Ruote di Trani

09 Monday Oct 2017

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Italia, Photography, Puglia, Travel

Tags

Fiat 126, Fiat 500 Giardiniera, Fiat Cinquecento, Piaggio Ape, Renault 4, Southern Italy, Trani

In August I took a lovely daytrip to Trani, a quiet, sun drenched fishing port on the Adriatic. While walking through town and the port in the late morning/early afternoon there were times I felt like I was walking through a movie set! One of the reasons is because of all the macchine d’epoca or vintage cars that I saw, as well as motorini and biciclette. I have compiled a few photos of these vehicles in this post and, for lack of a better title, I am calling it Ruote di Trani or Wheels of Trani.

I was disappointed because I did not take any photos of my favourite macchina, as every time I saw a Cinquecento, a Fiat 500, it was speeding past me too quick to snap a photo! I have a bit of an obsession with them-but only the old ones. It turns out I actually did photograph one though!

This is a Fiat Cinquecento Giardiniera, also known as the 500K or the Autobianchi Giardiniera. It is basically a Cinquecento station wagon, made from 1960-1977. If you think I am joking, cover the back half of the car, and you will see that the front half is totally 500ish! In 1970, production was transferred to Autobianchi, a Fiat subsidiary in Monza. Later models were branded as Autobianchi rather than Fiat. Notice this one has porte di suicidio or suicide doors, which are hinged at the rear instead of the front. They make it easier to get in and out of the car, but are a safety hazard at higher speeds. I wrote about porte di suicidio here. Notice the bird photobomb in the corner!

The Centoventisei or Fiat 126 was a more modern model to replace the Cinquecento in 1973. The 126 never became as popular. My Zio used to have one that was a Robin’s egg blue. It were very popular in the former eastern bloc countries because of its fuel efficiency. Later models were made in Poland as the Polski 126p.

This ‘vintage’ photo of a white Fiat 126 was taken by me on my previous visit to Trani, in 1994. My Zio had one just like this. I think it even had the same dented front. Thankfully, not much has changed to the look of Trani since 1994!

This photo of a late 1960’s/early 1970’s Renault 4 GTL on the street in front of old buildings looks like it was taken 50 years ago rather than just 2 months ago!

I spotted this Piaggio Ape (AH·peh) 3 wheeled vehicle at the port. Piaggio also makes the Vespa motorino. An Ape is basically a Vespa with 2 wheels at the back supporting a flatbed. Piaggio started making the Ape in 1948 to fill the post-war need for inexpensive light commercial transport. Ape means bee. I thought it was named for the cute buzzing sound it makes while driving, but it could also be referring to the work ethic of this ‘worker bee’ hardworking vehicle. Api make great delivery vehicles for narrow cobblestone streets and alleyways.

I hope you enjoyed your phototour of Trani’s ruote. Grazie mille to Franco for helping me identify them! Ciao, Cristina

Trani

30 Saturday Sep 2017

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Architecture, Italia, Photography, Puglia, Travel

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

Diomedes, Italy travel tips, Puglia, Romanico Pugliese, San Nicola Pellegrino, Southern Italy, Trani, UNESCO World Heritage Sites

A crescent shaped port, fishermen selling their catch on the waterfront, a timeless, picturesque centro storico that looks like it could be a movie set, a castle, and a stunning limestone Romanesque cathedral right at the water’s edge where you expect to find a lighthouse. These are some of the reasons why Trani is one of my favourite day trips. It is a beautiful, peaceful, uncrowded fishing port on the Adriatic, between Barletta and Bari. Trani is on the main ‘Adriatico’ railway line so it is easily accessible without a car.

Trani is ancient Tirenum, allegedly founded by Tirenus, son of Diomede. Trani is famous for issuing the ‘Ordinamenta et consultudo Maris’ in 1063. This is the oldest surviving maritime law code in the west. The street along the harbor is called ‘Via Statuti Marittimi’. Trani is also known for Moscato di Trani, figs, almonds and olive oil.

