Discovering Florence

Florence is full of beautiful art and architecture, especially from the renaissance period. There is so much to see in the city, even if most people visit only the better known monuments in central Florence. If you have a little time, you can go around to discover some other treasures of the city. This post is about some of the lesser-known but wonderful places of Florence.

The image above shows an overview of the famous Old Bridge of Florence seen from the Michelangelo Square on the hill of San Miniato.

Michelangelo Square

Michelangelo square in Oltrearno (Beyond Arno river) is one of my favourite places in Florence. This square was designed by Giuseppe Poggi in the 19th century.

From the Old Bridge and central Florence, you can see the San Miniato hill and the Michelangelo square on the top. If you cross the bridge and walk along the Arno river, shortly after Poggi monument, you will come across an old tower of a water mill. Just behind the tower, you will find the a road and the stairs going up to Piazza Michelangelo.

It is not a very high climb and has a good road going right till the top, if you don't want to do the stairs. It is a huge square with a copy of the famous David statue by Michelangelo at its centre. From the square you can see beautiful panoramic views of Florence city as well as of the surrounding hills and the Tuscany countryside.

If you do not wish to climb the hill and you have some time, you can find a public bus near the Santa Trinità bridge, which will take you there.

All Saints Square

Not very far from Santa Maria Novella square, if you walk towards Arno river, you will come across Piazza Ogni Santi (All Saints Square). This was the area of the wool merchants in medieval Florence. In the 13th century this square was lined by washing tubs for wool-dyeing under the Humiliated Friars who had built the San Salvatore church and Monastery in this square.

The sculpture of a man fighting a lion in the All Saints square is by the well known Florentine sculptor Romano Romanelli. It was placed here in 1935, during the years of fascism.

Holy Trinity Square, Church and Bridge

Holy Trinity (Santa Trinità) bridge with its beautiful statues is a good place for a view of the Old Bridge and the river.

Near by are the tiny Santa Trinità square and the eponymous church. The square has a column with a statue of The Goddess of Justice. The Santa Trinità church has some wonderful paintings and frescoes - the whole wall behind the altar is covered with colourful frescoes.

Republic Square

Florence has many big squares where the narrow streets of the medieval town can expand and take deep breaths. The Republic square (Piazza della Repubblica) is another of these big open spaces, not far from the Duomo Square and Lords' Square. It is a market area.

The image below shows the Republic Square with the Christmas lighting. It is a good place to sit down, have a drink in one of the roadside caffes and to observe the local life. It also has a beautiful merry-go-round for children.

Following the Footsteps of Dante

Dante Alighieri born in 1265 CE is best known for his epic poem Divine Comedy. Dante lived in the Holy Cross (Santa Croce) area of Florence and is buried there. The beautiful Santa Croce square has a Dante monument and is dominated by the Santa Croce church, built in white marble and dark green granite. His grave is next to the church.

You can also walk to Dante's house on Via Dante near the Santa Croce church. It has a museum dedicated to him.

Annunziata Square

Our next stop is Annunziata square (Piazza Santissima Annunziata) along the Via dei Servi near the Duomo (Cathedral). On one side, the square has the Annunziata church (Basilica). If you have time, visit this 13th century church. It has a lovely Pietà sculpture by Baccio Bandinelli, who was a friend of Leonardo da Vinci and hated Michelangelo. It has also has different paintings by important artists.

Behind the church, a short walk away, there are the botanical gardens (Giardino dei Semplici) of the University of Florence.

Annunziata square has a bronze statue of the Grand Duke of Florence, Ferdinando I, by the sculptor Giambologna (who had designed the semi-circular arches of the St Peter's square in the Vatican city) and his student Pietro Tacca.

The square also has a fountain from 17th century in the Mannerism style, with a fantasy alien figure. I like the Mannerism style in sculptures, with their disproportionate bodies that look so graceful, and which probably inspired artists like Modigliani.

Finally the square also has the fifteenth century Innocenti Hospital designed by Brunelleschi, that now hosts an office of UNICEF. It is a beautiful building with some interesting frescoes inside it.

This square is also mentioned in the biography of famous Indian artist Amrita Shergil, who had stayed here for some time.

San Lorenzo Square and Church

If you walk from the Via dei Servi towards the railway station, you will come across the magnificent San Lorenzo church. This is one of the oldest churches of Florence. The seminary next door has a museum and the tomb of the St. Lawrence. The area around the church has shops, a bustling open air market and restaurants. It is a great place for its ambiance, to sit, relax and watch the life pass.

Conclusions

There is so much more to see in Florence, apart from the well known places mentioned in the tourist books. If you enter in any church or walk through the city's squares or its gardens, and you will find much to inspire and to admire. If you want to know about the central area of Florence with its more famous tourist spots, read my other post about the Florence-city-walks.

I have been to Florence many times. Though I still love walking through its famous monuments like the Duomo Square or the Old Bridge, I also try to visit some of its lesser known places.

In conclusion of this post, above you can see an overview of Florence, Arno river and the surrounding Apennines mountains from the Michelangelo Square.

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A Walking Tour of Florence

Florence ("Firenze" in Italian) is famous for its architecture and art by master artists from the renaissance period like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. This walking tour is for visiting the city centre in Florence. If you want to know about lesser known places in Florence, you can read my second post about lesser-known places in Florence.

The central part of Florence described in this post, is very compact and you can easily walk to all these places from the railway station.

