St. Francis Church in Schio

St. Francis church is one of the older churches of the city. If you are visiting Schio, it is worth visiting it for its history and for the art-works. It is easy to visit, since it near the city centre. The only problem is that it is open for public only on the afternoon of the first Sunday of the month. In the image below, the bell-tower of the church can be seen on the left. (click on images for a bigger view). 

 An asymmetrical building surrounded by green hills, this church from 1424 CE is famous for a beautiful altar piece dedicated to St Catherine, painted by Francesco Verla. However, there is many other things to see in it.

This post is about the history and things to see in St Francis church. Let me start with a little bit of history. 

Historical Overview of St Francis Church 

St Francis church is located at the edge of a hilly forest area of Schio, known as Valletta. The hillocks around the church were originally known as "Monte degli Oliveti" (the Olive trees' Hill), because this area used to have many olive trees.

This area was known for its "lazzaretto", a place for housing the sick and homeless poor. The word "lazzaretto" is related to leprosy and perhaps in the past there were some leprosy affected persons there. However, over the years, such places were often used for keeping sick persons including those with plague and other illnesses such as tuberculosis and mental illness. 

Itinerant Franciscan friars arriving in Schio had built a chapel dedicated to Madonna on the Monte degli Oliveti in 1424. The sandstone statue of Madonna, installed in that first chapel can still be seen inside the church. Twenty years later, in 1446, the Bishop of Vicenza consecrated that chapel, and the event was marked by a plaque, which can still be seen on the wall near the entrance.

The church expanded quickly. By the end of 1400s, a Franciscan monastery was already active next to the church. The church-building had also been expanded and had a central and a lateral naves. Since, the other side of the central nave was already occupied by the monastery, and space on the hillock was limited, the church ended up as an asymmetrical building. A hundred years after the first chapel, by 1520 CE, the church as it looks today, was ready.

Important Artworks in St Francis

St Francis church has many things to see, among which the most important are: 

A Corberelli Altar with Inlaid Stones: The first Chapel in the lateral nave has a beautiful altar (left) made by the master stone artists of the Corberelli family from 17th century. The Corberelli (o Corbarelli) were from Tuscany and were specialised in making inlaid stone artworks.

The altar has an announcing angel on the left and a slightly ruined mosaic of Madonna on the right. The central part has 2 corberelli birds, identified by the pink spot on their breasts, as the legend says that the bird had hurt itself while trying to remove a spine from crucified Jesus' head. The inlaid stone work is very beautiful, made of stones in vivid colours, it looks like a painting.

There is another Corberelli altar in Schio in the San Giacomo church near Duomo, and another, better known one, in Santa Corona church in Vicenza.  

Altar Painting by Francesco Verla: This luminous painting about the spiritual wedding of St Catherine from 1512 CE is in chapel 3 of the lateral nave (right). It is the most famous art-work of this church.

Giorgio Vasari, the renaissance period art-historian, who wrote Le Vite in 1550 about the biographies of well-known artists of his time, called him as Francesco Veruzio, who was from nearby town of Villa Verla ("verla" literally means 'cherries'). His painting style was influenced by Pinturicchio and, especially, Perugino, with whom he had spent some time.

The Pala (artwork for the altar) is composed of a semi-circular top part, a narrow top panel and the main painting, a bottom narrow panel, and a frame. The figures, the composition, the use of light, and especially the figure of God as a man with long beard in the top part of the painting, reminds us of some of the famous works of Pietro Perugino. The "Putti", the baby angels in the top narrow panel are seen as typical figures painted by Verla - they seem like the many baby angels painted by Donatello. The bottom panel, showing the life of St Catherine, seems to show a hill with the castle of Schio, which was demolished a hundred years earlier. (The bottom panel of the altar piece, below - Schio's castle is a little to the left of the centre - click on the image for a bigger view)

The cult of St Catherine has older roots in this area, as shown by the St Catherine church and village on the Summano mountain, that looms over Schio. 

The painting was commissioned by one Mr Giovanni who was married to a woman named Lucia - both of them are represented in the painting as St Lucy on the left and St John Baptist on the right. Behind them are St. Agatha and St Joseph. There is a baby holding on to the leg of St Joseph, whose reference to this painting is not clear. The central figures are Madonna, baby Jesus and St Catherine covered with a rich golden and red brocade.

Verla had also done the frescoes decorating the top parts of the church walls, so do not forget to look up while visiting the church.  

Madonna statue: Chapel 4 in the lateral nave hosts the original Madonna statue from early 15th century - it is made with sandstone from Vicenza. The name of its sculptor has been lost. It has a renaissance like look and is beautiful. Later on it was painted in bright colours, which make it look like a wooden statue.  

Recently, a space was discovered in front of this statue, which held a curtain, which could be opened and closed with a lever. The curtain has a painting with a lever for pulling up a curtain, which was used for covering the statue during some rites and then removing it to show the Madonna. The painted curtain will be kept in the forthcoming Schio museum, which is supposed to open this year (2026).

A Francesco Maffei (1605-1660) Painting Above the Main Altar: This painting is from 1640s and has Madonna with the baby, along with St Francis, St Anthony of Padua,
Bernardino of Sienna and Ludvic of Tolosa. It is more gothic, Madonna seems as a two dimensional figure and not so expressive. 

