We only visited three Roman sites - but they were all spectacular compared to most that we have seen elsewhere. Most ancient sites have just the lower walls and foundations left, which show you only the outlines of buildings. The places we visited in Italy had whole walls, and some even had ceilings/roofs! Not bad for something 2,000 years old.
Hadrian's Villa, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a large villa complex built between 118 and 138AD for the Emperor Hadrian. Hadrian was a well traveled man and asked for the many places that most impressed him to be reproduced inside. The complex contains baths, nymphaea, pavilions, gardens and residential structures representing the provinces conquered by the Roman Empire.
It always helps seeing a model like below to get a better feel for an archaeological site, although I don't know what a lot of the places in my photos are of now!
This wall is immense; I was astounded to see such a high wall still standing. It is a part of the 'Pecile' which you can see on the model above as the large rectangular shaped area with an open centre on the right. On the other side of this wall would have been a fish pond, like in the photo. This area had a covered roof and columns and was designed for the Emperor and his guests to take their daily strolls, known as ambulatio.
No idea what the buildings are but the whole area was nicely landscaped.
Below, either end of a grassy area beyond the Pecile. The bottom picture is of the Vestibule and above and below show a paved rectangular shaped roadway excavated in 2000 which looks like it is grassing over. This was the main entrance for guests going to the Canopus, where summer banquets were held.
The Small Baths - there were two bathhouses in this complex, this and the Large Baths.
Two floor tiles. There was no explanation as to why there were just two tiles sitting there, and if more were found, and where they might be now (a museum in Rome probably). They are examples of inlay work called Opus Sectile which was complex and very expensive, so generally limited to imperial properties.
Yet more buildings - wish I could tell you what they were but it was such a huge site and only the most obvious places could be figured out from the plan that we had of the site. And even if I had known six months ago, I can't remember now!
This was the Large Baths.
A Hooded Crow (Corvus corone cornix). I remember seeing these birds when we were in Italy decades ago and haven't seen them anywhere else. They are found in eastern and south eastern Europe, the Middle East, Scandinavia, Scotland and Ireland. Most of western Europe has the all black Carrion Crow.
The Canopus. At the end of this pool is the summer dining room, known as the Triclinium, where the Emperor would host elaborate banquets.
I think these buildings are around the Palace area.
The Hall with Doric Pillars - all that is left of it.
There was still some excavating going on, and below, some more lovely examples of Opus Sectile inlay flooring.
Common Wall or Moorish Gecko (Tarentola mauritanica).
The Teatro Maritimi. This wasn't a theatre but a villa within a villa. The Emperor could 'escape' to the island villa to be alone. It was laid out just like a typical villa with sleeping quarters, baths, a latrine and a central garden.
The Temple of Venus.
There was a Greek theatre down the hillside but it was closed for some reason that I can't recall.
Our journey from Levanto to Bolsena Lake and then to Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli.
I hope I haven't bored the pants off you with this Roman stuff 😁 - wait until we get to the more interesting photos of Pompeii - the frescoes are out of this world!
We drove south past Tuscany and into the region called Lazio, which is where Rome is located. We stopped for two nights at a campsite beside Bolsena Lake, which is an old volcanic lake and is the largest one in Europe.
The following day we visited Civita di Bagnoregio, in an area known as the Badlands, where the rock is subject to erosion. The village, perched high up on an eroding rock, is known as the 'Dying Town', and has from 10 to 16 inhabitants, depending on what you read. However, tourism has brought this village back to life and the entry fee charged to visit goes to the villagers to help with maintaining the buildings and staving off the effects of erosion. I also read that Harry Styles had bought a house there, but for once, we found somewhere old that wasn't filmed in Game of Thrones! 😀
The village was founded by the Etruscans more than 2,500 years ago and originally had five city gates to enter, but only one remains now. An earthquake in 1695 caused the village to separate from the area which is now the neighbouring town of Bagnoregio, and many townsfolk moved out.
The only way to get to the village is by a pedestrian footbridge from the town of Bagnoregio, which was built in the 1960s. The only vehicles allowed are bicycles and motorbikes for the locals and a golf cart which they use when necessary. I do wonder how they move their furniture and possessions when they move in/out of the village!
It's quite a steep walk in places!
San Donato church, built in the Romaneque style, was remodelled in 1511 in the Renaissance style and a central portal added in 1524.
Inside the church - it is quite plain compared to many Italian churches we have visited.
There isn't a lot to this village but just wandering around looking at the medieval architecture is a delight, and there are a number of restaurants to cater to the tourists. We had a really good pizza for lunch - though not all pizzas in Italy are good, they are as hit and miss as in any other country!
You can really see the bare rocks here and why they call this area the 'Badlands'!
Bolsena
On our way back to the campsite we stopped at the top of the medieval town to have a look around the old section. The night before we had a meal out in the lower part of the town and the whole upper town is lit up and the castle looked amazing in the dark.
Monaldeschi Castle was built between the 11th and 14th centuries.
Looking down over the old roofs with the more modern part of the town further away towards the lake.
It's a shame the weather changed and the following day it rained! It would have been nice if the sun had been shining when we took our photos here, but overall we had only the one day with bad weather out of three weeks.
Having come from France where we had a really dry summer we were quite amazed by how green it was in Italy - it seemed like they had had no drought at all. Even after a normal summer I would have expected brownish grass still in September, but everywhere was really lush.
We then took the small ferry on to the village of Manarola. You can stop at all vllages apart from Corniglia which doesn't have a quay big enough for the ferries. We gave that one a miss anyway as it is perched up on a steep hillside and is something like 300 steps up from the train station - umm no thanks!
This ferry that passed us was larger than the one we were on. It was only a short journey onto Manarola, about 15 minutes I think, but so enjoyable and scenic that the time passed much too quickly.
This is Corniglia, mostly perched up on a rock.
Manarola. Loads of people were swimming off any bits of rock where they could find a space. Some young guys were jumping in from high up which was fun to watch.
There was more to see here than the previous village we visited. Don't you love all the different colours of the buildings? However I know for sure that a lot of the photos I've seen of these villages (postcards particularly) are WAY oversaturated as the villages just do not look so brightly coloured as they are portrayed.
We had an enjoyable lunch out, and that salad is not my lunch! I had fried fresh anchovies which are delicious - like whitebait but larger and you eat the whole fish, bones and all. Keith had a mixed fish and shellfish grill.
These villages have terraced hillsides where traditionally farmers could eke out a living cultivating olives and vines on the stony ground.
There's a path you can take between the villages as well but we just walked to the viewpoint.
Looking back in the direction we came from.
I discovered after a while that my lens hood had moved and appeared in many of my photos! Thankfully I was able to crop it off the photos above.
We then took the train on to the last village of the day - Riomaggiore, which is close to Manarola. There was a bit of a walk from the train station but the central, scenic bit was quite small. The village was only really colourful right by the water as well.
And then we took the train back to Levanto, after an enjoyable day out! Would I recommend a visit - yes of course, but unless you are really fit and can do some good walks up in the hills or between villages there is not a lot to see in the villages themselves. But to have a potter, mooch around a few touristy shops, have a nice meal and enjoy a mix of ferries and trains like we did, it was still a fun experience. In fact the last time I had taken a train was in Switzerland in 1997 so that was fun for me too! 😀
