L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017 ELIZABETH SALTHOUSE R ome's Spanish Steps are famous around the globe. As too are Venice's stepped bridges crossing her countless canals. And the Vatican Museum's Bramante spiral stairway is one of the most photographed in the world. But Italy is also home to many more historic staircases. From Michelangelo's Florentine work of art to Rome's biblical center- piece to Sicily's ceramic flight of flowers, these architectural sculptures add elegance, decora- tion and beauty to the simple task of climbing the stairs. Let's take a look at eight of the best. Let's start with one of the old- est; the Scala Santa or Holy Stairs in the Piazza of St John in Laterano, Rome. Legend has it these are the 28 steps climbed by Jesus on his way to trial by Pontius Pilate. But Pilate lived in Jerusalem so how did the stairs end up in the Italian capital? For that we have St Helena, Emperor Constantine's mother, to thank. Mother and son were some of the first Romans to convert to Christianity and Helena marked her devotion with a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Whilst there, she tracked down the true cross and Pilate's palace bringing the wooden crucifix and white mar- ble steps back to Rome as a gift for the nascent Holy See. Today the blood spotted marble is encased in wood to preserve what are believed to be the last few traces of Jesus himself. Always in Rome, the Cordonata Capitolina stairs, designed by Michelangelo, link Piazza di Ara Coeli to Piazza del Campidoglio atop the Capitoline Hill, one of the seven old hills of Rome. Fittingly these broad, sloping steps, built with shallow steps to enable horses to climb them, lead up to twin marble statues of Castor and Pollux, ancient patrons of horsemen, and to the only surviving Roman bronze statue of a pre-Christian emperor on horseback, that of Marcus Aurelius. This staircase is well worth the climb, but is not Michelangelo's only attempt at designing stairs. In a quiet corner of the first floor Brunelleschi cloisters of the Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence, lies the Laurentian Library, building holds the pri- vate literary collection of the Medici family and apart from its priceless catalogue is renowned for its architectural design by Michelangelo, including his Laurentian Library stairs. Entry to the library is unencum- bered by tourist hoards that have yet to discover the hidden secret. Lucky visitors, therefore, have the chance to see Michelangelo's originality in quiet contempla- tion, admiring the fanciful trio of staircases, two pointedly quad- rangular in fine-grained grey sandstone, the middle run curved and softly rounded as it climbs to the reading room. It's a perfect example of the Mannerist style, typically characteristic of the Renaissance and a beautiful insight into Michelangelo's imagination. From the Tuscan realm of the Medicis let's journey south to 17 th century Sicily and the Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte in Caltagirone. The 142- step incline dates back to 1606 when it was built to link the old town Piazza Municipio with new development at the top of the hill. And although it was origi- nally a series of flights separated by little landings, the tiers were finally united in the 1880s fringed by houses, bustling shops and ornate balconies. The town isn't called the "castle of pottery" (qal'at-al-jarar from old Arabic settlers) for nothing, however, and in 1956 the famous maiolica artisans of Caltagirone set about giving the stairs a spectacular ceramic facelift. So now as you climb, each tread is faced with a Scala Contarini del Bovolo, in Venice The helicoidal Barberini staircase, in Rome different hand-painted design and the staircase stands as a testa- ment to a local tradition that stretches back over 1000 years. From man-made beauty we travel round the coast to a Sicillian staircase created by nature; the glistening Scala dei Turchi near southerly Porto Empedocle. Named after the Arabic and Turkish ships that used to shelter in the bay below, the white cliffs are made of a soft limestone and blindingly white marl that the sea has gently sculpted into smooth-edged ter- races. For our next staircase we need to travel from the coastal south to the myriad streets of northern Venice. There, hidden away in a tiny courtyard off a side alley off the beaten track lies our first spi- ral staircase; the orientally inspired Scala Contarini del Bovolo. Built around the end of 1400 it combines Renaissance, Gothic and Byzantine styles with shallow steps, slim columns and intricately pierced stonework that gives it its nickname, the snail staircase or "il bovolo" in the local dialect. Local folklore even suggests that the steps were kept shallow and wide so that the Contarini nobles could ride their horses upstairs. Sadly it's more likely that the family were just showing off with this architectur- al gem, but what a gem! Our penultimate stairway is housed in the classic 17 th centu- ry Palazzo Barberini, commis- sioned by Maffeo Barberini who later became Pope Urban VIII. The palazzo had an impressive cohort of architects, each con- tributing his own style. Carlo Maderno designed the main house and on his death the com- mission passed to Gian Lorenzo Bernini, legendary artist whose fountains still dominate the capi- tal. Bernini added a large square staircase to the left of the piano nobile but it was Maderno's nephew Francesco Borromini, passed over on his uncle's death, who actually designed the sev- enth staircase on our list, the helicoidal Barberini staircase serving the south wing. The beautiful oval spiral comprises 12 double-twisted columns around a central sunlit atrium leading to the private Barberini rooms. And its elliptical design, decorated by the symbolic Barberini family bees, proved not just more aesthetically pleasing but also easier to climb than Bernini's. Its definitely worth a visit. And finally, from one of the most beautiful stairs to the most scenic. The Calà del Sasso in Veneto is the longest flight of open-air stairs in Italy: at 4444 steps, 7 kilometers long and ris- ing 744 meters from Valstagna to Sasso di Asiago, it is certainly a tough climb. It dates back to around 1398 when the need for lumber to build galleons and warships was peaking in nearby Venice's Arsenale shipyard. Trees grew in plenty across the valley of Sasso but getting them down off the hillside to the River Brenta was extremely awkward. So a steeply stepped pathway was excavated into the landscape together with a limestone gully to one side to slide the hefty tree trunks down. Six hundred years later the logging industry is long gone but what started out as a simple commercial solution is now one of the most picturesque Italian hiking trails to be found. There's even an ancient legend that if two lovers follow the calà hand in hand, they will stay in love forever. So whether you're a lumberjack, an old romantic or just fancy a trek, this is the stair- case for you. Let's take the first steps together! ALL AROUND ITALY TRAVEL TIPS DESTINATIONS ACTIVITIES One, two, three steps to heaven

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