August 10th, 2009

Monday

Aug. 10, 2009

Weekends in Orvieto (during the dig, anyway) seem to be pretty relaxing. The day starts “when we’re ready” and ends at about the same time. Italians in general really pay very little attention to time, unless it means missing a train, and even that can be an almost non-existent motivation, since there’s always another one or your own two feet. If you ask a question like “is it 5pm?” you’ll get a response of “quasi” which is their equivalent of “ish”. No specific time, just “quasi”. To them it’s just “about time to clean up”, or “almost time to go”.

This Saturday, I went with a new friend Matt into Orvieto to be tourists. We went to the Teatro first, (which I plan on visiting more once I live in town). The theater is beautiful; it has several floors of box seat chambers, and the back of the stage is a mural that takes up the entire wall, almost floor to ceiling. The mural is a battle scene, and its sheer size makes it one of the more amazing pieces of art I;ve seen. The Ceiling is frescoed, as are the multiple side rooms which I assume are used for smaller functions or meetings.

We then went to the famous Duomo, which is gorgeous. The story behind the Duomo is that there was a priest in Orvieto who doubted his faith. One day, presiding over the mass, he broke the host and it shed real blood, which stained the altar cloth. He began the trip to Rome to show the host to the pope, but by the time he got halfway there, the Pope had already heard of the miracle, and sent a messenger to tell the priest to go back to Orvieto with the host and the cloth, and to keep them there. That is how a small town like Orvieto came to host one of the most famous Duomos in Italy.

After visiting the Duomo, we ate lunch and went to the Etruscan Museum. Some of the objects in the museum had either been found at the site where we’re digging now, or by people who are working on it now. That was a good opener for the dig session for me – being able to see what I’d be looking at and looking for ahead of time.

By Sunday, all but four of us had left, making the convent very quiet. The other three people spent the day doing laundry and sleeping, so I spent my day by myself, moving into my new room and organizing. I did make it to town eventually, but didn’t have much time, since Sunday and “festivi” bus schedules are different than weekday schedules and I had to leave earlier.

Today was the first day of the dig. We started the morning with a lecture by the professor who’s in charge of the dig. Her name is Stuponi. The lecture was interesting, but two and a half hours long. Apparently we got off easy, however, since last session’s lasted three hours. The lecture covered the history of the area, the site, the excavation, and had pictures. The pictures showed previously unearthed artifacts like an Etruscan altar, and a complete bust of what is thought to be the Emperor Geta (rare because he was subjected to shame by being erased from history by his brother – all records and images were to be destroyed). Of course, there were also several pots. Orvieto and the surrounding area has a long history of religious significance – hundreds of years before the bleeding host. Etruscans and Romans fought each other for the site in which the excavation is held several times before the Romans finally succeeded and built their temple bear Orvieto in the Republican times. That temple stood (with rebuilding and remodeling) undil the medieval period, during which the area was razed and a church was built over the temple. Eventually, another church was built nearby, and then of course there was the Duomo on the hill in Orvieto itself. We’re actually in Tamburino, a township/suburb of Orvieto.

It’s been fascinating but exhausting. I’m so sore from the dig (we’re not allowed to sit, though crouching, squatting, and kneeling are ok). Not to mention that the hill up to the convent from the dig site and bus stop is at a 45 degree angle and about a quarter mile. I will definitely be sleeping well!