Pisa, Orvieto, pizza, and a lot of pizzazz
There we were, mired in our own raucous singing, when lo and behold, our driver Antonio (a pure Italian) gestured to a sign on the highway.
It was a caricature of a leaning tower, an architectural mistake – The Tower of Pisa in Tuscany.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa (55.863 meters in height) wasn’t supposed to lean at all. It was supposed to just be the bell tower for the Cathedral of Pisa. Architect Giovanni di Simone built it on soft ground, without enough foundations, and as soon as they were done, it began to slowly tilt over sideways. Even today, the tower is still tilting over, little by little, and with help from Japanese experts, reinforcements are now in place to make it stronger.
The people of Pisa don’t just like the leaning tower, they adore it. Strange that such a colossal miscalculation has instead been embraced as a symbol of civic pride. Located in Campo dei Miracoli (the aptly-named field of Miracles), it wasn’t until five years later after its completion that the tower began to tilt downward. As it turned out, the tower was built upon a dense clay mixture that was not nearly strong enough to hold the bell tower, and construction was halted for nearly 100 years.
Even Italian dictator Benito Mussolini tried his hand at straightening the tower. He ordered the foundation to be filled in with concrete, but the concrete sunk into the wet clay and the leaning tower continued its prolonged descent towards the ground.
After giving the leaning tower our owns hands to support it, we moved on to Orvieto, a city and comune in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff.
Thomas’ Summa Contra Gentiles
During his stay in Orvieto, St. Thomas completed writing his Summa contra Gentiles. He began writing this major work in Paris, and since he was walking a lot during his time, what started in Paris ended in Orvieto. Literally, the Summa contra Gentiles, a profoundly significant work in the history of philosophy, was going places!
We explored Orvieto by foot after a funicular ride to the top. The narrow medieval alleyways that lead you to the cathedral will in no way prepare you for the beauty and the magnificence of the Duomo di Orvieto. It was built under the instruction of Pope Urban IV to commemorate and provide a suitable home for the Corporal of Bolsena, a miracle which is said to have occurred in 1263 in the nearby town of Bolsena, when a traveling priest who had doubts about the truth of transubstantiation found that his Host was bleeding so much that it stained the altar cloth. The cloth is now stored in the Chapel of the Corporal inside the cathedral.
Orvieto has retained its medieval charm and is known for its sunflower ceramic plates that adorn homes all over the world. – Article courtesy of Manila Bulletin
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