The hidden Chapel: There is another Chapel (right) with an old San Bernanardino altar, which is now hidden after cloister 2 in a side wall. It was shifted in the past during some restructuring. On the wall near the old altar, there are a couple of coat-of-arms from notable Schio families, including that from the Toaldi family (it has a tree and a dog).

Tombs Inside St Francis 

Since early times, rich persons could ask to be buried inside the church by paying money. Having a tomb inside the church increased families' social status. During the Napoleonic period, many tombs were removed but even today, the cost-of-arms of some important local families can still be seen inside, especially in front of the altars.

For example, in front of the main altar, you can see the De Schio family-tomb with their symbol (left), a two tailed siren; the Marostica family tomb has a cherry tree on it, while Fantinelli family tomb has a baby.

There is a lot of pink sandstone used for the tombs - these rocks were at the bottom of the sea and which rose up when the African tectonic plaque hit Europe, creating Alps and pre-alps.

The Beautiful Chorus Room 

The ligneo (wooden) chorus room is behind the main altar. It is also from early 1500. It was carved wood seats on two levels for the monks. In the centre, it has a big leggio, used for keeping the hymn book.  The leggio can be rotated and has a compartment for keeping the books. A handcrafted and painted codice miniato manuscript was found here which is now kept in the civic library of Schio, not very far from the church.

There are 2 paintings in the chorus room, both are by Francesco Maffei from 17th century (the painting on the back wall has a family connection for me - it carries a plaque with a dedication to "Lino Raddino", my wife's brother-in-law). 

Fossils in the stones near the church 

The geological history of Schio's hills show that in the past, 20-40 million years ago, they were at the bottom of the sea and the movement of the tectonic plates of the earth's crust, had brought them up. The local sand-stones and rocks used in the walls outside the church has many fossils, which testify this geological history.

Guided Tours in St Francis 

You can always visit the church area from the outside, but to visit inside the church, you need to come to Schio on the afternoon of the first Sunday of the month - the church is open to public only on that day, from 3 to 6 PM. On that day, there is usually a guided tour around 4 PM. 

I have been to numerous guided tours to St Francis church and had been promising myself to write a post about it for many years. The last image below, shows the monument to St Bakhita outside St Francis church.

Every guided tour brings out some new aspect about this church. For example, during the last tour, we visited the side-room connected to the chorus room and saw some of the paintings of the Popes in this room that I had not seen before.

In the End

Most people visiting Italy can see the famous cities, such as Rome, Florence and Venice. People who have a passion for history, visit slightly less famous cities like Verona, Bologna, Naples and Padua. To be aware about the histories and treasures of small towns like Schio, is not possible for casual visitors and Italy has hundreds of such places.

So if you are visiting Schio, try to discover as much of its history as possible - visiting St Francis church and its environs can an important part of this discovery!

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History Seen Through Trees & Gardens

History is usually seen through big events like the lives of kings & queens, wars, building castles & forts. The lives of ordinary people are usually missing from the history books, though sometimes we can get glimpses of that, like the recent discovery of graffiti in some Egyptian monuments.

However, we can also look at the history through its trees and gardens. Recently I had such an experience when the Cooperativa TRAMA (Traditions, Resources, Ambience, Museums & Art) organised a special city-walk in Schio (VI) focusing on its trees, forests and gardens. 

 

Origins of Schio & an Historical Overview

Our city walk started in Piazza Rossi, in front of the Duomo church in the city-centre.

The Duomo church is located on a hillock known as "colle del Garzone". First mention of Schio in the documents is from around 990 CE, when the bishop of Vicenza allotted some land for agriculture. Around 1000, there was already a small chapel to San Petri at the top of this hill, surrounded by the oak trees. 

 

Around the first millennium, the area around Schio was subdivided between a noble family and the church, and there were rivalries between the two.

The noble family was called Malatraversi, who were faithful to the emperor, and they were prominent for about 300 years, from around 1000 CE to 1300 CE. They controlled the area on the north-east side of Leogra torrent - Schio, Piane, Sant'Orso. They had built a defensive fort (il Castello) on the Castello hill, not far from the Garzone hillock, which included two concentric walls, as shown in the famous painting by Francesco Verla in the St Francis church in Schio, a couple of centuries later.

The church responded to the Pope and controlled the area on the south-west of the Leogra torrent - Pieve, Magre, Malo. The first mother church, where the bishop stayed, was built in Pieve. However the floods of the Leogra torrent created problems and the Bishop had to take refuge on the Garzone hillock. To control the floods, the Roggia Maestra water-canal was built, which took and diverted the excess water to the farm-houses around the area. This canal passes next to the old mother church in Pieve. The building of this canal also stimulated the development of different economic activities, such as carpenters, saw-mills, flour-mills, etc. 

In 1300s, as the Malatraversi family declined, first the Nogarola family from Verona, and then the Visconti of Milano became more influential in Schio. Around the end of 1300s, Schio became a part of the Republic of Venice, also known as La Serenissima. Venice placed Schio under the jurisdiction of Vicenza.

