Gary Kirkpatrick

In the center of town we found the city’s main plaza, a large one flanked by majestic Medici era architecture. But the city goes back much further, to the Etruscans circa 800 BCE. Excavations in the 1980’s and 90’s proved its Etruscan origins, around the 5th century BCE. The city is close to the coast and was once a maritime power. It is split by the Arno River, which nearly topped it’s tall banks here and in Firenze (Florence) just a few weeks ago from the mountain rains to the east. The historical center would have been disastrously flooded.

Pisa was at its height from the 11th century until the 17th as one of the major maritime republics of Italy. The city’s port still provides significant employment as does tourism and the major universities and schools. The University of Pisa dates to the 12th century. The Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (high school teacher training), founded by Napoleon in 1810, is in the main plaza.

At night the old town streets are abuzz. It seems like most of the city’s 35,000 students are talking at the same time, clustered around bars drinking beer, wine and Aperol. It’s late March so the weather is more encouraging, with temps in the 10-20c (50-68f). The churches are still quite cold and damp.

It appears that Pisans seem to have a distinct preference for spaghetti, as opposed to say linguine or orecchiette in Puglia, as each of the restaurants we visited served only spaghetti (aside from lasagna) with the sauces on offer. I found a rice pie in one of the bakeries. I was hoping to try “cecina,” a flatbread made with garbanzo bean flour.

The statue to Cosomo Medici was commissioned by Grand Duke Ferdinando I in 1596. Pietro Francavilla sculpted the piece in the elegant Late Mannerist style. The building behind is the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, with only 600 students enrolled. It’s primary purpose is the training of high school teachers. The decor is painted onto what I believe is concrete or something similar.

Chiesa di Santa Maria della Spina is a lovely and small Gothic church on the southern bank of the Arno. The Gualandi family built it in the 1200s, naming it Santa Maria di Pontenovo. It was moved to its current location to better protect it from flood waters. “Della Spina” refers to a thorn from the crown of thorns, no longer in the church. It is in the Chiesa di Santa Chiara on Via Roma. Pontenuovo collapsed in the 15th c, never rebuilt. It was closed when we were there. Too bad. There is a famous Gothic sculpture Madonna of the Rose by the Pisano brothers.

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Surely there is no king with a more beautiful castle or palace and with so many gilded rooms (…) …how magnificent and sumptuous is this palace. — 15th-century German diary (British Museum)

Olite is a town of 4,000 in the Spanish Province of Navarre. The Royal Palace located there is a beautiful example of French castle design. French, you say? Indeed. King Charles III built the Royal Palace in the 15th century, taking builders with him on a tour of French castles before starting the project. The result is an extravagant Gothic castle. I counted four slate covered pointed roofs typical of French castles. The towers, galleries, gardens and patios were luxuriously decorated, but little remains of the furnishings. Nonetheless it is a joy to imagine what it was like back then, until your legs had climbed the 6 or more tightly circular staircase stories up from ground level. A lovely view of the surrounding countryside makes it worthwhile.

The castle became a residence of Henri of Navarre (1553-1610), who ruled as Henri IV of France from 1589-1610 and King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572. He was the first King of France from the House of Bourbon, a branch of the Capetians. The Capetians ruled from the late 10th century until 1792. He was Protestant, and is famous for saying “Paris is worth a mass” to become King of France. The current King of Spain is a Bourbon, from which comes the name for the famous Kentucky distillate.

After the invasion of Navarre in 1512 the palace was only used as an occasional residence by the Viceroys. It was set afire during the Spanish War of Independence in 1813 to stop Napoleon’s troops from occupying it.

There is a second castle on the site, called the Old Palace. It is much smaller and is now a Parador, a government-owned chain of luxury hotels located in buildings of architectural and historic importance but no longer in official use. The Old Palace dates to the 13th century. Only the outer walls and towers remain. It is now under renovation.

“Apparently, it (the Old Palace) held originally a more military purpose and only served as temporary residence for Theobald II in the last year of his life and his brother-cum-successor Henry I during his short reign (1270 – 1274) before the Gothic styled structure came to house the Naverrese Court late in the century.” https://breakingthruhistory.wordpress.com/2024/07/17/the-royal-palace-of-olite-navarre-spain/. Construction of its successor, the Royal Palace, began in 1406 according to other sources.

The Old Palace (Palacio Viejo) sits atop an ancient Roman fortification. It was constructed in the reign of Sancho VII of Navarre ‘the Strong’ (r. 1194 – 1234). It was enlarged by his successors Theobald I (r. 1234 – 1253) and Theobald II (r. 1253 – 1270).

A few notes on the cuisine

Each region of Spain has its own take on the cuisine. The one restaurant in which we dined featured a grilled trout with a full slice of Serrano type ham inside. This is probably the only place in the world that would think to add pork to fish. It was good but not outstanding. Another dish was superb – Alubias pochas con chorizo. Alubias are white beans, but in the local dialect they are called ‘pochas.’ It had a deep, rich flavor from the bits of chorizo and the stock. The Spanish are known for bean dishes and this was a great example. In the evening we went out for tapas and a beverage. I tried some sort of puff pastry with various fillings, sweet or savory, tasty and moist, going well with the local wine. I had the same pastry for breakfast the next morning. And there is, among other offerings, something called a Torta Ttxantxigorri, made with “chicharrones de cerdo,” pig skin, sugar and cinnamon.

Olite is not far from Teruel, known for its dry cured hams, commonly referred to as Serrano ham. It is in the same family as the Italian prosciutto crudo, literally raw ham to distinguish it from prosciutto cotto, cooked ham, and the French jambon cru, also literally raw ham but also dry cured. The best known Italian version is Parma ham, made in, you guessed it, Parma, the same area that brings us parmigiano the cheese and things like eggplant parmesan (melanzane parmigiano). The Spanish jamon is generally cured for longer periods than others, up to 18 months.

We drove south to visit a monastary on the way back to Valencia. There was a black and white hooded monk standing at the door of the Monasterio de Santa Maria Real de la Oliva as we drove up. He was gone a moment later. For a moment I thought I was having a Padre Pio moment. Il Padre was known for being in two places at once, or rather for people thinking so. However this monk had merely gone inside, awaiting us at the counter. He was happy to chat, in Spanish, English, French, Portuguese and the mysterious Basque. And some African language, as he’d been assigned to some post in Angola at one time. At age 95 and going strong. he was just one of about nine Cistercian monks in the monastery that once probably held over a hundred. The ones that remained were all approaching the century mark, except for the part time visiting monks. The cells once reserved for prayer are now available for those wishing a quiet getaway.

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The monastery’s large church is part Romanesque and part Gothic, reflecting its early origins and the influence of French architecture even then. You can see the Gothic design in the tracery of the cloisters.

We stopped back in the shop to buy some wine from the friendly old monk, and while there considered some of the cheese. We passed on the latter. A few days later tried the wine. It’s a bit thin on the viscosity as well as nose and tongue, but drinkable enough, just not worth the price given how much good wine you can get here for three or four euros.