‘Cave Canem,’ The Wild Dogs of Pompeii

“A dog has the soul of a philosopher.”   Plato

In 2008, the Italian government declared a state of emergency for Pompeii, Italy. The situation hasn’t improved since then and more deterioration has occurred due to embezzlement of funds appointed for restoration projects. Among the disintegrating ruins are wild or abandoned dogs. Many are seen lying about in the shade of ancient walls and ditches.

During my time in Pompeii, my heart was captivated by these forgotten dogs that seemed to want human companionship but were so afraid to trust. So they stayed in the shadows, the only visible inhabitants among the ancient rubble. In today’s ancient ruins of Pompeii, the result of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD., most of these dogs are callously dumped off by people who no longer want them. Few of them have been spayed or neutered so puppies add to the homeless population.

“Bless the beasts and the children, for the world can never be the world they see.” Carpenters Why do they stay? Potential food dispensers, the tourists, often provide tasty treats and attention that keep these dogs here among the ruins. With more than two million visitors to Pompeii each year, their chances of finding morsels are very good. (C)Ave Canem, meaning “Hail Dog,” is an organization that began in November of 2010, geared toward promoting dog adoption. Originally funded by the government, it is now run by volunteers. The idea is to control the stray dog population while keeping the dogs well-being in mind. The program is essential as new strays appear regularly.

Nearly 132,000 euros was allocated to the (C)ave Canem project by the Italian government to gather the dogs, sterilize them, provide them with veterinary care and promote their adoption. Dog houses were scattered around the site. The project found homes for 26 of the 55 stray dogs in Pompeii. Sadly, most of the money was embezzled by the then-Commissioner for Pompeii, Marcello Fiori, now under indictment for corruption. Marcello had been given charge of the 2010 restoration campaign known as Pompeii Viva, which means Living Pompeii.

Cave Canem ~ Front Door Floor Mosaic from the House of the Tragic Poet, Ancient Pompeii

Dogs have been an integral part of family life for centuries, including Pompeii, as can be seen by this uniquely well-preserved floor mosaic found in the Pompeii excavations.

My New Home! And I have a buddy….

Fortunately, a portion of these dogs find loving homes and people who nourish their bodies, minds and spirits. It is with hard work and dedication that the volunteers of (C)Ave Canem keep up their never-ending quest to find good homes for these orphaned dogs.

Sweet Lilli Found Love

“There is honor in being a dog.”  Aristotle

Memoirs of Capri: Alluring San Michele

High above the steep rock walls of Capri stands a lone figure. Rays of sunlight dance and shimmer along the golden embroidery of the garments covering his large, well-built frame. Obsidian eyes search the green-blue sea laid out before him, coming to rest on a distant land – his own empire. His eyes narrow as he slowly inhales. Emporer Tiberius turns sharply and passes quickly along the cliff wall of his villa and into its sunless interior. The year is 32 AD.

Forward to the 20th century……a new villa sits upon the very site where Tiberius once stood.

“Open to the sun and wind and the voices of the sea, like a Greek temple, and light, light, light everywhere…”   Axel Munthe

Villa San Michele Soars High Above the Sea

Villa San Michele

Setting high above the Mediterranean Sea like an exotic pearl, Villa San Michele majestically adorns the island of Capri. Her stately architecture and elegant whiteness shimmer exquisitely under the warm Italian sun. Beautiful green gardens climb and wind their way around the bleached walls and the colonnaded pergola. Lovely white columns follow the edge of a cliff offering a breathtaking view of the sea and sky. A wonderful blending of art, nature and architecture has inspired this villa unlike any other.

Axel Munthe and Friends.

Swedish doctor Axel Munthe acquired the estate and devoted himself to rebuilding the ruined Tiberian villa of Capodimonte. Beginning in 1896, the new villa of San Michele encompassed the old villa floor plan of Tiberius. Originally, Emperors Augustus and Tiberius had built 12 palaces and villas on Capri since the time it was established as an imperial estate in 29 BC.

Doorway to San Michele

On a cool spring morning walk, I find myself standing at the doorway to Axel’s exquisite villa. Over the arch I read the inscription San Michele in gold mosaic accompanied by marble friezes with animal and plant motifs. I learned  that at his passing, Axel Munthe willed his villa to the Swedish government, who have kindly preserved it as a museum.