Schio was unhappy to be under Vicenza, because the two had competing interests.  In 1412, Vicenza dismantled the castello-fort of Schio and its stones were used for other houses and buildings. A competing interest between the was the weaving of refined clothe (panni alti), as both cities wanted to produce it and Vicenza did not give permission to Schio for it (only in 1701, Schio was allowed to make "panni alti" clothes).

In 1797, the republic of Venice was defeated by Napoleon Bonaparte. Under Napoleon, the monasteries and churches were closed, some of their artworks and valuables were hidden, the others were taken away his troops. In 1814, the area of Schio became a part of Austro-Hungarian empire. In 1866, a treaty between Veneto and Austria, finally brought the whole region under the Italian kingdom.

Schio Seen Through the Histories of its Trees and Gardens  

The Oak Forest: Before the city of Schio became an urban centre, there was an oak forest in the Duomo area, which gave the city its name, as such forests were called "schleda" in the local language. That led to its Latin name "Scledum" in the Roman period. Archaeological remains of a Roman garrison have been found near the area which now hosts the Campo Romano mall.

No traces remain today of that oak forest and the constructions of Duomo church completely cover the Garzone hill. However, from the Garzone road, which passes along Duomo, little bits of the grassy hill are still visible.

The Lime Trees of Castello: The hill which hosted the castello-fort of Schio is much bigger, extending back to the Capuchin monastery. The part of the hill where the remains of the old fort are still visible, was known as "Tajara" in the local dialect because it hosted two huge and old Tiglio trees (Lime or Linden tree). These were removed in early 1900s because they were in danger of falling down. The area also included a hundred years old Platano (Plane tree), which was planted in 1912.

To remember them, rows of Lime trees were planted in that area. 

 

Horse-Chestnut trees on the Castello Hill: A row of Ippocastano (Horse-Chestnut trees) was planted along the side of the Castello Hill in 1850. These trees were brought to Italy from Turkey in the 1500s. Their chestnuts are used for making a medicine used in the horses, which gave these trees their name. The popular belief says that keeping a couple of these chestnuts in your pocket will prevent catching common cold.

Exotic Trees of Jaquard gardens: These gardens were built in 1859 opposite the Rossi Wool mills near Schio's centre, by the industrialist Alessandro Rossi. At a time when mill-workers were mostly illiterate, included many children and international travel was restricted to a few persons, these gardens brought the world to Schio. They include a theatre with busts of famous persons of Schio, caves, sculptures of wild animals like crocodilian and panther, and a hanging garden.

The garden was designed by Antonio Caregaro Negrin and included a sun-room for orchids and different tropical trees such as palm and banana trees. Among the trees of this garden, there are - a Mexican Cypress (also called Portuguese Cypress), 3 giant sequioia and a Yew tree to celebrate Italy's flag (it has green leaves, white flowers and red berries - the colours of the Italian flag). It also has many Japanese plants.

 

Personal & Family Memories of Trees

So many of our memories and personal histories are linked with plants and trees. For example, in our old style double-storey house in New Rajendra Nagar in Delhi, we had an oleander tree which used to be full of pink flowers. Two years ago, when I went to visit that house with my sister, and found that a new and bigger house had been built there. I felt sad because I could not see the old oleander tree. 

In our home in Schio, we have a couple of Laurel trees. I can see that same tree in some of the old family pictures, as my wife's family has been living in this house for more than 125 years. About 15 years ago, we had tried cutting them down but were unable to remove the vast network of their roots, and from those roots, two new plants came out (in the image below).

At the corner of the street, where we live, there was a huge old tree. I remember my mother-in-law telling me about it more than forty years ago - she had said that her husband was a child when that tree had been planted. Last year, when that tree was cut down because it was in danger of falling, I felt that a part of our family history had gone with it.

My wife often talks of the Ficus tree in our backyard, where she used to climb as a child. At that time, there were no walls between the backyards of the houses and families could see and talk with neighbours, while sitting in their backyard gardens. Today most of these backyards have concrete floors and high walls.

An old picture from 1950s, of a friend's house in our street, shows a tree, an old washing place and a car. When I shared this picture on Instagram, a man wrote to say that it was his father's car.

Conclusions

Once I started thinking about my memories related to plants and trees, there were so many of them that I was surprised. For example, I have many memories about my grandfather's farmhouse, parts of which lies underneath the "Dwarka Mod" metro station in Delhi. Another memory was of the different Tulsi plants that we had in different homes where we lived. For every city where I have lived, I can remember those days through some trees and plants.

To my readers, trying remembering your own memories about plants and trees - I think that you will find it a rewarding exercise.

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Life & Times of Almerico from Schio

Recently Cooperativa Trama organised a city walk to introduce the life and times of Almerico da Schio, known as the inventor of the first airship in Italy. Last year, I had visited the "Da Schio" family library, which has some precious manuscripts and written about the library as well as, about the first airship built by Almerico. This post focuses on some of the interesting things I learned from this city walk.

The image below is a street mural about Almerico in the city square dedicated to his name, built in the old lands of Da Schio family (click on the picture for a bigger view).