During the rule of Federico Secondo (aka Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II) in the early 13th Century, Trani became an important political center and trading port with the Orient. Since Trani was on the pilgrimage route to the Holy Land it grew and prospered. Trani also had a close diplomatic and trading relationship with Venezia.When I got off the train in Trani, I walked about half an hour, straight to the cathedral. I am a big fan of Romanico Pugliese (Pugliese Romanesque), an 11th-13th Century architectural style unique to Puglia. Romanico Pugliese includes classic Romanesque features such as tall facades, campanili and rose windows, blended with Byzantine and Islamic architectural details. In fact, since 2006, the Romanico Pugliese churches in Puglia are on the the UNESCO World Heritage Sites tentative list. This is the step before becoming a World Heritage Site.The Trani cathedral was built in 1099 out of local tufo, a creamy coloured limestone that almost seems to glow in the sun. One of the oldest and largest cathedrals in Puglia, it was used as a model for the ones built later. It was named for San Nicola Pellegrino (the Pilgrim), a 19 year old Greek shepherd who died while on pilgrimage in Trani in 1094. His bones are in the crypt. Note….this is not the same San Nicola who is buried in Bari and is the inspiration for Santa Claus. Trani’s cathedral was constructed on layers of history. It was built over the foundations of a 5th Century Byzantine church, Santa Maria della Scala, which was built over the Roman crypt of San Leucio. Both of these ‘layers’ are accessible. The beautiful bronze doors are a copy. The original doors are on display inside. The 32 panels were sculpted by Barisano di Trani who also did work on the cathedrals in Ravenna and Monreale. The 60m high campanile built in 1239 has square corners and an octagonal spire. The number of windows increase with each floor. The campanile was being renovated when I was there, so I have included a photo I took in 1994 without the scaffolding.

Trani 1994

Right on the harbour is the Chiesa di Ognissanti, built in the 12th Century by the Knights Templar in the courtyard of their hospital. Trani was on the route to the Holy Land and the knights had a hospital here for those wounded in the crusades. It is not open to the public.At the far end of the harbour, the Villa Comunale is a park with benches and a seaside walk. The breakwater near the Cathedral is a nice place to sit and soak up the sun or go for a swim.

Federico II built the Castello Svevo in 1249. It has square towers at each corner. The sea water moat was filled in. From the 1800’s-1974 the castello was used as a prison. Now it is open to visitors and hosts cultural events. Admission is €3.

Trani once had southern Italia’s largest Giudecca community or Jewish neighborhood. It was not a ghetto, as it was not closed off. There were once 4 synagogues. The Scolanova Synagogue spent centuries as a church, but in 2006 it was rededicated as a synagogue.

Trani is small enough that you can walk everywhere. From the Stazione, walk straight out and turn left at Piazza della Repubblica. There is an info point here. It is about a half hour walk along quiet streets with beautiful palazzi to the cathedral and port. Just ask a local for ‘Il Porto’ if you need directions. Shops are closed from 1-5 pm.

For seafood lovers, the port has many excellent restaurants. My cousins had given me 3 restaurant recommendations. It was such a beautiful sunny day I just wanted to sit near the breakwater and enjoy the sea. I had a mad craving for polipo-octopus. I ended up getting a take away insalata di polipo and a glass of Falanghina. It was perfect!

Trani is a great base to stay for exploring several UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Castel del Monte, Alberobello and Matera are all about 1 hour away.

Ciao e buon viaggio, Cristina

Pomodoro Day!

27 Sunday Aug 2017

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Italian life, Mangiamo!

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

Italian food, Passata di pomodoro, photography, Pomodori, Pomodoro day, Pugliese Traditions, Tomato day, Tomato sauce

Today was my famiglia‘s annual pomodoro day. We turned 15 boxes of pomodori, plus more from our gardens into passata di pomodoro, or as we simply call it ‘la salsa’. The boxes were 18 kg each (40 lbs)! That is 272 kg of pomodori and we made 140 litres of passata. Siamo stanchi!

For new readers of Un po’ di pepe, or those of you who have not read my previous pomodoro related posts, here they are. Click on the appropriately coloured red links!

Passata di pomodoro

Passata di Pomodoro is a detailed description of my famiglia’s annual passata making day. There is a lot of red in photos in this post! Rosso come un pomodoro, but no one is blushing.

Il Pomodoro discusses the history of the pomodoro and how it came to Italia and eventually became edible. You read that correctly-pomodori originally tasted really gross and were used only for ornamental purposes. You’ve come a long way, pomodoro.