Living Room of the Villa

Dining Area

Sculptor Court Leading to the Gardens.

The linen-white villa with its dark wooden furniture gives way to an atmosphere of seraphic delicacy. Imbedded in the walls are sections of artifacts, predominately funerary articles, inscriptions and bits of pottery found on the site. Several intact ancient pieces of sculpture adorn the walls, the oldest an Etruscan votive head dating from 450 BC. The large head of Medusa dresses the wall above the modest writing desk, which Axel apparently stumbled upon while exploring the ocean floor! Mounted on another wall is a copy of the head of Tiberius, the original having been stolen. All of these sculptures, I discover, are from the mainland.

Bust of Tiberius

Medusa!

I enter the dining room and see a Pompeian replica of a skeleton floor mosaic in stark black and white. Long and spindly, it holds a carafe of wine in one hand and a jug of water in the other.

 Skeleton Floor Mosaic

I interpret the message as one of moderation in all things, or encouragement to enjoy life to the full while there is still time.

The villa and garden stand 300 meters above sea level with a striking view of the Sorrento Peninsula, the Gulf of Naples, and Mt. Vesuvius. At times the isle of Ischia is visible to the north.  Below me from the garden wall I observe the Marina Grande, busy with hydrofoils and ferries that deliver crowds of passengers while taking others back to the mainland.

Marina Grande from the Garden

The ambrosial gardens of the villa fill me with wonder. Lovely displays of camelias, flowering ash, azaleas, Chinese wisteria, hydrangea, roses and many other varieties enhance its timeless quality. The air is astir with the fragrant perfume of flowers. Statues of antiquity adorn the walkways and peak through the greenery. Tall and stately pine, palm and cyprus trees bring a culmination of palatial elegance.

Colonnaded Pergola in the Garden

A small chapel resides on the gardens with fragments of the original Roman wall and pavement used in its construction. A quick tour through, and I find myself impatient to return to the garden. I inhale its fragrant beauty, hoping to capture the spirit of San Michele.

As I slowly wind my way back through the colonnaded pergola with its elegant white Capri columns, I catch site of the 3200 year old Egyptian Sphinx perched majestically on the terrace parapet. There she proudly sits, watching over her island and the sea in timeless immortality.

Majestic!

 

 

Mastroberardino Restores the Ancient Wines of Pompeii

Mt. Vesuvius Towers Over a Newly Planted Vineyard in Pompeii

Mastroberardino Winery has been introducing an incredible new concept to the wine world. With a long-standing family commitment of retaining the antiquity of their wine region of Campania in southern Italy, the archaeological superintendent of Italy has given Mastroberardino full rights since 1996 to discover and implement the ancient wine varietals that were grown in Pompeii prior to the devastation by Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. After years of on-site research, they have met with great success.

What methods were used in discovering these long-forgotten grape varietals? Did they plant vineyards in Pompeii? Have they produced a good wine from the harvest of these grapes?

Italian Talks has published my full article; Mastroberardino Masters the Ancient Wines of Pompeii. In this article, you will find the answers to these questions and more. The Mastroberardino family has put Campania back on the map as being the cultivators of premium wine that was once famous in antiquity. I hope you enjoy the article as much as I did while touring the cellars, researching and writing it.

Lake Como: Mingle with the Caesars and the Stars

Bellagio overlooking Lake Como

“I love the way life is spent in Italy….It’s really nice to sit down and have a two-hour lunch, which the Italians do. I realized that I had spent 15, 20 years standing up and shoveling food down my throat. It’s not about wealth; it’s about taking time and actually enjoying things.” Anonymous

Tranquil, peaceful, serene, romantic.…these words describe one of the most beautiful places on earth; Lake Como in Lombardy, northern Italy. Tall stately cypress provides pomp to the transcendent villas that populate the shoreline and hillside. Boats seem to glide across glass suspended above fathoms of deep blue water, turning a shimmery silver as the sun sets. Lake Como, steeped in history from ancient times, has become a paradise today for the rich and famous.

Villa del Balbianello

My love affair with Lake Como began the day I stepped foot off a boat and onto Como soil. A world of palatial elegance enveloped me immediately, and I imagined that I was one of the wealthy Villa dwellers, if only for a day.