Before I start, a brief note - while Almerico's family used "Da Schio" (from Schio) as its family name, that appellation can also be added to persons from Schio, thus not all persons known as "da Schio" may necessarily belong to the family. 

Da Schio family tombs at St Francis church 

Our city walk started from this 13th century church of Schio, known for a beautiful painting of Francesco Verla and an old choir room made in wood at the back of its altar. This was an opportunity to talk about the family of Almerico.

Da Schio has been an important family in Schio since around 1500s when they had received the noble title of Count from the emperor. Almerico was born in 1836 in one of the family homes in Costozza, about 50 km from Schio. Some of the Da Schio family members are buried inside the St Francis church, where their tombs are located right in front of the altar, which can be recognised by the family coat-of-arms, which includes an imperial eagle and a two tailed mermaid.

It may have started as a humbler farming family and the earliest records are from 11-12th centuries. They owned all the farming land starting from the right and front of Schio's Duomo church in the city centre, up to the St Francis church and parts of Valletta.

One of the first well-known persons from the family was a Dominican priest in 13th century, Fr Giovanni da Schio. Another important person in the family was Girolamo da Schio (also known as G. Bencucci) in the 16 century, who was close to different popes and had become the bishop of Vaison in France, who was responsible for the nobility title of this family. Terracotta busts of both these persons can be seen the Jaquard gardens of Schio. 

Almerico's father was a well-known archaeologist and had a beautiful Gothic house in Corso Palladio in Vicenza, Ca d'Oro. Almerico became famous for making the first airship in Italy, which had its first flight in Schio in 1905.

The Football Arena in Valletta 

The family was also involved in construction of a sports arena in a natural depression called Valletta near the St Francis church in 1852, which had stairs around it for people to sit and watch football matches. Different personalities of Schio of that period, including Alessandro Rossi, Giovanni da Schio and Clemente Fusinato contributed funds to make the area oval-shaped and to build the stairs. Unfortunately, part of those stairs collapsed and some persons were injured. Those stairs were later removed, but the place with the depression, denoting the area still exists and used for play. The old print of the sports arena below is from Schio Cultura. In it, you can see Schio's Duomo church in the background (click on the image for a bigger view)

Schio's poet, Arnaldo Fusinato was also there to watch a match and later, he wrote a poem about playing football, titled, "Un impressione autunnale", in which a ball hit him on the face and he lost of one of his teeth. 

The Family Arch near St. Mary Chapel

All this area was farm-land of the Da Schio family, and was known as "Brolo del signor Conte".

The road coming down from the Castel-hill and going towards St. Francis was separated from the farm by a wall on both sides, part of which can be seen in the old photograph on the signboard near the St Mary chapel from 1400s.

Near the chapel, there was the old water spring called Gaminella, water from which went into Gaminella canal today mostly hidden under Via Gaminella, except for a tiny bit close to the chapel. There was a time, when this canal ended in a lake in this area.

An arch built during 1700s still remains from the old wall. If you look carefully, you can see the coat of arms with twin-tailed mermaid and the words F.S. for the Da Schio family on the arch. The arch has two pyramid-shaped decorations resting on round stones on the sides. Some years ago, a professor noticed that there are Latin words written on the arch. These words are mostly family recommendations to the people, such as, "One who asks will receive and who knocks on the door, it will be opened", "Stealers remain always poor",and, "Don't take loan if you can't pay". The image below shows the arch.

Later, part of Da Schio family building in front of Duomo church was demolished to create Via Capitano Sella.  

Almerico and Meteorology

Almerico studied law but he was not interested in that subject. He had interest in mathematics, astronomy, science and photography. While studying law in Padua, he had been an assistant to well-known astronomer Prof. Virgilio Trettenero. In those years, this part of Italy was under Austria and Almerico took part in cavort liberation and resistance activities.

His first job was as the director of the meteorological centre of Olympic Academy of Vicenza, which had one observatory. He recognised that this new discipline needed better understanding and decided to care observation centres in all the province. Over a period of next 20 years, he would help in creating 200 observation centres to study temperatures, rains, storms, etc., including in neighbouring regions, including one of the first centres in Schio in 1873, located on his own land (Image below shows the family gate with the twin-tailed siren from the coat of arms and the area where the meteorological centre was located) .

Bringing together all the data he had collected, he contributed to the foundation of national centre of meteorology. Development of this discipline also contributed to development of more precise measuring instruments.

The study of weather patterns was very useful for agriculture, including their own farm production. He helped his brother, engaged in agriculture in Costozza to start a new activity, growing cave-mushrooms.

Almerico's Collaborators & Friends 

Different persons collaborated with him on this. In Schio, his administrator Matteo Manea and his wife Minimina, were tasked with daily checking and noting the temperatures at specific times - 9 AM, 3 PM & 9 PM.

Almerico also wanted to create a centre for observing storms, for this he found a collaborator in Giovanni dal Pozzo, who was a tailor but who had a passion for astronomy and sciences. He was also a musician, playing Viola and a poet in the local dialect of Schio, and had translated an opera, Oralando Furioso, in the dialect. He had a big family and his wife had died. He also started a tavern called Osteria Cantarana, to earn some more money, on Almerico's land in the area near Via Baratto. Almerico helped him to get good wines for this tavern. 