Does your famiglia make passata di pomodoro? I’d love to hear about it. Ciao, Cristina

A Smoky Haze

13 Sunday Aug 2017

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Italia, Travel

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Granville Island, Incendi, Napoli, Vancouver, Vesuvio

It seems a smoky haze has been following me around-and I am not talking about jet lag! When I arrived in Napoli on July 11th, the air was grey and smoky. As we were driving from Capodichino airport, my cugino said ‘è il fumo da Vesuvio’. I looked over at the imposing volcano and the crater was engulfed in smoke! I immediately thought the worst and started to panic and wonder why the 3,000,000 people living in the area were not being evacuated! Then it was clarified…..the smoke from Vesuvio was from incendi, wildfires burning on the slopes of the volcano. The cause is thought to be intentional, although no one is really sure. I am not even going to discuss some of the ridiculous rumours I heard. The hot weather, dry soil and wind is not helping. This is really awful, although looking on the bright side, it is less awful than a volcanic eruption in an area with a population of 3,000,000.

July 11th tweet from 3B Meteo comparing photo of 1944 Vesuvio eruption and today’s fires!

A month later, the air in Napoli was still an atmospheric gray zone. The day I flew home was also slightly windy. This caused my flight to be delayed and my connecting flight in Munich left without me. Mannaggia! I was not impressed.

A day late, I finally arrived home, and was surprised to find the air conditions to be the same smoky haze I left in Napoli! Was this gray blanket of fog following me? To top it all off, the mountains were missing from the landscape! It had been this way for 2 weeks due to over 150 wildfires burning in the interior of British Columbia. The air was so smoky and gray the mountains were not visible.

Yesterday I was at Granville Island. If you are not familiar with it, this photo may look normal. There is something missing…..some very large mountains in the background!

Today the mountains were slightly visible. Luckily it is just starting to rain now, so that will improve our air quality, and hopefully help to put out the fires. Speriamo che piove anche a Napoli!

I wrote about my internet issues and difficulty keeping up with blogging in my last post Chiuso per Ferie. Now that I am home, I will be catching up on reading and soon I will be publishing posts from my travels.

A presto, Cristina

Chiuso per Ferie

25 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Blogging, Italian life, Orsara di Puglia

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

Blogging, Orsara di Puglia

Chiuso per ferie = closed for holidays. Chiuso per ferie signs can be seen posted all over Italia in summer, especially in the weeks before and after Ferragosto, the 15th of August. I was not organized to post-date anything and was hoping I could publish a few posts with only my iPad and wifi, but i give up. Un po’ di pepe is now chiuso per ferie until mid August!

I have a chiavetta internet, which until this year, I used at home with a small laptop. I would load $ on it and use it for 1 month a year. The technology is old and it was not a great connection anyways, making it more frustrating than useful. I ended up wasting a lot of time, so this year, I decided to scrap it and just make do with wifi available at 3 bars in town.

Not so easy! My wifi access usually consists of a few stolen minutes here and there. When I sit at the bar with my espressino, inevitably, someone sees me sitting there and comes over to chat, which is awesome, and much more sociable than staring at a screen by myself. In the evening, I am usually at one of the bars, but with family or friends, so anything longer than a quick Instagram post is socially unacceptable.

One of the bars is at a crossroads, very close to my casa. I have to walk past it to get to most of the places I need to go, When I walk past, I walk really slowly and then I hear my pocket go ‘ding ding ding’ as all of my WhatsApp messages come in! I read them later, and respond when in wifi again.

I have been too busy socializing, taking photos and enjoying the fresh air in Orsara di Puglia to have time to keep up with reading blog posts, let alone deal with the technical issues of posting any. I have been posting frequently to Instagram and a bit on Facebook. If you want to see what I have been up to, check out my Instagram feed on the sidebar to the right. For now, consider me chiuso per ferie! Ciao da Orsara, Cristina

Mercato Inspiration

30 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Art, Art projects, Inspiration

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

Drypoint etching, Inspiration, Monotypes, Printmaking

Sometimes you unexpectedly find inspiration when you really need it. I had a bancarella at the Mercato Italiano at the Italian Cultural Centre a few weeks ago. I was selling cartoline, incisioni e monotipi stampato a mano- cards and hand-pulled etchings and monotypes. Setting up and organizing is a lot of work, but it is always fun to meet people and discuss the art process at these events.

Last week, I was having una settimana di merda-a really crappy week….until I received a lovely and very encouraging email from someone I met at the mercato. He had bought one of my small drypoint etchings and commented on how much he enjoyed our conversation and continued to enjoy the print-so much so that he wrote about it on his blog!

The Print MakersPhotographers should hang around artists. I’ve talked before here about the benefits for a photographer of going to art galleries and shows. If you are thinking about your craft seriously these events will get your mind churning. I am not talking about photo exhibitions. That becomes intellectually incestuous. No, I am talking about getting out amongst other graphic artists to see how people in other mediums represent the world we all share.

