridge that temporarily crosses the Canal Grande - for this event only. Now, as promised, the look at the church's interior, very unusually built as a rotunda:

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We now take another short Vaporetto trip and alight at the Rialto for this view – part of the Rialto market (not far from the famous Rialto bridge) on the right, the Canal Grande with Pallazi and a Vaporetto on the left:

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A closer look at the Vaporetto reveals many interested tourists looking at the Palazzi:

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This is a “drive by” pano BTW, multiple pictures taken with a tele lens from the same POV as the Vaporetto passed by. The original has a very high & detailed resolution! :-)

Now our visit nears its end – but not without a look at the spectacular new, yet unnamed bridge crossing the Canal Grande close to the Piazzale Roma (where the standard “street” buses arrive). Occasionally it’s already referred to as Ponte de Calatrava after its award-winning Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava:

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That close it looks almost organic, like a vertebral column (sort of). Seen from a little distance, here from the Ponte de Santa Chiara, it at least still looks good. And this last pano – a 360 degree one – also shows you the way people have to take if they want to change from bus to railway without the new bridge: They come from the Piazzale Roma behind the building on the right, have to cross the Ponte de Chiara you’re sort of standing on right now, then have to follow the Canal Grande until they reach and cross the Ponte degli Scalzi you can see – if you look very closely – in the far background at the middle right, down the Canal.

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But who would want to go straight from the bus station to the railway station anyway – just to leave Venice immediately? I wouldn’t! So much to see here – don’t you agree?

Hope you enjoyed the little tour!

More pics of Venice in my gallery – visit it at www.pbase.com/phsan/venezia !

Balance

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Basic material for this image was a 360 degree spherical pano of a quiet street in Hollum, Ameland, The Netherlands. The street has a peaceful, quite balanced atmosphere.

To expand on this felt atmosphere I applied a double stereographic projection to the spherical image, taking pains to place the trees at the outside and the sky at the inside for a more closed composition (as opposed to a single little planet projection). The intentional curvature of the street on top and bottom tries to suggest the mathematical infinity sign. Finding the result balanced but boring I decided to add an equally balanced central focal point; for that I applied a "mirror sphere" projection to the original spherical pano (not the warped one) and formed a big sphere by fusing two instances of the upper half of the projected image - the one with trees, houses and the sky. I finally added two smaller versions of the original mirror sphere - pointing up and downwards alternatively in a yin and yang way.

For me it's a picture about balance - that's why I added the caption; it's of course an artificial balance, man-made and in constant conflict with man himself and nature ...

Equally possible is that this just reflects my really quite disturbed state of mind. Hmmm. Even then it's probably cheaper than therapy. ;-)