Giovanni and Almerico became friends. Almerico wrote a booklet about instruments used for meteorological observations and in this mentioned the work of Giovanni.

Another friend of Almerico was Don Francesco Faccin, a local priest born in 1871, who was interested in astronomy. Schio's astronomical observatory located on Monte Novegno is named after Don Faccin and there is a city street in his name. Almerico wrote to Queen Margherita, to ask for a telescope for Don Faccin and this request was accepted by the queen. 

Another collaborator of Almerico was Giacomo Moracchioli who lived in Via Fusinato, in front of the church dedicated to St. Bakhita. He was a historian and interested in astronomy. He was in charge of the meteorological centre of Schio. He had build an observation tower on his roof. Both Almerico and Giacomo were passionate about mountains, and were part of the group which had created the Alpine group of Schio, which later became part of CAI-Vicenza (Italian Alpine Club) and introduced the importance of scientific study of the mountains.

Schio's Aqueduct

One of Almerico's most important contributions to Schio was the construction of city's water supply though an aqueduct. The idea of bringing water from surrounding mountains started being discussed in 1870s, because the city had grown and industries had polluted the local water sources. A priest called Don Michele Saccardo started the campaign for the aqueduct.

The first study on how to make an aqueduct was paid by Alessandro Rossi. This project proposed bringing water from the area of Poleo in cast iron pipes, but was considered too costly. A second project with stone-tubes was proposed, which reduced the cost a little but it was still considered too much.

Then Don Saccardo spoke to Almerico, who came up with a third project, which was approved by the municipal authorities but they didn't have the funds to cover all its cost. Almerico asked the citizens to make donations for building the aqueduct. About 100 families were promised that water-pines will come to their homes, while there will be public taps in 14 locations of the city.

The fund-collection was successful and the aqueduct was inaugurated on 18 June 1872, with a fountain with a nymph and a 27 metres high water-jet in front of Duomo. (Image show a painting belonging to Angela Rossi showing the aqueduct inauguration)

In Conclusion

Almerico da Schio had played an important role in carrying forward the ideas of scientific knowledge in 19th-20th centuries in different fields, especially astronomy, meteorology and air-ships. Italy's queen Margherita had come to Schio on 1 July 1905 to see one of his flights.

This post, based on a walking tour organised by Cooperativa Trama in 2025, focuses on some aspects of Almerico's life.

You can also check my post from 2024, in which I had written about Almerico's airship and the old books in his family's library in Schio.

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The Roman Town: Concordia Sagittaria

Concordia-Sagittaria is a tiny town in north-east of Italy, not far from the port-city of Portogruaro. Though it is a tiny place today, it is an important part of the Roman history and it has some good archeological places to visit.

 

It's history illustrates how the rise and ebbs of time change the fortunes of places and their people. Once an important transit point for the Roman empire, today it is a small but charming agricultural town of about ten thousand persons.

If you are staying in one of the seaside holiday towns along the northern Adriatic coast of Italy like Jesolo, Caorle, Bibione and Lignano, you might like to spend a day visiting Portogruaro and Concordia-Sagittaria.

Roman Town of Julia Concordia

The town existed as a small pre-Roman area since 9th century BCE, as confirmed by some archeological finds shown in its museum. Romans gave it the name of Julia Concordia.
 

The Roman empire had started as the Roman Republic in the city-state of Rome around 150 BCE. Julia Concordia was founded in 42 BCE, during the last years of the Roman Republic (Roman empire period started in 31 BCE). By that time, all of northern Italy was part of the Roman Republic. Foundation of Julia Concordia coincided with the northwards expansion of the Roman empire towards northern and central Europe.
 

In the second century BCE, the Romans had already built their biggest port in Acquileia, around 300 km north of Julia Concordia. The Annia road connected Acquileia to the town of Padua, south of Venice, while the Postumia road connected Acquileia to the Genova port on the west. Concordia was chosen to be the Roman city because those two key roads crossed here while the Lemene river provided an entrance to the Adriatic coast and to the inland port of Portogruaro. Over the next centuries, Julia Concordia became an important Roman town with the construction of bridges, an amphitheatre and baths.

The local legend says that the Roman legionaire who had shot Jesus Christ while he was on the cross in Jerusalem with his arrow, was from Concordia. Later on St Mark was supposed to have stayed in the house of the same legionaire while he was writing his version of the Gospels. Still later, a chapel was built at that location, which was close to the present location of the St Stephen cathedral.

 

After the fall of the Roman empire, Concordia was destroyed many times, first by the army of Attila the Hun and then by the Lombards.

 

During the Roman period, the town of Julia Concordia was known for its arrow-making (Sagitae). Thus, in early 20th century, its name was changed to Concordia-Sagittaria. Probably, it was done during the Mussolini period, when remembering the glorious Roman past was considered as important for the nation-building. 

Archaeological Ruins in Concordia

 
Remains of the Roman times dot the landscape in and around Concordia-Sagittaria. There are ruins of mosaic floors, amphitheatre, ancient baths and tombs of the soldiers. Most archeological finds from Concordia-Sagittaria are kept in the national museum in Portogruaro, some kilometres away. Some of the archeological finds are also shown in the local museum of Concordia-Sagittaria.