Take last Friday night for instance. Here in Vancouver we have a very active Italian Cultural Center and in the summer they hold a series of Italian Markets in the parking lot of the Center. Last Friday was the first market for this year. Susan and I were walking through the stalls looking at the wines, breads, flowers and crafts on display when I came upon Cristina Pepe’s booth where she had some of her hand made prints for sale…….

Read the rest of the post here or at http://flynngraphics.ca/print-makers/

Here’s to mutual inspiration! Ciao, Cristina

Villa Jamele

21 Wednesday Jun 2017

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Amici e Famiglia, Italia, Orsara di Puglia, Photography, Puglia

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Dalla terra alla tavola, Orsara di Puglia, Peppe Zullo, Southern Italy, Villa Jamele

Villa Jamele (ya·MEH·leh) was mentioned in my post Peppe Zullo~Il Cuoco Contadino. Peppe’s 180,000 m² azienda agricola (agricultural estate) includes this second location acquired in 2004. Villa Jamele is a few km down the road from Orsara di Puglia, towards Troia. The property takes its name from the historic 1700’s villa of Hector Jamele, which has been reconstructed and is now home to an international cooking school and 5 guest rooms on the upper floor.

Sala Guadalajara is a large circular reception hall. There is also a glass reception room, Sala Veracruz. The photo below was taken from the roof terrace of Villa Jamele.

Dalla terra alla tavola is the philosophy at Villa Jamele. This translates to ‘Field to table’. Food does not get any fresher. In addition to producing wine and olive oil, Peppe Zullo grows most of his own vegetables here at Villa Jamele, including pomodori which are canned on site in August.

Il Bosco dei Sapori Perduti is a biodiverse orchard which includes over 50 varieties of fruit trees and herbs. Peppe uses local, traditional products in his cooking, including wild greens and herbs such as boragine (borage), marasciuolo –a type of wild rucola found in Puglia, fiori di zucca, and wild asparagus. Behind Sala Guadalajara, past a reconstructed stone archway is a large vineyard where grapes for Peppe’s vini, Ursaria and Aliuva are grown. Read more about them in this post.Also on the grounds is a pond and various animals, including ducks, geese, a donkey and one muddy but very photogenic maiale nero and his famiglia.

The Villa Jamele site is a tranquil oasis of green, dotted with ancient olive trees. My favourite area of Villa Jamele is the campo dei girasoli-a field of sunflowers blooming every July.

La Scuola Internazionale di Cucina at Villa Jamele is open from September to November and February to April. Classes can be organized for 8-16 participants. To book an event, suite, destination wedding , or make a reservation at Ristorante Peppe Zullo, call or email 39 0881 964763 info@peppezullo.it

Villa Jamele, Piano della Corte, Orsara di Puglia (FG) http://www.peppezullo.it

I hope you have enjoyed my favourite ‘scatti‘ of Villa Jamele! Ciao, Cristina

Peppe Zullo~Il Cuoco-Contadino

28 Sunday May 2017

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Amici e Famiglia, Orsara di Puglia, Puglia, Vino

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

Italian food, Orsara di Puglia, Peppe Zullo, Pugliese Traditions, Southern Italy, Tuccanese, Wines of Puglia

My amico Peppe Zullo is known as ‘Il Cuoco-Contadino’. At the age of 24, Peppe left Orsara di Puglia to work in Boston and Puerto Vallarta Mexico, where he opened a restaurant. He moved back to Orsara and opened his ristorante in 1992 on his family land in the Piano Paradiso area. Piano Paradiso is an idyllic setting facing Orsara di Puglia, with spectacular views. Peppe greets visitors with the appropriate salutation ‘Benvenuti in Paradiso’.

Peppe Zullo nel vigneto. Photo Nicola Tramonte

The Piano Paradiso site also includes a reception hall, Nuova Sala Paradiso and the award winning cantina. Peppe’s wine cellar La Cantina del Paradiso, designed by Nicola Tramonte was featured in the exhibit ‘Le Cattedrali del Vino’ at the Biennale di Venezia Archittetura in 2010. It is built into the side of a hill, with a vineyard on top! As Peppe likes to say, it’s the only cantina where you have to climb up stairs! This is the best place in town on a hot day! The cantina is built to resemble a subterranean small town with narrow streets and rooms. It also features colourful, whimsical original artwork by Leon Marino, an artist from Troia.