Lake Como has been on the map for centuries. Julius Caesar, in the first century BC, sent 5,000 Romans to settle in Como to develop and protect the trade route between Rome and Reastia (Switzerland). In the first century Pliny the Elder and Younger both took up residence at Lake Como. Pliny the Elder is famous for his writings on natural history. He observed the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD, only to get too close to the event and die in the aftermath. Pliny the Younger, his adopted nephew, wrote about the eruption of the volcano.

Dramatic hillsides and deep ravines rise and swell with the shoreline of Lake Como. Many Romanesque churches dot the landscape, bringing to mind earlier times and rulership. Two of the most powerful and wealthy Milanese families, the Sforza and Visconti, ruled Lake Como during the medieval era.

Billa del Balbianello on Lake Como

Lake Como today thrives as a modern retreat with a good supply of converted castles and lovely villa’s offering luxurious accommodations. Don’t be surprised if you happen to bump into familiar celebrity faces. The lake is scattered with their elegant lakeside villas.

Villa Oleandra -George Clooney’s Estate on Lake Como

Carolyn of Brunswick, the estranged wife of the Prince of Wales, came to Lake Como in 1816 and claimed the huge mansion Villa d’Este as her home. Since then, the lake has seen many of the rich and wealthy come to settle. George Clooney owns two homes; Villa Margherita and Villa Oleandra, which he keeps up beautifully. Sting and Richard Branson, as well as the Versace family (Villa Le Fontanelle) keep villas on the lake as well.

“Lake Como (Lago di Como), lined with elegant 19th Century villas, crowned by snow-capped mountains, and busy with ferries, hydrofoils, and slow, passenger-only boats–is a good place to take a break from the intensity and obligatory-turnstile culture of central Italy. It seems like half the travelers you’ll meet have tossed their itineraries into the lake and are actually relaxing.” Rick Steves, “Italy 2013”

I did toss my itinerary into the lake and found myself melting into the land, the cypress, the deep blue waters that shimmer like a silver web at eventide, the winding pathways that spring under my footstep as I pondered those who walked before me. As I sat by the water’s edge, the rythmic lapping lulled me to sleep, cradled in the arms of the timeless mountains.

Related Articles

*Hotel Du Lac

*Castello di Vezio

*Lake Como Ferries

Pompeii is Losing its Pomp

Never have any historical sites blown my mind quite like Pompeii and its smaller neighbor Heculaneum. The vast array of ruins spread out before me from a civilization that suddenly ceased to exist is simply unbelievable. Buried under 30 feet of hot ash from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79, they have laid perfectly preserved until excavations began in the 18th century. Much is left to see and investigate, including some still partially imbedded lead pipes once used for the water supply. Elegant tile mosaics, colorful frescoes’ and brick walls bring dimension to these ghost cities.

It’s obvious that Pompeii was a thriving harbor town in its time. It’s obvious that Pompeii was a thriving harbor town in its time. In recent years, walls have crumbled and collapses continue to occur. Because the ancient Roman city is seriously exposed to the elements, it is constantly in a state of emergency. This UNESCO World Heritage site, one of the biggest and most important sites in the world, happens to be located in an area with one of the highest concentrations of organized crime in all of Europe, according to Fabrizio Barca, minister of territorial cohesion for Prime Minister Mario Monte.

The Great Pompeii Project, which began a $137 million effort by the European Union, has been an effort to preserve Pompeii and also make it accessible to the public. It strives to support a culture-driven society against perilous odds. Bureaucracy has been a constant challenge. The result is a lack of strategic planning and the limited personnel of the site’s troubled management.

Conservators who attempt to impart a plan of systematic maintenance of the 163 acre site are thwarted by emergent temporary repairs of crumbling walls and water-damaged frescoes.

Pillars of another time…remains of a prestigious Villa

Fortunately, many of the artifacts found in Pompeii are safely tucked away in Naples Archaeological Museum to be seen and enjoyed by the public. However, Pompeii offers the best look anywhere at what life in Rome must have been like around 2,000 years ago, providing archaeologists volumes about daily Roman life.

Lemon Orchards in the midst of ruins

Walking through Pompeii is like taking a stroll through the ancient past. It’s easy to imagine the hustle and bustle, chariots clattering down the stone streets, people grouped together in conversation, shopkeepers, foreigners, sailors and city administrators, all mingling to create a famous commercial port town…..the crossroads of many civilizations.

Dive even deeper into Italy by signing up for my monthly newsletter here.(required)

Submit

Δ