Underneath the tenth century cathedral dedicated to St. Stephen near the city centre, you can visit the old ruins with a beautiful mosaic floor (the entrance is inside the cathedral).

The nearby Baptistry (in the image below) made in the form of the Greek cross on a square base, is from 11th century while the bell tower is from 12th century.

I was told that some ruins of an old Roman bridge and the amphitheatre were located in the countryside, just outside Concordia town but I was unable to go and look for them.

Walks in the City Centre

The city has a tiny and quaint centre with its historical municipal building, colourful houses and simple trattorias for a relaxed lunch of local cuisine. The Bishop's house from 1450 CE, built in Venetian style and the Town Hall from 1526 CE are two beautiful buildings, to be visited in the tiny city centre.

 

Lemene river passes through the city centre of Concordia-Sagittaria. The whole area along the river is wonderful for a leisurely walk or a picnic, while admiring the ducks and geese in the water and the beautiful panoramas.

The city hosts a famous annual local fair dedicated to the city's Patron saint, it is called "la fiera di Santo Stefano" and is held around the end of July each year.

 

Finally

 

Italy is full of beautiful historical towns. Most tourists coming to visit Italy hardly ever manage to go beyond Florence, Venice, Pisa and Rome. However, if you are visiting the Adriatic coast in the north-east of Italy for the summer holidays, you can also visit the nearby smaller towns. In that case, it might be worthwhile for you to combine the visits to Portogruaro and Concordia-Sagittaria.

I am not very fond of the seaside holidays, but they are loved by my family. We usally go to Bibione for these holidays. For me the seaside holidays are an opportunity to visit the smaller towns, such as Concordia-Sagittaria and to explore thier histories.

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Discovering the beautiful architecture of Orchha

In the 16th century India, the Bundela kings chose Orchha as their capital. Its days of glory lasted till about the end of the 17th century. The surviving buildings from that period are among the most beautiful examples of Bundela architecture.

You can read more about the Bundelkhand region in one of my earlier blog-posts. This post is about the temples, cenotaphs (chhattris) and some other buildings of Orchha.

General information about Orchha

Orchha is a tiny sleepy town in northern Madhya Pradesh (MP), close to its border with Uttar Pradesh (UP). The nearest railway station is in Jhansi in UP, around 20 km away, from where you can easily get an auto or a car to reach Orchha. There is a local train station in Orchha but it is a bit away from the city and trains are infrequent.

Orchha is located along the Betwa river. The river's old name was Vetravati. In "Padma Purana" it was called the Ganges of Kaliyuga. Ancient sages Parashar and Bhrigu had their ashrams along its bank. Near Orchha, the river divides into different streams that create a big island in its middle, which hosts the Tangaranya forest. A narrow bridge (image below) that can be submerged during the monsoons, connects the island to the Orchha town.

The region around Orchha is full of old medieval towns with the ruins of medieval temples, forts and lakes. Unfortunately this area is not easily accessible for tourists. Except for a private taxi, the public transport options are extremely limited in the area.

The places described in this post are all located in a relatively small area of Orchha close to the river and can be easily visited on foot.

A Brief history of Orchha

It became the capital of Bundela king Rudra Pratap in 1530. He died soon after shifting here and was succeeded by Bharati Chandra (1531-54), and then, Madhukar Shah (1554-92). This last period coincided with the establishment of Mughal empire in India.

Bundelas had a tumultuous relationship with the Mughals. They lost wars to them, swore allegiance and then, whenever they got the chance, rebelled and fought for independence. Thus, the Mughals could never take them for granted. Mughal emperor Akbar's army attacked and defeated Madhukar Shah in 1577. He joined Akbar's court but later, continued to fight, eventually winning back some of the lost areas.

His son Rama Shah made peace with Akbar and joined his court. While he stayed in emperor's court, Orchha was looked after by his younger brother Indrajit Singh. They had another brother, Bir Singh who became an ally of prince Salim. After Akbar's death in 1605, Salim became emperor Jahangir (1605-27), and he made Bir Singh the king of Orchha (1606-27).

Bir Singh's reign is called the golden period of Orchha. He built different forts, temples and water-tanks in Bundelkhand, including the Jhansi fort. (In the image below the cenotaphs of Bir Singh and of his military commander, Kripa Ram Gaur)

After the arrival of Shah Jahan on the Mughal throne in 1627, fighting between the Bundelas and the Mughals restarted. Bir Singh's son King Jujhar Singh was forced to take refuge in a forest and was killed in 1635. His younger brother Pahad Singh, who had sided with the Mughals, was made the ruler of Orchha in 1642. Slowly over most of the 17-18th centuries Orchha kingdom declined.

Parts of this history are not clear. For example, Shah Jahan's biography says that in 1635, he had sent his son Aurangzeb to destroy the temple of the Orchha king. By that time, Orchha had at least three big temples - Raja Ram temple, Chatturbhuj temple and Laxmi Narayan temple. However, in Orchha, I could not find any story about a temple destruction. Perhaps, Shah Jahan's order referred to the destruction of Keshav Dev temple in Mathura, which was also built by Bir Singh Deo and was destroyed by Auranjzeb?

