NIGEL'S RAMBLES: October 2024

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Val Venosta Part 2

I wanted to see some some Medieval monuments in Val Venosta. The one I was most looking forward to seeing was Cappella di Santo Stefano/Burgkapelle St. Stephan, near Mortar. This tiny little chapel below a ruined castle reached by a footpath. The chapel sits on an rocky outcrop above the valley.

The little church dates from the 14th or 15th century, but a small church probably stood here long before.

The chapel was a real surprise. The entire interior is decorated with magnificent frescoes paintings, which form one of the most extensive Gothic fresco cycles in Alto Adige. Some of them, such as the Adoration of the Kings and the Evangelists, were realised around 1430/40 by a Lombard painter's workshop. Others - including the Passion Cycle and the Last Judgement - were made by a Swabian workshop (2nd half of the 15th century).

Santo Stefano/Burgkapelle St. Stephan, Mortar.

Santo Stefano/Burgkapelle St. Stephan, near Mortar.

Kloster St. Johann, Müstair (Claustra Son Jon), just over the border in Switzerland is a UNESCO heritage site, but most of the frescoes, I wanted to see were being restored, and out of view.

The monastery was founded in 775 AD by Charles the Great, King of the Lombards, after he survived a blizzard whilst travelling along the valley. In the middle of the 12th century. In this Convent Church, the Swiss scientists Robert Durrer and Joseph Zemp discovered in 1894 the spectacular Carolingian frescoes from the first half of the 9th century, under several layers of other paintings.

Kloster St. Johann, Müstair

The bloodthirst deaths of several martyrs, in one of the frescoes, is particularly striking. I would like to go back and see these frescoes again when the restoration has been completed.

Just before the border with Switzerland, a small chapel on the outskirts of a village, has an interesting sequence of medieval frescoes.

Chiesa di San Giovanni/St.-Johann-Kirche, Tubre

The central building in the form of a Greek cross is very unusual in the Alpine region, and is reminiscent of the Byzantine cross-in-square style. In the 12th century, parts of the walls of the previous church from the 9th century were used for the construction of the present building. Later, the church was used by the Order of St. John as a hostel. The present entrance building is on two levels. The ground floor served as a refectory. The upper floor was used as a sleeping place for the pilgrims traveling down the valley from the Stelvio Pass.

Chiesa di San Giovanni/St.-Johann-Kirche, Tubre

Romanesque frescoes were normally made in cycles and stretched from the floor to the roof. At a time when only a few people could read and write, these paintings enabled everyone the possibility of learning about biblical events. On the façade and inside of S. Giovanni a Tubre, the well preserved Romanesque frescoes, date from about 1220.

Chiesa di San Giovanni/St.-Johann-Kirche, Tubre

Friday, October 18, 2024

Val Venosta. Part 1

We have just spent a short holiday in the German speaking area of Italy. Alto Adige was incorporated into Italy after the First World war. The province doggedly retains its Austrian roots, right down to the shops being closed on Saturday afternoon. In the area where we stayed in the Val Venosta, many people have trouble speaking Italian. Apart from the landscape it has some medieval treasures tucked away, that I wanted to see.

First off, the most famous landmark in the upper valley. The bell tower emerging from the artificial lake at Resia, is pretty strange. I made the picture everybody makes.

Resia Val Venosta

We decided to climb the Stelvio Pass. Before the stiff climb we stopped at Trafoi. It was fun driving the Alfa up this road. We see in picture, about half of the road that climbs up to the pass.

Trafoi, Val Venosta

Passo dello Stelvio, Val Venosta

We stayed in the little village of Malles. The dawn shot was made from the the balcony of our hotel room.

Malles, Val Venosta

St. Benedikt church of Malles was erected in the 8th century A.D. Its Carolingian frescoes are among the earliest murals in central Europe. The two portraits of the founders are the most interesting. They show the Bishop of Chur and a Franconian landlord in traditional costume. This portrait is unique in Europe, as there is no comparable representation anywhere else.