Reaching Florence

Florence has two main railway stations – Santa Maria Novella and Rifredi. Santa Maria Novella (SMN) is the main railway station of Florence and is near the tourist areas explained in this post. If your train stops only at Rifredi, there are many local and regional trains, which can take you to SMN station, five minutes away (a walk from Rifredi to SMN would take more than 30 minutes).

At SMN, take the exit on the left and then take the underpass towards Santa Maria Novella church across the street.

Santa Maria Novella church in dramatic white marble and black granite, is a very beautiful church. If you have a little time, take a look at the front part of the church with a lovely square.

  

Cathedral (Duomo)

The next stop is the Duomo square with its cathedral. Follow Via Panzani and then Via dei Cerretani for reaching the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral. It is just a ten-fifteen minutes walk.

The square has the octagonal baptistery, the cathedral and the bell tower. The whole square is very beautiful. To appreciate its beauty, visit it in early morning or late evening of a weekday, when there are less tourists.

Made of white marble with lines of black, dark green and pink stones, the cathedral is a rich and colourful wedding-cake like building, absolutely marvelous, full of amazing marble statues on all sides. You can spend a lot of time here looking at the different statues and admiring their art.

Entrance to the eight-sided Baptistery requires a ticket and often there is a queue to go inside. Even if you do not go inside, take the time to look at its solid brass doors with some amazing bass-relief sculptures.

On the right side of the cathedral, there are street artists who make beautiful portrait sketches and are really quick. You may wish to get your portrait done as a take-away memory of the Florence visit.

Compared to the rich sculptures and the colours outside, inside the cathedral is relatively simple. It is huge. Remember to look up to see the rich paintings on the inside of the dome. If you have time, you can even climb to the top of the dome (requires a ticket) for an absolutely marvellous view of the city skyline and the surroundings.

Lords' Square (Piazza della Signoria)

In front of the Cathedral, Via dei Calzaiuoli on the right side will bring you to the most famous square of Florence – “Piazza della signoria” (Lords’ square). The square has many things to see - the statue of Cosimo on the horse, beautiful Neptune fountain, Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace) museum and the open-air Loggia with some beautiful sculptures.

If you have some time, take a closer look at the sculptures in the square. For example, in the Neptune fountain, look at the way the horses are sculpted – you can even see the veins on their necks.

Old Palace has some incredible frescoes and stucco work. It is an important art museum. For people who do not have the time to visit the museum, you can look at the museum statues displayed in the Loggia in front of Old Palace.

Uffizi Museum 

Uffizi museum is in the narrow street next to the Loggia. Along the street, on both sides you will find the statues of all the important historical celebrities of Florence including Macchiavelli and Dante.

Uffizi is one of the most important art museums of the world. It has an enormous collection of art masterpieces from Renaissance period of Italy. If you have read Dan Brown’s bestseller based in Florence, “Inferno”, you may already know about the masterpieces of this museum.

You need at least half a day to visit it. Usually there is a long queue of tourists waiting to go inside the museums.

The Old Bridge (Ponte Vecchio)

The Old Bridge on the Arno river is the next stop of this essential tour of Florence. Just behind Uffizi road is Lungarno, the bank of Arno river. Turn right on Lungarno and you will see the old bridge.

The bridge is full of shops selling gold and jewellry and is always crowded. I love the backside of the shops on the Old Bridge, painted in different colours, hanging over the river.

Walking along the river on Lungarno is another favourite past time for me. Seagulls and canoes, and the reflections of the medieval churches on the river bank, make this a magical place.

So my advice is that if you have some time, do not rush, take deep breaths and admire the incredible beauty of this place where nature and man-made constructions come together in a such a wonderful way.

Boboli Gardens and Museum

If you still have time, you can go across the bridge and continue for a short distance along that road to reach Boboli gardens and its museum that play a key role in Dan Brown’s “Inferno”.

However, Boboli gardens (require a ticket) are huge, are on a hill and the visit needs at least half a day (not counting the visit to the museum). If you like going up and down the hills, Boboli Gardens have some lovely statues and fountains.

Conclusions

This essential walking tour of central Florence takes you to some of the most beautiful artistic places in the world. If you have time, you can spend a full day in each of them to look at and appreciate their paintings and sculptures.

Around the places described above, there are numerous small medieval streets and other places to see including  different old churches. Many of these not-so-famous churches also have so many beautiful sculptures and paintings.

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The frescoed houses of Spilimbergo

The tiny medieval town of Spilimbergo (Pordenone) with its frescoed houses is one of the most beautiful cities in the north-eastern part of Italy. Narrow cobbled streets that go up and down on the gently rolling hills, make it a delightful place to visit.

The characteristic feature of the medieval houses of Spilimbergo, are the five-six hundred years old frescoes or the paintings on their outer walls.

History

There was an old castle in this area from the pre-Roman times. The city really grew and became important in the 11th century when the Count of Spengenberg from Austria came and settled here.

Till the arrival of Napoleon in north Italy in the 1790s, it was a part of the Republic of Venice. After a few years under the French rule of Napoleon, it came under the Autrian empire. It joined Italy in 1866.

The city was destroyed in 1976 in a terrible earthquake but since then it has been rebuilt. It is incredible that most of the old houses with their frescoes have been restored to their original glory.

Visiting The Town

It is a tiny city that you can easily cover in a couple of hours of walking. Close to the cathedral, towards the eastern edge of the town, there is a big parking area. You can leave your car there and start your visit from the Cathedral.