The image below shows some of the cenotaphs Orchha built close to Betwa river.

The Vaishnav poet Keshavdasa, who wrote Rasikpriya about the love of Krishna and Radha, lived in Orchha during the final years of Madhukar Shah and during the reign of Bir Singh. He also wrote Birsimhadeva Charita and Jahangir Jas Chandrika in the praise of  Bir Singh and his patron Jahangir. The poet's house in Orchha is now used a school.

Orchha Fort

The fort's construction was started under the first king Rudra Pratap and after his death, completed by his son Bharati Chandra. Their successors added other buildings to the original fort, especially Bir Singh Deo, who built "Jahangir Mahal" in the fort. The image below shows the fort walls and Raja Mahal built under Madhukar Shah.

The fort is located on an island close to Betwa. A 105 metres long bridge (Terah Dwari) built under the reign of Bir Singh links the fort to the town. (In the image below, the bridge and the town seen from the fort)

It is a beautiful fort. I will write a separate post about it, so I won't go in details about it here.

Chatturbhuj temple

Bundelas were Vaishnav, followers of Krishna. However, Ganesh Kunwar, wife of Madhukar Shah, was a follower of Rama. Chatturbhuj was the first major temple of Orchha, built for her in mid 16th century. She went to Ayodhaya to get the lord Rama statue for this temple. However, it could not be installed in Chatturbhuj because of a war with the Mughals and the death of prince Hardaul. Therefore, it was decided to keep the statue in the Queen's palace.

However, there is a legend that tells a different story about the missing Rama statue from the Chatturbhuj temple. The legend says that the queen dreamed that the statue of Rama, once taken from Ayodhaya, must not be put on ground till it reached the place of its installation. However, when she brought the statue to Orchha, Chatturbhuj temple was not yet ready, so the statue was kept in her palace next door. Once the temple was ready, they found that the statue had become fixed to the ground in the palace and could not be moved. Thus, the beautiful Chatturbhuj temple remained without its deity while the queen was forced to convert her palace into a temple.

The Chatturbhuj temple is built on a raised stone platform. The temple has a 3-storied building, with steps to go up to the ground floor. It is the tallest building in Orchha. After the entrance, the temple has an open area which leads to a rectangular building known as Mahamandap. A corridor from Mahamandap leads to Garbhgriha (the womb or the most sacred room).

Ram Raja temple

This old royal palace of Madhukar Shah's queen, converted into a temple, is the most important religious building in Orchha. It is an important pilgrimage centre for Bundelkhand region. It has an outer wall with a gate that leads to a vast open area.

Inside there is another high fortified wall and a second gate with a palanquin arch at the top. Behind the entrance, there is a screen-wall, before you reach the temple. Inside the temple complex, there are residential apartments arranged in three tiers. Painted in shades of yellow and orange, it is surrounded by a market.

Raja Ram temple's structure is clearly that of a palace. However, its architecture is completely different from all the other buildings of Orchha, perhaps because of its yellow and orange paint.

Phool bagh and the Hardaul temple

Phool Bagh gardens were built near the Raja Ram temple by king Bir Singh Deo in 1611 to welcome emperor Jahangir when he came to Orchha for king's coronation. It is said that the garden included a huge stone cup full of wine for the emperor's welcome ceremony.

Water channels and pathways divided this garden into four parts (char bagh), with a fountain at the centre. Each part had eleven octagonal areas for the flower beds. Thus it was clearly influenced by Mughal architecture including the use of water for beauty and cooling.

Later the temple of Hardaul, younger son of Bir Singh Deo, was built in the centre of Rambagh and today it is better known as Hardaul Vatika. Prince Hardaul was poisoned by his elder brother king Jujhar Singh, who suspected that his wife had an illicit relationship with his brother. Hardaul was loved by people, who believed that he was innocent. Thus, the Hardaul temple was built by the people, who tie threads on its jaali (wire net) asking for divine help.

Other palaces and buildings near Raja Ram temple

There are many other buildings in this area including the palace of Jujhar Singh and a pair of towers known as Sawan-Bhadon, which were used for facilitating the circulation of air in an underground hall, to the side of Raja Ram temple.

The towers are supposed to have open vents at the top. This way of using towers to create air-current was supposedly imported from Persia. However, I could not find any archaeological document detailing the underground hall and the way the 2 towers fitted into it.

Another local story considers the two towers to be the memorials of Prince Baghraj (son of Bir Singh Deo) and Mahatma Anupgiri.

Laxmi temple

This temple is built on a hill by the side of a lake, a little away from the Orchha fort and the city centre. It was built under the reign of Bir Singh Deo. Externally, it is rectangular in shape with a multi-foliated projecting bastion at each corner. With holes for canons in its outer wall, it looks like a fort.

The entrance leads to an open area with covered corridors (Parikrama) on the four sides. The temple is full of beautiful wall-paintings, showing sacred themes as well as, historical scenes. I was really fascinated with these wall-paintings. I hope to write a separate post about them. In the mean time, here you can see two examples - one showing a scene from Ramayana and the other showing two Europeans (one with a gun and the other, with a glass of wine).

