Above is a picture of the main street of Grottaminarda, Avellino (that is the province), Campánia (that is the region), Italy. It is one of the larger cities in, and the commercial hub of, the Úfita Valley. The original settlement dates back to the time of the Lombard domination (circa 600 A.D.). Christmas decorations are a relatively recent, and increasing, tradition in Italy.
Nearly every town we traveled through had a shrine or statue paying tribute to those from the town that lost their lives in various wars. The one in Grottaminarda was in front of the biblioteca (library). The list of names at the top of the statue's pedestal were the men that died in World War I, and the list at the bottom were those that died in World War II. Many of the family names were the same as some of the people that we met and worked with during our stay.
Most of the streets in town were wide enough for one car to go by with others parked along one side. A fair number of them were just wide enough for one car not parked. Grottaminarda was a town of about 10,000 people.
Cute trees. I saw trees and large bushes shaped in this manner in several places around southern Italy.
Two churches were perched on the hill in Grottaminarda which were actually in the area of the medieval village of La Fratta. The first picture above is the campanile (bell or clock tower) of the chiesa (church) Santa Michele. The second chiesa Santa Maria Maggiore which was built -- the whole church, not just the clock tower -- by Luigi Vanvitelli (1700-1773). It was comforting to hear the bells toll the hours throughout the day.
Like all good towns in Italy, Grottaminarda had a castle, and we got to work in it. Castelo D'Aquino. The origins of the castle were rooted in the 8th century with additions and improvements being made during the time of the Normans. Restoration of the castle by the city was started in 2001 and was completed just a few months before we arrived.
There was more to the castle than you can see in the picture above. The drawing
above shows the layout. The tower in the picture above is the dark circular
item in the drawing. Only the second floor was restored to the point where
it could be used as office space. Offices, toilets, a conference room, heating,
lighting, a phone system, and Ethernet connections were installed throughout
the second floor. The INGV group was the first tenants of the castle offices,
and had just started to get things set up. Only a few staff had been hired.
Since we were the only show in town we had the whole castle to ourselves.
If there had been a throne I would have sat in it just for fun.
2018-03-05