The Duomo (Cathedral), is dedicated to St. Mary. Its construction was started in 1284. It was also damaged in the earthquake of 1976 and has been restored. Its inner walls have some wonderful frescoes from 1300s, supposedly the works of an artist called Vitale of Bologna. If you like admiring art and medieval frescoes, you may wish to spend some time in exploring this cathedral.

Like the rest of the city, the outer walls of the Cathedral, still have a few frescoes, though most of them are lost. Still you can imagine how beautiful and imposing it must have looked when it was in its full glory.

The Castle of Spilimbergo is very close to the Cathedral.

The oldest parts of the Castle of the Counts of Spengenberg near the eastern gate of the medieval wall, are from 11th century. Over the centuries more buildings were added to them. It is built in a semicircle and it does not look like a castle. Rather, it is more like a series of noble houses with frescoes in different styles that vary from Romanic to Gothic to Renaissance. The Spengenberg family also gave the name to the city Spilimbergo. It is an amazing building in gentle colours, that somehow make me think of autumn.

Palazzo di sopra (The upper palace) is a noble house from 1300s, situated at the top of a small hill, that was partly rebuilt in 1500s. It was again damaged during the earthquake in 1976. It has been completely restored and has some beautiful frescoes on the outside and nice paintings and stucco work with plaster-of-paris inside. It also has a wonderful garden. It hosts some municipal offices but can be visited by tourists.

The upper floor of Palazzo di Sopra provides views of the surrounding Alps mountains and the neighbouring towns including the famous San Daniele Del Fruili. Beyond the mountains lie Austria and Slovenia.

Corso Roma is the most important street of the old city centre of Spilimbergo and walking along this street you can reach the western boundary of the city with its medieval entry gate and the clock tower. The old city walls have almost disappeared from this part of the town. The clock tower has memorials of Italian resistance fighters from the second world war who were killed by Nazi-Fascist forces.

One of the houses on Corso Roma, close to the eastern tower, is especially famous for its frescoes from 1500s, depicting the mythical stories of Hercules. It is called Casa Dipinta (Painted house). These frescoes are supposed to be the work of a well known artist called Pordenone.

Winding cobbled streets of Spilimbergo with their beautiful medieval churches, many of which host some important art works of local painters, give it an old world charm. This street also has many bars and ice-cream parlours, where you can sit down and enjoy the wonderful ambiance of this town.

If you have time, explore the tiny streets going up and down the hills, branching out from Corso Roma. Discovering some enchanting corners of the medieval town, usually ignored by tourists in a hurry, can be very rewarding.

You can also take this opportunity to visit San Daniele del Fruili, a few kilometres away, famous for its ham.

Conclusions

If you are on holidays at one of the towns on the Adriatic coast like Lignano, Bibione, Jesolo & Caorle and are looking for a day tour immersed in art and history, consider visiting Spilimbergo to admire its medieval houses with their wonderful frescoes. It is like an open-air museum.

Make sure to wear comfortable shoes for this trip, since walking on pebbled streets can be tough with high heels or thin-soled shoes.

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Picture Postcards from Caorle

The tiny seaside town of Caorle to the north of Venice is a little gem on the northern Adriatic coast of Italy. It comes alive in summers when tourists arrive here from different parts of Europe. With transparent blue sea, history, culture, art and colours, it seems like one big picture postcard.

This part of Italy is dotted with small seaside towns such as Jesolo, Portoguraro, Bibione and Lignano, full of summer tourists. Apart from the seaside holidays, they offer cultural opportunities in the neighbouring cities.

Caorle is one of my favourite places for a day visit during our summer holidays in Bibione.

HISTORICAL CAORLE

Caorle is an ancient town, dating back to pre-Roman period. It's name comes from Caprulae (pasture land for goats). Others believe that its name comes from Capris, a Pagan goddess. In the past it was a part of the Republic of Venice.

Residents of Caorle are only 12 thousand, and most of them live in the old medieval part of the town. The houses are painted in bright and give a distinct look to its narrow winding pebbled streets. The image below shows an old house in Caorle.

The most fascinating building of Caorle is its thousand years old Cathedral with a beautiful round-shaped bell tower. The Cathedral built in Romanesque style also has a number of frescoes, beautiful paintings (including "The Last Supper" by Gregorio Lazzarini) and archaeological materials (including an old Pagan altar - Ara Licovia). In the image below you can see the bell-tower of the Cathedral.

A well known landmark of Caorle is the "Madonna of the Angel church" (in the image below) situated at the edge of the sea. It was rebuilt in the seventeenth century. The local people believe that Madonna of this church has saved their city from many floods and natural disasters. In times of difficulty, local people go there to ask for Madonna's help. Thus, if you want to ask a favour from the Madonna of Caorle, remember to light a candle in this church.

ARTISTIC CAORLE

A paved walkway called "Lungomare del ponente" starts from the Madonna of the Angel church. It is protected from the sea by a row of boulders. It is a very romantic place for talking long walks. It is also an open-air Art Gallery: a lot of the boulders along the sea have been carved into sculptures by famous artists from Italy and abroad.

Every year the city invites some sculptors to come to Caorle to sculpt a new art work on one of the boulders of the walkway. Thus, if you are lucky, you can see those artists at work (in the image below an artist in 2016).

A distinctive feature of Caorle is the colours of its houses. This gives it a bright and fun appearance.