The garbhgriha (main sacred room) is in the centre in an octagonal space placed at the tip of triangle-shaped building. It is said that it once had a gold statue of Laxmi. Its special architecture with external rectangle, and an inner triangular temple with octagonal dome, make it a special building for the Indian Vaastu Shastra.

At the top, the corners of the dome are decorated with conical stones that look like curved lotus petals. Its shikhara (pinnacle) is different from other Bundela pinnacles, as it includes birds and a circular wheel (symbolising Vishnu).

At the top of the temple, the different domes and palanquin arches, so characteristic of the Bundela architectural style, are connected by the ramparts from where you can have beautiful views of the surroundings. When I visited it, I could not see the lake mentioned in the guide book - perhaps it was dry.

Chhattris (Cenotaphs)

Before the arrival of Turks in India, there was no tradition of building cenotaphs among the Hindu kings. The Muslim custom of building tombs for the dead emperors influenced Rajputs, who started building Chhattris (cenotaphs) to commemorate the memories of specific kings. Orchha has some of the most beautiful Rajput chhattris in India to commemorate its Bundela kings.

The chhattris were built along the bank of Betwa river. The cenotaph of each deceased king was built by his successor.They were usually built over the stones (samadhi), where the bodies of the deceased kings were cremated. They usually have halls with columns and multiple openings on the sides.

There is a group of 9 cenotaphs of Bundela kings in Orchha, subidivided in two parts - the first group has 3 (of Bharati Chandra, Madhukar Sah and Pahad Singh); the second group has 5 (Jaswant Singh, Bhagwant Singh, Sanwant Singh, Indramani Singh and Sujaan Singh). The second group is set in a char-bagh kind of garden.

An additional cenotaph, that of king Bir Singh Dev, is separate from all others, built on a promontory close to Betwa river, and is the biggest building. It was built by his son Jujhar Singh in 1627-28.

The last cenotaph built in Orchha was of Sanwant Singh built by his son Het Singh in 1765. It is a small but beautiful building, showing that though the power and prestige of Bundela kings had diminished during 17th century, they continued to be in Orchha till late 18th century.

Apart from the royal cenotaphs, there are some other cenotaphs in the area. For example, in front of Bir Singh Dev's chhattri is the small but beautiful chhattri of Kirpa Ram Gaur, his military commander.

Orchha does not have any cenotaphs for the Bundela queens, as found in some other places of Bundelkhand, such as the cenotaph of queen Kamalapat in Chhattarpur.

Sundar Shah Mahal

This building is from the 17th century. The legend says that Sundar Shah, the love child of king Indramani and princess Mehrunissa, daughter of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, lived here. Later, two sufi saints, Syed pir and Zahar pir also lived here and their shrines were built inside. At present, it is seen as a religious place for the followers of the two pirs.

Narayan Das Khare ki Kothi

Ruins of this old house are located near the Laxmi temple. I didn't go to see it, just saw it from a distance. It has a three-storied entrance gate which is visible from afar. On the top floor, the arched windows are surmounted by a semi-circular roof (a style called palanquin). The haveli was built in the 17th century. The house belonged to Narayan Das Khare who was a lekhpal (record keeper) or Deewan (revenue minister) of the Orchha kings.

Kirparam Gaur ki Haveli

As mentioned above, Kirpa Ram was a senapati (military commander) of Birsingh Deo. Orchha poet Keshav Das wrote about the his bravery. Only the entrance gate of this haveli remains.

Wild Animals and birds in Orchha

The Tangaranya forest on the island in Betwa river, is a protected natural area. However, even the city provides different opportunities for nature lovers.

For example, Orchha hosts different species of vultures. Unfortunately, vultures have virtually disappeared from India, exterminated by the wide-spread use of an anti-inflammatory drug in the cattle. Thus I was thrilled when I saw the vultures around the cenotaphs. The image below shows a white-backed vulture.

Inside the Orchha fort I came across a large number of Hanuman langoor monkeys. Their antics and group and family behaviours were endlessly fascinating.

Underneath the Terah Dwari bridge leading to the fort, there were many egrets, lapwigs and herons. The image below has one heron (I am not sure if it is a striated heron or a green heron).

The city also seemed full of noisy parrots.

Conclusions

I think that in terms of its colours and architecture, along with the rugged rocky terrain, hills and the wild looking Betwa river, Orchha is one of the most beautiful places in India.

I was suprised that it had so few visitors. Let me conclude this travel-diary with a picture of the magnificent chhattris of the Bundela kings along the Betwa river seen at sunset.

As I think of Orchha, I think of the Bundela queen Ganesh Kunwar and her statue of lord Rama that she kept in her palace. I also think of the poisoning of prince Hardaul by his suspicious elder brother king Jujhar Singh. So many events and so many stories are hidden under the layers of history. The ruins, if they could speak, would have so much to tell us. All the legends mentioned here have different versions, thus you can find other stories about them. For example, many persons do not agree with the story about the illicit relationship between queen Ganesh Kunwar and her brother-in-law. If you want to know more about these stories, you can read my post about legends of Orchha.

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