Friday, May 27, 2016

Stone Footballs



I usually try to plan my walks in the Apennines with a certain precision, but  last Sunday at the last moment I decided to do a stretch of the “Sentiero Ducale” long distance footpath just because it was a bit I had not done.

I decided to take the part of the footpath that runs from Cereggio to Taviano in the Enza valley. The walk starts with a long step decent into the valley which can only mean a long climb  upwards to return to the car.  

After a long walk through thick woodland  the footpath emerged out of the forest at a point on top of a rocky spur called “I Pizzoni”  that gave some extensive views of the valley.
 
I Pizzoni, Cereggio, RE

I Pizzoni, Cereggio, RE

I Pizzoni, Cereggio, RE

It was then back into the rather boring forest for a stretch until turning a corner I was confronted with a curious geological phenomenon. The landscape was dotted with what looked like a field of stone footballs. Erosion of soft rocks around pockets of harder rock over time have created this strange landscape. I have seen this type of erosion before in the Apennines, but never on this scale.

Taviano,RE

Taviano,RE
Taviano,RE

Taviano,RE

Taviano,RE

Taviano,RE

Taviano,RE

Taviano,RE


After exploring the area for a while it was time to continue. The footpath at this point gave an impression of disappearing over a cliff. In fact it was a very rapid decent in amongst the footballs. The path became quite an adventure with stretches along narrow ledges in the middle of cliffs descending  vertically to the river  below as well as a deep gully that I had to climb out of.

The path down Taviano,RE

Taviano,RE

Taviano,RE
From Cereggio I had descended almost two hundred meters.   Now after leaving the rugged landscape  the long steep climb back up began firstly to Taviano and then on to Cereggio along the 670 footpath to close the circle.  

Along the cliffs, Taviano,RE

Along the cliffs, Taviano,RE

Along the cliffs, Taviano,RE

Along the cliffs, Taviano,RE
This is a walk that I do not know if I would like to repeat. The long woodland stretches of the footpath were rather boring with little to see, but on the other hand the central stretch starting at “I Pizzoni” along the crest of the cliffs and through the rugged eroded landscape was quite exhilarating.

This time I took a new camera that I am starting to feel is perfect for these walks. The Panasonic Lx100 is small and light with bigish 4/3 sensor and a nice good quality 1.7 Leica zoom.    

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Carpineti to San Vitale



It has been a tough couple of weeks as I have been working long hours to get a project out  to meet an impossible deadline. But I was determined to get out on Sunday for a few hours. 
Thunder storm over Monte Cusna Carpineti, RE
Geological forms, Carpineti
Carpineti
Bee Orchid
I decided to do one of my favourite short walks in the Apennines. The walk from the castle of Carpineti  to the remains of a Romanic church at San Vitale along the top of a steep scarp slope that drops down almost vertically to the countryside below.  A walk that is always exhilarating with wonderful views of the high Apennines.

Carpineti

Carpineti

Carpineti

Carpineti

Carpineti

Carpineti


Bee Orchids

I got to the castle just as a thunderstorm was moving away and it seemed the sun would come out. I got some interesting light for the photographs I took.

San Vitale

San Vitale

Carpineti
When I got to San Vital I found the place was deserted, the bar in the restaurant where I was hoping to get something to drink  in this very remote spot was closed. I later found it was closed  due to bureaucratic problems caused by the chaos that the reorganization of local government has brought  to Italy.



Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Casino di Sopra



Sunday I decided to visit the Rocca di Novellara and a Renaissance manor house called “Casino di Sopra” that was exceptionally open nearby. 

La Rocca, Novellara, RE

Casino di Sopra, Novellara,RE

Casino di Sopra, Novellara,RE

Casino di Sopra, Novellara,RE

La Rocca, Novellara, RE

La Rocca, Novellara, RE

La Rocca, Novellara, RE

La Rocca, Novellara, RE

La Rocca, Novellara, RE
The Rocca contains a small museum where one can see a series of frescoes by a certain Lelio Orsi that were originally in the main hall of the Casino di Sopra. They were striped from the walls in the nineteenth century and sold to a nobleman who transferred them to his palace in Venice. They were resold and finished up in Germany before ending up with an art dealer in Switzerland.  The Italian government bought them in 1973 and finally (not surprisingly)  minus a couple of pieces  retuned to Novellara.
 
La Rocca, Novellara, RE

La Rocca, Novellara, RE

Fresco by Orsi, La Rocca, Novellara, RE

Fresco by Orsi, La Rocca, Novellara, RE

Fresco by Orsi, La Rocca, Novellara, RE

La Rocca, Novellara, RE

The Casino di Sopra  is quite small but quite interesting. The cavernous main hall has seen better times and what remains of the original frescoes  are very faded and damaged and so are very difficult to read.

Casino di Sopra, Novellara,RE

Substructure of the Casino di Sopra, Novellara,RE
One interesting thing about this building is that this single story structure has its floor raised more than a metre above ground level. A reminder that this was a swampy area subject to flooding before  massive hydraulic works reclaimed much of the land for agriculture.

The main hall Casino di Sopra, Novellara,RE

Casino di Sopra, Novellara,RE

Casino di Sopra, Novellara,RE

Casino di Sopra, Novellara,RE

Casino di Sopra, Novellara,RE

 
Camillo Gonzaga