SEASIDE CAORLE

The new part of Caorle, along the sea beach has a row of colourful hotels along with shops, bars and restaurants, and a wide beach of fine white sands, that seems to go on forever.

The countryside around Caorle is criss-crossed by different canals from the Livenza river that connects to the sea at the Santa Margherita port. Compared to the north-eastern part of the city, this part of the town around the port is less touristy. There are some nice walks along the port and the canals. (Santa Margherita port in the image below)

CONCLUSIONS

I hope that you have liked this short visit to Caorle. I love this colourful little city and look forward to returning there.

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Angel hunting in Rome

If you ask someone in Rome about where can you find some angels, probably they will advise you to go the Ponte Degli Angeli (the Angel Bridge) near Castel Sant'Angelo, in front of the St. Peter's square in the Vatican.

It is true. Ponte Degli Angeli has a lot of Angels. However, I don't find those statues very exciting. They all look very similar to me. There is another place in Rome where you can find a diversity of angels - at the Verano cemetery. It is full of sculptures and some of them are amazing. It is a free open air museum in the centre of the city. So come and join me in a mini-tour of Verano cemetry, looking for its most beautiful angels.

This post presents my ten favourite sculptures of Angels from Verano. The first image (above) has a boy angel, which is a rarity because most sculptures and paintings show angels as young women or children.

The angel of this image is an adolescent boy, his face still innocent. He looks slightly sad, his gaze far away, mildly curious. In his right hand he is carrying the symbol of Roman republic (SPQR) while his left hand holds the knob of a sword. He is wearing the belt of a warrior. Usually angels are shown in gestures of peace, so this angel is unusual. This sculpture is part of a Marine monument. I love the touch of green moss on the boy's face and wings.

ANGELS & OTHER CELESTIAL BEINGS

The word "Angel" comes from Greek "Angelos", meaning the messenger of gods. The ancient Sumerian culture in Mesopotamia 4000 years ago had angels as the messengers between the divine world and human world, and also as the guardian-souls looking after and protecting individuals. Zoroastrian cosmology also included the concept of guardian angels.

The monotheistic religions born in the middle east, especially Christianity, inherited these Pagan concepts of Sumerian and Zoroastrian angels and wove them in their own sacred books and mythologies. Old Testament and New Testament both mention Gabriel as the divine messenger angel. The New Testament has a whole world of these divine creatures including Angels, Archangels, Cherubs, etc. who play divine music and help the dying persons to pass into the other world.

Artists, both painters and sculptors, made the angels more ubiquitous by including them in their works, especially in paintings on the Christian religious themes. Some people celebrate 2 October as the "Guardian Angel day".

Some recent American/European TV serials and films are about guardian angels helping people in need, in which both men and women are shown as angels. However sculptures and paintings of adult male angels are less common (except as "Angel of Death").

On the other hand, the child angels are often shown without any genitals and are more common in the paintings than in sculptures. Therefore the word angelic is often used in the sense of sexual innocence. I don't know if Freud ever gave any interpretation about the meaning and significance of these asexual angels.

Angels and Indian Mythology: In India, I had grown up with concepts of Apsara and Pari from the Indian mythology. I understood "Apsara" as beautiful celestial women who were sometimes brought to earth by the Gods, especially to create diversions for the sages (Rishi). The Apasara did not have wings. On the other hand, Pari were magical female figures with wings who could fulfill wishes. There was no concept similar to that of an angle in my childhood mythological stories.

Indian mythology has the concept of messengers of the celestial world. For example, there is Narad Muni, usually shown as an old man wearing orange clothes who has magic sandals so that he can travel where ever we wants. However, even these messengers of Indian mythology are different from the common images of angels. Another divine messaging device in Indian mythology is "Akashvani" or the voice from the sky. For example, before Krishna's birth, his uncle hears the Akashvani that the son of his sister will kill him one day.

VERANO CEMETERY OF ROME

Often friends ask advice about visiting some places that are not yet discovered by tourists. Rome has many such places, if you have a little patience to search for them. Verano cemetery is one such place where very few tourists ever arrive.

"Isn't that a kind of morbid, visiting a cemetery?" You can ask.

The old cemeteries are like open air museums. They have sculptures, historical buildings and sometimes even archaeological areas. Verano cemetery is not very old - it was instituted only in the 1800s.

Verano cemetery is located near the Tiburtina railway station, close to Sapienza university in Rome. The nearest metro station is Policlinico (on Metro B), from where you can walk or take a tram (3, 19) and get down at Verano (3 stops from Policlinico).

Verano cemetery is huge and includes different hills. So remember to wear comfortable shoes and carry some water with you. It will be a rewarding but also, a long and tiring walk.

The cemetery has the tombs of some of the most famous Italians - actors, writers and politicians including Vittorio de Sica, Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni, Alberto Moravia, Roberto Rossellini and Bud Spencer. If you are interested in looking for the tombs of the famous, there are guided tours for the visitors, especially on the weekends.

ANGELS OF VERANO

The angels of Verano can be broadly divided into three groups - the first and the biggest group of Angels has female figures expressing sadness; the second group has adult female figures with other expressions such as peace; and the rare third group, which has child angels.

Let me start with three images of sculptures showing angels shown as adolescent girl or women, expressing sadness and loss. These angels express the feelings of bereavement of the family members.

In all the three sculptures I love the way rain, snow, wind and sun can leave their own marks on the stones. I feel that the discolorations and the moss can bring alive the stones.

