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Day 15: Galatina and Frescoes
The old town of Otranto is beginning to pick up for summer. Underneath our balcony, a hair dressing shop opened up for the season. The house above us (2 stories, huge terrace, and an elevator!) is occupied, as is the one up the alley. The weekend brings lots and lots of tourists (regional). There have not been any English-speaking people that I have encountered since I arrived in Otranto, except our artist BAU group.
This morning we watched the party people pack up everything, and the castle was back to normal. I got lots of work done, but broke my small piece of plate glass. It still worked with the sharp edges taped! I got lots of work finished.
We had our usual lunch and then took a swim in the sea. The water was chilly but the air was very warm. The temperature last week was in the 70s with a hot sun. It is supposed to be very warm for the next few days. Swimming will be on the agenda every day after lunch!
Federico planned a sight seeing trip for us. He is
Wedding
Bride in the Basilica di Santa Catherina very organized, and had been to Galatina 2 days before to plan an interesting walk through the old town. I really appreciated his diligence, since I am a planner, and that would be how I would work. We boarded a small bus at 3:00pm, and went to Galatina, located 18 kilometros south of Lecce, about a 30 minute ride. Federico brought his beautiful , well-behaved, 2 year old daughter for the trip.
Galatina is much like other towns in the area, founded by the Greeks. It is known for its beautiful late Romanesque church, the Basilica di Santa Caterina d’Alessandra. It was built by the Franciscans, whose patroness was a French woman married to Ralmondello Orsini del Balzo, the area’s wealthiest noble. She had unlimited resources and had frescoes painted on every available surface. It is not known if the painters were itinerant painters from the north, or southerners who’d absorbed the latest Renaissance innovations on trips North. There are not many tourists in this area.
The gruesome story goes on that her husband climbed Mt. Sinai to visit the relics of St. Catherine. He kissed the dead saint’s hand and bit off a
finger and brought it back as a holy relic!!!! It is still in the church.
Another gruesome painting in the church is that of the martyr St. Agatha having her breasts chopped off. Gory.
While we were looking at the church, a wedding took place! It was fun to see real life events taking place in such a beautiful historic church.
We sat in the café waiting for the church to open. Then we were able to meander around and look at the frescoes and the side garden. The church has 5 naves, which is unusual, and they are all covered in frescoes. While we were there, a wedding took place! It was a reminder that these churches are open for tourists but they are part of a real community that worships there regularly.
Federico led us on a most interesting walk. We stopped in all sorts of houses, stepping through heavy gates and into courtyards, seeing remnants of earlier occupants, iron railings, very artsy. It was very beautiful, sort of run down compared to the resort towns like Otranto.
We went to dinner at
7:30 in a newly opened restaurant, Anima & Cuore, a “trattoria tipica.” It was on the second floor of an old house. There were original mosaic floors, interesting art, and a long table for all of us. The food was excellent!!! We all had antipasto plate, pasta, and meat or fish. I had pasta with broccoli for the 1
st course, and veal with mushrooms, excellent!
Home for a little tiny glass of lemoncello, and to bed.
LOTS OF PHOTOS BELOW!!!
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