L’angelo contadino by Leon Marino

La Cantina is full of vino! Peppe Zullo produces about 25,000 bottles per year. His 2 wines are Aliuva and Ursaria. Aliuva is 80% Tuccanese 20% Uva di Troia (Nero di Troia) and Merlot. Ursaria is 80% Tuccanese, 20% Uva di Troia and Cabernet, and is aged for 5 years in wood barrels. Peppe’s vino is served in his restaurant and event facilities and sold on site and at Peppe Zullo Point in Foggia. Read more in part 3 of my Vini di Puglia series- Il Tuccanese.

At the top of the hill, looking out over the vigna, are the Suites del Paradiso, 5 rental suites with a view of the rooftops of Orsara. Above the suites, at the top of the estate is a wheat field growing an ancient Pugliese strain called Senatore Cappelli. We call it ‘Strambell’ in Orsarese. Pale Eoliche, wind turbines belonging to Montaguto can be seen behind the field. Also on site are Peppe’s home, offices, several places for outdoor receptions or enjoying the scenery and a fenced in area with fruit trees, sheep and horses.

Peppe’s 180,000 m² azienda agricola (agricultural estate) also includes a second location acquired in 2004. Villa Jamele is a few km down the road towards Troia. The reconstructed 1700’s villa is home to an international cooking school, with rooms on the upper floor. Villa Jamele is featured in the next post.

Dalla terra alla tavola or Cibo a km 0 is the philosophy here. This translates to ‘Field to table’ or the ‘100 mile diet’. Food does not get any fresher. In addition to producing wine and olive oil, Peppe grows most of his own vegetables at Villa Jamele, including pomodori which are canned on site in August. Il Bosco dei Sapori Perduti is a biodiverse orchard which includes over 50 varieties of fruit trees and herbs. Peppe uses local, traditional products including wild greens and herbs such as boragine (borage), marasciuolo (a type of wild rucola found in Puglia), fiori di zucca, wild asparagus, Greek mint and Cacioricotta, a DOP goat cheese made only in Orsara. He makes bread and pasta with zucca and grano arso and also produces his own cheeses. One of Peppe favourite antipasti are ‘ostriche di montagne’ or ‘mountain oysters’. These are lightly battered and fried foglie di Boragine – borage leaves. My favourite antipasto is fiori di zucca al forno ripieni di caciocavallo!

Orecchiette di grano arso al sugo, Ristorante Peppe Zullo Orsara di Puglia

Peppe is an ambassador for cucina povera and the gastronomic traditions of Puglia. In the last few years, he has made frequent television appearances on RAI’s Uno Mattina and Geo & Geo. Check them ou on his Youtube channel. Appuntamento con la Daunia, a 2 day event celebrating local cuisine and products is held at Villa Jamele every year, the second week in October. I receive an invitation every year but have not been able to attend…yet.

Peppe was the chef representing Puglia for the month of May at Expo 2015 in Milano. They served a lot of orecchiette di grano arso! That same year, along with another Pugliese chef, he catered an Indian wedding for 1,000 guests in Borgo Egnazio, near Ostuni. In 2016 he catered the 80^th birthday party for Lino Banfi-who plays the adorable Nonno on RAI’s ‘Un Medico in Famiglia’.

Peppe Zullo & Lino Banfi

Ristorante Peppe Zullo is open daily for pranzo, the mid-day meal. They are not open in the evening. Afterwards, visit the cantina, vigneto or take a short passeggiata to Orsara. La Scuola di Cucina at Villa Jamele is open from September to November and February to April. Classes are 5 hours per day 6 days a week and can be organized for 8-16 participants. To make a reservation at Ristorante Peppe Zullo, book a suite, cooking class or destination wedding, call or email 39 0881 964763 info@peppezullo.it

Via Piano Paradiso, Orsara di Puglia FG www.peppezullo.it

Peppe is on Facebook, Instagram(@peppezullo), Twitter(@peppezullo2), and Youtube

Stay tuned for posts on Villa Jamele and La Cantina del Paradiso. Ciao, Cristina

Terzo Bloghiversario!

25 Tuesday Apr 2017

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Blogging

≈ 25 Comments

Tags

Blogging, Inspiration

Caspita! Il tempo vola. Non ci credo che oggi Un po’ di pepe fa 3 anni! How time flies. I can’t believe it is already 3 years since publishing my first post on Un po’ di pepe, Perche Questo Blog?/Why Write a Blog? I do not know how I missed noticing this before, but today is also La Festa della Liberazione d’Italia, the anniversary of the liberation of Italia from Fascist occupation in 1945. Viva la libertà! Next year I will write a post about Le Donne Partigiane-women who were partisans in the Italian Resistance.

