Churches of the Walking Dead

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We’ve decided that us Aussies are probably the world’s least passionate conversationalists. We tend to mutter. We also tend to understate everything; we’d use a phrase like “this is a bit of alright” to describe one of the Seven Wonders of the World. And our tone of voice couldn’t ever be construed to imply that we were even vaguely excited about anything. Southern Europeans, on the other hand, radiate passion whenever they open their mouths, even though most of the time we’ve got absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. It also seems to be compulsory in these parts to use your hands to accompany any verbal utterance, no matter how mundane, and if you’re getting really excited about something, well everyone else needs to stand back or suffer the consequences. Issy says she wonders whether it would be possible for them to converse at all if someone told them they had to keep their hands in their pockets. If only us Aussies could exude even a fraction of that passion.

I meet Barbie at the train station for today’s planned visit to the town of Polignano a Mare, which is only few kilometres north-west along the coast. When we’ve bought train tickets on-line here in Italy we’ve always had to provide our full names, nationalities, passport numbers, dates of birth, and the names of our mothers’ first pets … well perhaps not that last one, but that’s what it was starting to feel like. Today we‘ve decided to buy our tickets at the station; we put money in a machine and out they come, no questions asked. Hmmm. The mysteries of Italian train travel.

First stop is the beyond stunning Lama Monachile beach. It’s at the head of a small inlet surrounded by steep cliffs topped on one side by ancient looking buildings. You‘d struggle to squeeze a pin between the sunseekers down on the pebbles, and I suspect you’d need to be a very early riser if you wanted to claim a few square millimetres of space to lay your towel down on for the day.

The historic centre’s the usual maze of narrow alleyways. I went into a Church of Purgatory in Monopoli a couple of days ago and there’s another one of these horror shows here. We’re told that they’re otherwise referred to as Churches of the Walking Dead. The one in Monopoli had skeletons on the facade and a bunch of mummified bodies on display in one of the rooms off to the side of the worship area. The facade of this one’s covered in skulls and crossbones. It seems it was built on the site of an ancient burial ground for young boys from impoverished families, which seems like a very well defined grouping. We read that a purgatory church is one you go to if you’re a bit concerned that your recently deceased loved one might be stuck in purgatory and not able to escape from there into heaven. I’m not sure why the need for all the skulls, skeletons, mummies and other macabre symbolism; if you’ve just lost a loved one I would have thought you’d be depressed enough already without having all that lot shoved in your face. Anyway, moving on we wander into the town’s main church, the Church of Saint Mary of the Assumption. We read that this was consecrated way back in 1295 and sits on the site of an ancient pagan temple. I’m feeling the love a bit more here without all the skeletons and mummies. The facade’s remarkably plain, but they make up for it inside where the ceiling frescoes are a real standout.

A lot of the streets in the historic centre end in balconies with viewpoints out over the sea from the cliff tops. One looks into a spectacular looking restaurant carved into a cave in the cliff face. Polignano somehow feels a lot different to Monopoli, and not in a good or a bad way, just different. It seems like purely a tourist town, whereas Monopoli feels a bit more like a real working community, probably due mostly to the port.

Back in Monopoli we enjoy a meal in a cave like restaurant. Unfortunately this one’s not half way up a cliff face overlooking the sea, it’s just hidden away in the backstreets. Anyway the food’s excellent. Then it’s off to the main square, Piazza Vittoriosa Emmanuel II, where feast celebrations are again in full swing. This time it’s an orchestra in a rotunda blaring out classical hits and operatic arias to a large audience. Then just as we’re about to drift off into dreamland the building’s shaken by yet another long and ear-splittingly loud round of fireworks.

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Comments

[RENanDREW]

Churches of the Walking Dead
I don't think I've ever seen a Church of the Walking Dead, and now I really want to! Although, I grew up in a catholic household and for many years was immune to the somewhat brutal imagery in catholic paraphernalia. So it could be that I have seen one when I was younger, but didn't question how weird it was. That chalk reproduction is very good - he's captured the baby Jesus' massive head perfectly :)