Friday 20 September 2013

A quick overview...

...of some of the Beauties that are expecting me!

After a few days in Lviv, Ukraine, I will be jumping to Sofia, Bulgaria:

Cathedral of St.Nedelya - of the Holy Sunday
I realize, the more I read about the history of each of the places I am going to visit, that those are all very "sensitive" areas, with tormented changes even in the most recent years. It is impossible to have a detached look at even the most limited aspect of each city and so, while I will immerse myself in whatever I will be able to absorb once there, I decided to follow one of my great loves: architecture! So here I found a few old pictures of how this cathedral looked in the past, only in 1880:


And then in 1922:



From Bulgaria we are quickly moving to Zagreb, Croatia:


And again, I found an old picture with the protective walls intact, from the 19th century, I can't think of any other place that have such protections for a cathedral:




Thursday 5 September 2013

EASTERN EUROPEAN TOUR!!!

Part One: Lviv, Ukraine



The first stop in my upcoming European tour is the gorgeous city of Lviv (or Lwow, if one likes the Polish name, Leopoli in Italian, or Lemberg, if one feels Habsburgishly nostalgic… being from Trieste, I have the feeling that will feel right at home!

I have never seen any of the places I am going to visit on the tour, nor, with exception for Croatia, set foot on any of the countries! So I am trying to do a little research to be as “efficient” as possible in my visits between rehearsals and performances.

 I found a great website, lviv.travel, where I took most of the information that I am reporting here, you can visit it for a much more detailed descritpion.
 
The city of Lviv was given her name in 1240 from Lev, the son of king Daniel, ruler of the Medieval Ruthenian kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia…imagine having a city named after you by your dad.  It was the capital of the Halychyna-Volyn Principality, and owed much of its power (this, throughout its history) to its location in the middle of the trading routes between the East and the states of central Europe. In case one wonders, Marco Polo never passed even close, as he would sail from Venice either to the Black Sea or the very east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. 

 Lviv’s history was mostly connected to Poland’s…the end of my tour, is it a sign? Lviv had one of the largest collections of Polish books, some major Polish Cultural centers, and it was a Polish king who granted the title of university to the existing Jesuit college which eventually became the modern university. As it is recounted, it was the King of Poland Kazimierz III who saw the beautiful hill by the Poltva river and decided to build his own castle there…the high Castle, resembling a lute! The King called German craftsmen and builders to build the most technologically advanced city at the foot of the hill. This Gothic and very German looking urban dwelling was completely destroyed by a fire in 1527 and the new Renaissance city was build by Italians!!
  The High Castle is of course gone now but, on a pretty tangent, while I was searching for images of the High Castle in Lviv, I found this (the Swallow’s Nest, as it is called, is near Yalta on the Black Sea, so I won’t be even near it, but still…any resembles with Miramare in Trieste??):

 

Apparently, every inhabitant of Lviv was a natural selling genius, this was also favoured by the rights of storage that the city obtained in 1379. This meant that every merchant passing through the city had to put his goods on sale in the city for three weeks and could carry on only what had not been sold, they could also not trade with themselves but only with locals. One of the most popular items in the market? Wine, of course! From Italy, Spain, Greece.

Some interesting random facts:

- Lviv was the first European city to have street lights -in 1853-, with kerosene lamps,
- Since 1555 there has been a decree to preserve the unique Klepariv cherries,
- The historic centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage list for its marvelous urban, architectural, and cultural fusion.

                                    I am excited!