The next angel has some artificial greenish-blue leaves flowing down from the basket in her hands. She does not seem sad to me, rather she seems detached, looking at the future awaiting her in the other world.

The next angel is from a military monument. She seems more like an Olympian athlete who is declaring her power and rejoicing in her win. Her wings seem like swords or shields grouped together, softened by the moss. She evokes strong and contradictory feelings in me, not all of them pleasant. I have included this sculpture because of its ability to provoke and unsettle.

The next sculpture of angel seems to express love and desire. She makes me think of a Juliet who is finally going to meet her Romeo after a long wait. Her face is dreamy and her features are soft. She seems to symbolise hope and love rather than the pain of a separation.

The eight sculpture seems to be from Bible, an angel telling Mary that God was going to come to her womb. This angel is a young girl with short hair, she seems to be modelled on some real person. Her right arm is raised, her hands partially open and she seems to saying something. I love her earnest expression and, the white and dark mottling on this sculpture caused by the rains. She makes me think of a nice school teacher talking to small children.

The ninth sculpture of angel is sitting on the tomb and is looking intently at a long scroll, as if reading about the good and bad deeds of the person. Thus, this angel is more like a judgement angel who is going to decide the fate of the person. So she is a working angel, having a specific and difficult role.

The tenth and last image of this post has three child angels, also called cherubs. Cherubs are chubby, beautiful and innocent looking angels usually shown in religious paintings, especially around the figure of Madonna.

This particular sculpture is different since it seems to tell a story - a sad looking baby angel is standing behind a tomb while other two baby angels are talking to him, as if telling him to not to worry and that he will be fine in the new world of angels. Probably this tomb belonged to a baby boy. I love the expressions of the baby angels and their tiny little wings.

CONCLUSIONS

Angels are ubiquitous in Rome. There is even a bridge full of angels (Ponte degli Angeli). But the angels in the old part of the Verano cemetery are special. The background of the cemetery with its old decaying graves, stones covered with moss, sculptures eroded by time, they all make these angels come alive.

I love these sculptures because they touch on the most fundamental of human emotions - sadness, loneliness, bereavement and peace. If you think of art as a way of understanding and experiencing human emotions, you can understand why I see so much beauty in them.

Verano is not just about angels. It has lot of other sculptures too. I hope that if you ever come to visit Rome these images will stimulate you to think of visiting Verano cemetery. It is a magical place and afterwards you can tell your friends that you have visited a place seen by very few tourists.

When we say "angels" you somehow imagine them to be all similar. As these images show, the sculptures of angels are expressing the different human emotions felt by bereaved families and there can be so much to see, understand and appreciate in their diversity.

BTW, does the city of Los Angels has any beautiful sculptures of angels?

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Portogruaro: The Medieval River Port

Portogruaro is a quaint little town in the north-east of Italy. It is a popular holiday destination in the summer. However it is not just a holiday town, it has its own history and culture. It is worth a visit if you are holidaying in this part of the Adriatic coast of Italy. (Image: The leaning bell-tower and the First World War monument in Portogruaro)

The northern part of the Adriatic Coast of Italy is famous for its summer-holidays towns like Jesolo, Caorle, Bibione and Lignano Sabbia d'Oro. While enjoying the beautiful blue sea and its related charms, holidays in this area can be an opportunity to discover the history, art and culture of some of the smaller towns like Portogruaro.

HISTORY OF PORTOGRUARO

Portogruaro started as the river port for an ancient Roman town called Concordia, located 6 km away. However, with time it became bigger and more important than its parent town. One legend says that the town was built with the stones of the ruins of Concordia-Sagittaria after the parent town was destroyed by Attila the Hun in the 5th century.

The first historical document mentioning Portogruaro is from 1140 CE in which the Bishop of Concordia gave permission to some merchants to build a port on the Lemene river. Another document from Pope Urban from 1186 CE also talked about the prosperous Port of Gruaro and its mills, thus by that time the city had already started to grow.

In 1420 Portogruaro came under the protection of Republic of Venice. In 1797 it became part of the French dominion of Napoleon who gave it away to the Austrians. It remained under the Austrian rule till 1866. Some statues of the Venetian lion in Portogruaro were destroyed by the French while during the first World War, some of its buildings and bridges were damaged by the Austrians.

VISITING PORTOGRUARO

The city stands on the banks of the Lemene river and is also called the Lemene Queen. The Lemene river merges with Livenza river before ending in Adriatic sea. It has different buildings from the medieval and renaissance periods. Its main roads show various buildings in the late Gothic and Venetian styles, marking it clearly as a medieval town. (Image: Lemene river in the city centre)

Republic square with the municipal building of Portogruaro, is the core of city and is visually very striking. The municipal building was originally built in 1265, however the present building is from the fifteenth century and is very beautiful. The square includes the white coloured monument to soldiers who had died in the first world war, known locally as "The Horse". (Image: The 15th century Municipal building & the First World War monument)

The square has an old well like fountain called Pozzetto del Pilacorte - it has two herons that are a part of the city's official symbol (in the image below).

Just behind this square is the Cathedral of Portogruaro with its leaning bell tower. The cathedral is dedicated to St Andreas (in the first image on the top).

The Municipal building, the leaning bell tower peeping from behind the old houses surrounding the square, with their "bifora" and "trifora" windows in Venetian styles, and the white coloured soldiers' monument, all combine to give this square a very distinctive look.