I planned to celebrate by having a contest or giving away a print for Un po’ di pepe’s 200th follower, but I missed that too! Mannaggia! I will have to organize something for the 250th follower or the 100th post. This one is #85, so I do not need to rush.

This was another exciting blogging year. I wish I had time to post more often, but twice a month will continue to be the average. This year Un po’ di pepe finally got a Facebook page-the link is in the sidebar. I still prefer Instagram! My pronunciation guide Italiano per Ristoranti continues to be the most viewed post and a popular download. I have been doing research on how to turn it into an e-book.

Bruschetta (broo.SKET.tah)

I was nominated for a Liebster Award by Malberock. I love their description of my blog: ‘l’identità italiana in Canada spiegata ai canadesi, ma anche a noi italiani’! This could be my new tagline-grazie Malberock! The Liebster is a virtual award designed to increase the visibility of blogs that have less than 200 followers. Now that I am up to 211, I no longer qualify!

I have more posts about interesting stuff planned for the coming year, including more parole piacevoli, my experiences with dialetti and making bread starter. My next post will feature my amico, Peppe Zullo! While I am learning how to publish an e-book, I also plan to figure out how to post bits of my old home movies from our family trips to Italia. In June and August I will have a bancarella at the Italian Market, selling cards, etchings and other things I like to make. I also want to finally open an Etsy store, but I need to make inventory first.

Grazie to all of you for taking the time to read, comment, send messages and especially for giving me an excuse to research and write about things that interest me! If you have any suggestions for posts or just want to say ‘ciao‘, leave me a comment. I am going to sign off with a link to my second post, which needs some love-Il Gigante~Michelangelo’s David. Grazie a tutti per leggere e darmi una scusa per scrivere di cose che mi piacciono. Lasciami un messaggio se hai un idee per un post o se vuoi dice ‘ciao’. Un abbraccio, Cristina

Buon Compleanno Roma!

21 Friday Apr 2017

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Italia, Roma

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Ancient Roma, April 21 753 BC, La Lupa Capitolina, Natale di Roma, Roma, Romolo & Remo

Roma’s turns 2770 years old today! Auguri Roma. The day of Roma’s foundation is called ‘Natale di Roma’. You may be thinking… Christmas of Roma? Huh? Christmas is called Natale in Italiano, but the word natale, with a lower case ‘n’, actually means birth-so today is the celebration of the birth of Roma. The exact date, April 21, 753 BC, was determined by Marcus Terentius Varro, a 1st Century BC Roman scholar.

According to legend, on this date Roma was founded by orphaned twins Romolo and Remo (Romulus and Remus in Latin). Their dramatic story shares plotlines with those of Hamlet, Moses and Cain and Abel! They were children of Mercury, God of War, and Rea Silvia, the daughter of Numitore, ex King of Alba Longa, which was 19 km southeast of Roma. Rea Silvia’s family were descendants of Aeneas, the Greek Trojan war refugee. Aeneas’ son Ascanio was the founder and first king of Alba Longa. Numitore’s brother Amulio ousted him. To insure Numitor would have no heirs, Amulio killed his son, and forced Rea Silvia to become a Vestal Virgin. When the gemelli were born in 771 BC, Amulio ordered them to be drowned in the Tevere.

The servants who were to drown the babies set them afloat in a basket on the river instead. They washed up near the Palatino (Palatine Hill) and were found and nurtured by a lupa (she-wolf) who had lost her newborn cubs. *Interesting note- at the time, the word ‘lupa‘ could also mean prostitute! Romolo and Remo were found by a shepherd, Faustilo. He and his wife Larentia took them in and raised them.

Romolo and Remo grew up to be leaders of a group of shepherd warriors. When they found out that they were the true heirs to Alba Longa, they attacked, killed Amulio and restored their Nonno Numitore as king. Fresh from their revenge and still full of adrenaline, Romolo and Remo decided they would build a city of their own near where they were found by the lupa. Romolo wanted to build on the Palatine Hill (where the Forum is) and Remo wanted to build on the Aventine. They disagreed and fought, with Romolo accidentally killing his brother in the process. And so began the long, bloody, politically charged history of Ancient Roma. Romolo built the city on the Palatino and named her Roma after himself.