Italian Culture and History :
Caserta, the Royal Palace and Park
The most scenographic setting in the Palace is probably where the atrium, the grand Royal Staircase and the chapel meet.
The Royal Staircase is an invention of 17th-Century scenographic arts; it connects the lower and upper vestibules, giving access to the royal apartments via the upper. The Palatine Chapel, designed by Vanvitelli, decorations and all, exhibits - more than any other environment here - strong similarities to the precedents left by Versailles.
similarities to the precedents left by Versailles.
Also rather remarkable is the court theatre, a marvelous example of 17th-Century theatre architecture: the horseshoe-shaped hall (as opposed to in the round) is made complete by the particular disposition of the columns (in giant order, or two stories). These are just a few of the environments in the enormous Palace, but all are exceptional.
The Pinacoteca’s (Painting Gallery's) interior is organized as a series of connected room that display countless works of still lifes, war scenes, and of course, portraits of the members of the Bourbon Dynasty.
In the “old apartment” the Bourbon Nativity is always on show. The Nativity Scene was a great passion of the noble Bourbon Family, and it is thanks to them that the Nativity tradition spread from Naples to the rest of the world.
The Palatine Library is annexed to the Queen’s Apartments – woman of refinement and culture – and is decorated by reliefs and frescoes that include that of the zodiac signs and the constellations, executed according to Vanvitelli’s design. Also evocative are the rooms dedicated to the four seasons.
Perhaps the most integral aspect of this Palace’s majesty and beauty is its park, composed of numerous fountains and waterfalls. The park is a typical exemplar of the Italian garden, landscaped with vast fields, flower beds and, above all, a triumph of “water games” or dancing fountains. Along the central axis, then, is a succession of pools, fountains and cascades adorned by large sculptural groupings, all which create a unique scenographic impact that culminates with the Grand Cascade. The park extends to the summit of the hill opposite the Palace, where an English garden perfectly frames an arrangement of exotic plants.
The English Garden, moreover, is very special: wanted by Maria Carolina of Austria, it is less symmetrical in respect to that Italian, but it holds a vast range of indigenous and exotic plants alike, including Cedars of Lebanon.
Together with the Royal Palace and park at Caserta, UNESCO also inserted the Aqueduct (also realized by Luigi Vanvitelli) on the World Heritage List, along with the nearby complex at San Leucio, cited for its representation of a site that is not only an industrial city, but that served as an additional territorial piece of the Royal enclave.
By ITALIA.IT
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Italian Flavors:
Piacenza Salami
Historical background
In Europe, the tradition of eating pork meat stretches far back into antiquity, as pigs were an animal that was easy to rear in a domestic environment, they were rich in fat and delicious meats and reproduced quickly. In the second half of the nineteenth century, some pig bones excavated from archaeological sites in the Po Valley corroborated the hypothesis that the inhabitants of this region must have been familiar with swine as early as the Bronze Age, around one millennium prior to the Christian era.
One of the first means used to preserve the meat was heat, which was used for drying or smoking. Preservation in salt only replaced these methods later. In the Middle Ages, techniques for preparing smoked meats developed considerably in Europe, while in France and Italy the manipulation of pork meat preserved with salt grew widespread.
For centuries, even in Emilia, the production of preserved pork meat remained a domestic practice used to meet needs of the family. Around Piacenza, in the early Middle Ages, pigs could only be slaughtered in the presence of a notary, who would certify that the weight of the animal was not less than 250 Kg.
The Medieval era has left us considerable evidence of the prevalence of pork processing practices in the Piacenza region, such as two themed mosaics dating back to the twelfth century, which can be found on the floors of the church of San Savino in Piacenza and the church of San Colombano in Bobbio.