The city has two main roads on the two sides of the river with small streets going out like the teeth of a comb. This means that walking around the city you can frequently meet the river and its canals and see some of the old medieval bridges, that give this town a very distinctive ambiance.

From the bridge on the river Lemene in the city centre, you can still see the water-wheels used for the mills that lined its banks in the medieval past (in the image below).

Portogruaro, has many other buildings of historical interest including the medieval towers guarding the entry to the city. It also has some museums including the City Museum and the Archaeological Museum.

During our short visit, we visited only the municipal square, some bridges and the shopping areas. However, as this brief introduction shows, we need to go back to discover more of this city. (Image: Old houses in the city centre)

CONCLUSIONS

Portogruaro is a tiny river town with medieval houses, a lovely square with interesting architecture and a leaning bell tower. If you are on holidays in this north-eastern part of Italy, Portogruaro is worth a visit.

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Assam Tea, Bruce Brothers & Maniram Dewan

A Scotsman, Robert Bruce is credited with the “discovery” of tea in Assam in India. I think that it is anachronistic that 70 years after the end of colonial rule in India, we still continue to use the colonists’ ideas about discovering the world, as if something was not “discovered” by the west, it did not exist.

And if we want to credit Robert Bruce for having “discovered” the tea in Assam, why do we forget the name of the person, Maniram Dewan, who had made it possible for him to make the discovery? (Image below: Statue of Maniram Dewan at the Freedom Fighters Memorial, Guwahati, Assam)

This is the story of two brothers from Scotland and an Indian. The names of the Scottish brothers are known for the discovery of tea while the Indian is known as a freedom fighter. I think that there were more links between them than is commonly believed. This post explores these ideas.

Discovery of the tea in Assam

It is said that in 1823, a 17 years old boy Maniram Dutta Baruah helped Robert Bruce to find the tea bushes in Assam. He took Robert to meet the chief of Singpho tribal village, who collected wild tea in upper Assam. Unfortunately, Robert died in 1824. The further “discovery” and development of Assamese tea is credited to his younger brother, Charles Alexander Bruce.

History books do not tell, how and where did Robert Bruce come in contact with Maniram and what was the relationship between them. However, later the same Maniram became an important figure in the freedom struggle of India in Assam.

Historical Background

In late 1500, Venetian merchants introduced tea from China to Europe. By 1610, Portuguese and Dutch traders were bringing Chinese tea to Europe. Tea drinking became popular in Britain in 17th century, especially after King Charles II married Catherine of Breganza from Portugal, who liked to drink tea. Import of tea from China increased and became costly.

In the 18th century, East India Company (EIC) started selling opium to China and by 1773, it was their leading supplier. By starting Opium cultivation in India and using this opium to pay for the Chinese tea, the profits of EIC increased.

In the 18th century, the British had started looking for alternate places for growing tea in their colonies. For example, Sir Joseph Banks, the President of the Royal Society in London, in a letter dated 27 December 1788 to the deputy chairman of East India Company explained that Bihar, Rangpur (in Assam) and Cooch Bihar (in W. Bengal) could be suitable for tea growing in India. He suggested to EIC to “convince” the Chinese tea growers to bring tea plants and start tea plantations in India.

In 1833, the Chinese agreement with EIC about the supply of tea in exchange of opium ended. China informed EIC that they did not want to import opium as it was hurting the health of their population. The British troops with Indian soldiers attacked China, forcing them to continue to accept opium. Well known author Amitav Ghosh in his wonderful trilogy of books starting with the “Sea of Poppies” has explored this issue in some detail.

In the same year, 1833, Lord Bentick of EIC constituted the Tea Committee in Calcutta and charged it with the task of growing of tea in India.

Tea traditions in Asia and Pre-British India

Tea drinking has a long tradition in China. From China it spread to neighbouring countries. Ancient records show tea drinking in Korea in the 6th century and in Japan in the 9th century CE.

Tribal communities in contiguous geographical areas of India, China and Myanmar had known tea shrubs for hundreds of years.

The Singpho tribe which had helped Robert Bruce to find tea shrubs in Assam, is spread over neighbouring areas of Myanmar and China. They are called Jingpo in Myanmar and Xunchu in south-west China (especially Yunnan). They call themselves Jinghpaw Wunpawung. They are most numerous in Myanmar in the geographical area of Kachin (and are also known as Kachin), with significant groups in south-west China and some groups in north-east of India (in Arunachal Pradesh and Upper Assam).

The main species of the tea shrub in China is Camellia sinensis while the tea shrubs found in Assam were of its sub-species, Camellia assamica.

The Bruce Brothers and the Discovery of Tea in Assam

Robert and Charles Alexander Bruce were born in Edinburgh, Robert in 1789 and Charles, 4 years later in 1793.

Life of Robert Bruce: In 1807, 18 years old Robert graduated as an army cadet. Soon, he was part of the EIC army. It is not very clear when exactly did he reach India. For a few years, he was in the Maratha regiment and later in Bengal Artillery, for which he received a pension from EIC.

In 1814, the 25 years old Robert was living in Bengal, where he supported one Mr Brajnath’s claim to be the king of Cooch Bihar. Both Brajnath and Robert were arrested by David Scott, agent of EIC Governor General in Assam, but Robert was given a bail.

In 1817, Burmese forces occupied Upper Assam, however this did not stop the fights between different Assamese kings. In 1820 Robert had joined the army of Purandar Singha, in Rangpur (part of present day Sibsagar in Assam), in his fight with Chandrakant Singha for the Ahom throne of Upper Assam. In 1821, Robert was captured by Chandrakant, who asked him to become part of his army. Thus Robert changed sides and became a fighter for Chandrakant Singha.

