2024 Sept 17 Tuesday

Bolzano

With apologies for the very long post, this was a busy day. We followed a tour of the city, visited the archaeology museum, and walked to a castle featuring medieval frescoes.

9:54 am to about 7:30 pm. 7.44 miles, 20,861 steps. Elevation +544 feet. Beautiful clear weather.

Richard’s Relive video of the day can be clicked here: https://www.relive.cc/view/vXOnkdjgP56

Our first stop was the unremarkable-looking Church and Cloister of the Dominican Order founded in 1272.

The organist was practicing. Click below to hear a bit of his practice.

The chapel of San Giovanni is a long narrow room in the church with frescoes of the Giotto style.
These women look down on the portrait of the torture and martyrdom of St. Bartholomew with understandable sorrow.
The annunciation.
The church was heavily damaged after bombing in 1944.
The church has been refurbished with soaring Gothic pillars, and some of the ancient artwork has been saved.
The new chapel behind the organ and choral area.
The Capuchin church was built around 1600 within the Castle Wendelstein estates of the Counts of Tyrol.
The main altar painting showing St. Francis receiving the second foundation order.
The unusual gold Madonna with child, showing remarkably realistic faces.
A few of the castle walls are still visible despite this location now being in the city.
Piazza del Erbe is home to a daily market for everything from fruit and vegetables to meat and spices. It is hard to believe that most of these stands are put up and taken down each day.
The Neptune fountain dates from 1745. It has been classified as one of the 100 most beautiful fountains in Italy and is also sometimes called “innkeeper with a fork.”
The church and cloister of the Franciscan order is just outside the market.
The original church building dates back to the early 14th century, with modern stained glass windows.
The cloister includes frescoes of the life of St. Francis.
There are 13 large canvases in the cloister showing the life of St. Francis with text to explain them (in German.)
More pedestrian streets following the old city walls.
This merchant street features ironwork signs to advertise the business.
This modern store was one of the many specialty bread stores in town. Sometimes we would see these vertical bays holding everything from flat bread to pretzels. Other bread stores held appetizing displays or traditional bins. If you purchase bread at the grocery store, don’t forget to weigh it!
The Archaeology Museum’s claim to fame is Otzi, whose image when he was alive 5300 years ago is recreated here. Otzi was discovered mummified by a glacier in 1991 near the border between Austria and Italy. He was well-preserved including skin, and both he and the objects found near him have been studied by more than 100 teams from around the world. They have learned about his life, migration patterns, trading, and his death. His mummy is kept in a container that simulates the environment in which he was found. It can be viewed in the museum (but not photographed.)
After the museum, we walked along the river towards one of Bolzano’s castles, slightly outside the city. We had views of the Dolomites along the way.
Beautiful green fields decorate the hills along the river.
Castle Roncolo is our destination. It was built in 1237 but has been extended and restored several times.
The castle is famous for its frescoes depicting secular scenes of courtesan life, hunting scenes, chivalric competitions, and episodes of daily life. This window scene shows two couples, partly damaged.The woman in the red dress, second from the left, has two braids showing she is unmarried. Her crossed arms show she is unimpressed with her suitor. The costumes represent the fashion of the 15th century when French Weicher Stil (soft style) became popular in Europe. The interaction between figures is symbolic and is depicted with backgrounds of foliage, floral motifs, and bright colors.
This portion of the castle includes frescoes on both the outside and inside. Frquent subjects are knights and legends.
This scene shows a jousting tournament with several of the horsemen identified as castle owners and well-known people of the times.
This is a depiction of a ball game where the lady is ready to throw the ball while onlookers watch.
The chapel has the only non-secular frescoes in the castle. Here St. Catherine of Alexandria is pictured at her martyrdom (by wheel) and her miracle when liquid flowed out of her body after death, healing the sick.
A view of the mountains as we walked back to town.
One last view off our balcony as the moon is rising and the Duomo’s iconic steeple is lit for night.

2 Responses

  1. Wendy and I are reminded from your photos of being at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology and viewing the Otzi back in the 1980’s. So many things you are seeing and memories you will have from your trip. You have planned so well!

    1. The archaeology museum was amazing for all that has been learned from worldwide experts studying his remains. We were there with tourists but also school children, so I like to hope that there are a few scientists in the crowd who will have new information for future generations. We planned extra days in Bolzano to make sure we had time for Otzi.