By this time, he was also the owner of a factory (probably, an opium factory) at Jogigopho near Goalpara (Assam) and he had maintained contacts with EIC.

In 1823, 17 years old Maniram took Robert to meet the chief of Singpo clan village called Bessa Gaum and showed him the local tea shrubs. Robert knew that the British were looking for indigenous tea plants for growing tea in Assam. However, before he could do anything with his new found knowledge, he died in early 1824 at the age of 35 years.

Life of Charles Bruce: Robert’s younger brother, 16 years old Charles Alexander Bruce, had left Britain in 1809 on a ship as a midshipman. In the following years, he was involved in the Napoleonic wars between Britain and France in the Mediterranean Sea. He was captured by the French navy and kept as a prisoner in Mauritius. He was freed when the British took over Mauritius. He also took part in the EIC war in Java (Indonesia).

We don’t know when exactly did Charles arrive in India but in 1824, when his brother Robert died, he was living in Assam. After his brother’s death, he sent the Singpo tea shrubs to the Botanical Garden in Calcutta.

In 1824, EIC decided to launch a war against the Burmese in Upper Assam (first Anglo-Burmese war). Charles was part of this war, responsible for a gun boat. In 1825, British were able to defeat and send back the Burmese. After the war, Charles became the Gun Boat commander at the British outpost in Sadiya to the north of Dibrugarh.

The role of Nathaniel Wallich: Meanwhile there was no news from Calcutta about the tea shrubs Charles had sent there. Nathaniel Wallich, the director of Royal Botanical Gardens in Calcutta travelled to western parts of India in 1825 and to Assam and Burma in 1826-27, coming back with thousands of specimens of plants. In 1828, he went to London with 8,000 samples of plants. Four years later, in 1832, he came back from London and informed Charles that the tea shrubs samples from Assam sent in 1824 were not the real tea plants.

In 1833, when the tea treaty with China expired, a Tea Committee was formed in Calcutta, with G. J. Gordon as its secretary. Nathaniel Wallich was also a member of the committee. Gordon was sent to China to procure the tea plants and expertise for growing tea in India. In the meantime, Gordon’s assistant, Mr Charleston sent more samples of Assamese tea shrubs to the Horticultural society, which confirmed that these were real tea plants. Gordan was called back from China while Charleston was given a gold medal for the discovery of the Assamese tea plants.

Charles' efforts to show his tea-growing expertise: Charles Bruce was based in Sadiya, and he had continued to study the tea plants of the Singpo. His expertise was recognised by the EIC Tea Committee and in 1835, he was given the tea seeds brought from China and asked to grow them. However, the results of growing Chinese tea seeds were disappointing. In 1836 Charles took the Singpo tea plants and started a cultivation in Sadiya, samples of which were liked by the tea committee in Calcutta. In 1837, Charles sent his tea to London where they reached in 1838 and were auctioned with great success in 1839. Finally Charles and his Assam tea became famous.

In 1839, Wallich and Charleston had to agree that the original plants collected by Robert and sent by Charles were the real tea plants and thus finally Bruce brothers’ contribution to “discovery” of tea was recognised by EIC.

In 1839, Wallich accompanied by other botanists visited Upper Assam including Sadiya. Following this visit, Charles was appointed as the Superintendent of Tea Culture in Assam. In 1840, he became the superintendent of northern region of the newly created Assam Tea Company.

In his new role as the tea expert, Charles made different suggestions to the EIC. For example, in his report to the Tea Committee dated 10 June 1839, he suggested to them to involve Indians in running the tea plantations and to bring labour for the tea plantations from other parts of India. He was against the production of opium in Assam and recommended to levy taxes on opium import because opium caused misery and opium addicts were not fit to work in the plantations.

His suggestions were not accepted by EIC. In 1845, Charles Bruce was discharged from Assam Tea Company and he retired to Tezpur where he died in 1871. His wife Elisabeth, continued to live in Tezpur and died in 1885. Both Charles and Elisabeth were buried in the old cemetery of Tezpur.

Dewan Maniram Dutta Baruah

Maniram was born in 1806, his family was employed by Ahom kings in Rangpur. In 1817 when the Burmese occupied Rangpur, Maniram was 11 years old. His family left Rangpur and took refuge in Bengal.

In 1823, 17 year old Maniram accompanied Robert Bruce to Bassa Gaum village of Singpo tribe along the Burhi Dehina river (today it is called Dihing river and is north of Sivasagar town). At that time, Bruce was part of the Chandrakant Singha army.

Initially, in 1825 the British were reluctant to administer the vacuum left behind by the departing Burmese in Rangpur. Wars between the rival factions of Purandar Singha and Chandrakant Singha continued for some years. However, Assam was divided by EIC into two Zilla (districts) – Senior and Junior Khunds. In 1828, Maniram was appointed by David Scott of EIC as the Tehsildar and Shrishtidar of Junior Khund (Upper Assam). He was based in Rangpur, the site of Ahom kingdom.

Due to the wars Maniram was not able to exercise his role of Tehsildar properly and revenue collection for the EIC was not satisfactory. Therefore, at the beginning of 1832, finally Purandar Singha was nominated to be the ruler of Upper Assam and was asked to pay an annual tribute of one hundred thousand rupees to EIC. Maniram became his Borbhandar (Prime Minister).

However, Puruandar Singha did not pay the annual tribute to EIC. In 1838, EIC decided that they needed to control Assam if it was going to produce tea for Britain. Thus they instituted an enquiry. The British claimed that “tribute was not paid because of general system of corruption encouraged by Purudar Singha”. They also claimed that his subjects were oppressed and misgoverned. Thus in 1838, the British deposed Purunder Singha and exiled him out of Assam on a small pension. Upper Assam was then annexed by proclamation. Thus the entire Brahamaputra valley from Cachar in the south Assam to Sadiya in the North came under British control.

In 1839, Maniram was nominated the Dewan of Assam Tea Company (ATC) under Charles Bruce and placed at a tea plantation in Nazira, to the east and south of Rangpur. It is said that he was not fluent in English. However he wrote in Assamese - he had written about history of Assam (Buranji Viveka Ratna). English translations of his writings on the art of gold-washing in the rivers of Assam and on the cultivation of Assam silk were also published.

In 1839 a group of Indian entrepreneurs including Radhakanta Deb, Dwarkanath Tagore and Prasanna Kumar Tagore created the Bengal Tea Association and proposed to take over the Government tea plantations. Later this was merged in the British dominated Assam Tea Company.

In 1841, a letter by an ATC official William Princep praised the work of Maniram. In 1842, the chairman of ATC praised Maniram for having opened new tea gardens and for having increased the income of the company.

In 1845, when Charles was removed from ATC, Maniram also resigned and started his own tea plantations, first at Cinnamara near Jorhat (on the road from Jorhat to Mariani) and then in Singlo near Rangpur. While British plantation owners received concessions from EIC for receiving land, Maniram started his plantations without any EIC support. However, the British planters did not like it and in 1851 his plantations were taken over by the East India Company. (Image below: An abandoned hospital at a tea garden in Cinnamara near Jorhat)

In 1852, Maniram presented a petition to the Sadar Court in Calcutta, where he argued for bringing back the Ahom kingdom by giving back Upper Assam to the descendants of Purundar Singha. He also asked the British to reduce the taxation and to stop the opium cultivation. His petition was rejected by the court.

He joined the son and grandson of Purundar Singha in a bid to install them at the Rangpur throne. On 6th May 1857 he presented another petition asking for reinstatement of the descendants of Purundar Singha as the legitimate heirs of the Ahom kingdom. Four days later, on 10 May 1857, the revolt against the British rule broke out in different parts of India. Maniram made contacts with other Indians fighting against the British and participated in making plans for an attack against the British in upper Assam. However, these plans were not successful.

Maniram was caught by the British at the end of August 1857 and hanged in Jorhat on 26 February 1858. (Image below: Freedom memorial in Jorhat depicting tea planters and the freedom struggle)

Relationship between the Bruce Brothers and Maniram Dewan

Robert Bruce was a mercenary fighting for Ahom kings while Maniram’s family worked for the same kings. Probably that was where they had met and that is why in 1823, Maniram had accompanied Robert to the Bessa Gaum to meet the Singpo chief.

After Robert’s death, while Charles went to Sadiya, he had continued to visit the tea shrub areas. In 1828, the 22 year old Maniram was made the Tehsildar of Rangpur. This must have provided them opportunities for meeting regularly. In 1839, both Charles and Maniram held important roles in ATC and worked closely. In 1845, Charles was removed from his post, soon after Maniram resigned.

The recommendations of Charles Bruce to the EIC in 1839 and the petition presented by Maniram to the Sadar Court in Calcutta in 1852, were very similar. Both touched on similar issues and used similar language.

Even though there are no documents about any links between Charles and Maniram, I think that there was a close relationship between the two. Perhaps, Charles had advised or inspired Maniram to start his own tea plantations. Descendants of Dewan Maniram Dutta Baruah, who have access to his papers and family stories can confirm if they have more information on this issue.

Conclusions

It sounds a bit funny to me to read that tea was discovered by Robert Bruce. I think that the term “discovery” should relate to new knowledge. In this case, the knowledge about tea plants was known to persons like Maniram who had taken Robert to the Singpo village. The Singpo tribals had known the tea plants for many centuries.

Instead of saying that the Bruce brothers discovered tea in India, it would be more appropriate to say that Bruce brothers and East India company played a key role in setting up of tea plantations in Assam and in the commercialization of tea.

History books mention only the name of the Bruce brothers while the role of Maniram is limited only to as someone who had accompanied Robert Bruce for his first meeting. In reality, the role played by Maniram was much bigger.

The spread of tea plantations in Assam and West Bengal also had a negative aspect, about which so little is known - millions of indentured labourers, who were told lies and brought to work in dismal conditions in the tea gardens from other parts of India. This exploitation lasted almost a century.

Unfortunately, even Independent India did not stop this exploitation of tea garden workers and even today, the conditions of many of the them continue to be very dismal. But then, that is a completely different story. (Image below: Tea garden workers doing maintenance work in a tea garden near Tezpur)

Note: Though I consulted a large number of documents to piece together the different parts of this story, I would specifically like to acknowledge the following: An account of the manufacture of the black tea as now practiced in Suddeya in Upper Assam, by C. A. Bruce, Calcutta, 1838; Tea in Assam and the Bruce brothers, by Derek Perry; Impact of Bengal Renaissance on Assam 1825-1875, by Amalendu Guha.

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