Villa Rufolo

A tragic site?

A tragedy in 1283

At the end of June in the year 1283, things were not going well for a certain rich family from Ravello. Lorenzo Rufolo was beheaded at the Castel dell-Ovo in Naples, on the order of the Angevin prince Charles II. His father Matteo Rufolo was  in prison, the family riches were confiscated, and several other members of the family sentenced to death. The charges against them - some say trumped up, and never proven - included extortion, treason, exporting wheat to the detriment of the king, and extending favours to the Aragonese in the  war of the Sicilian vespers.

In truth, the problem for the Rufolo family was that it was very rich and powerful, and had backed the loser in the battle at Benevento that saw Charles d’Anjou, ally of Pope Martin IV, defeat and kill Manfred, son of the popular Norman-Swabian ruler Frederico II, in 1266.

Villa Rufolo: a hidden corner.

In the following years the Rufolo family tried their best to switch sides to the victor. They swore allegiance to the new king, and altered their coat-of-arms to add three lilies, the symbol of the Anjous. But the matriarch of the family, Sigilgaida, was of Norman descent - she was from the equally powerful della Marra family. She married Nicòla Rufolo - they were the parents of Matteo and the grandparents of the unfortunate Lorenzo. 

The della Marra family had followed the Norman kings south, settling in 1076 in Ravello on the Amalfi Coast. By this time, the strength of the Amalfi Maritime Republic was beginning to wane. The Norman family built a stronghold high on the ridge in Ravello, part fortress to keep an eye on the Amalfitani, part noblemen’s home. The della Marras also spread to Puglia, to the towns of Barletta and Trani, where the Swabian kings held sway. 

Between them, the Rufolo and della Marra families controlled customs and castles, and had real power, both economic and military. They were responsible for the accountancy of the kingdom as well as for strongholds in Ravello, Maranon, Puglia and Calabria. At one point, in 1275, Matteo Rufolo, along with seven other Ravello families who had loaned money to king Charles I d’Anjou, was entrusted with the Royal Crown as a pledge for the debt. They were, it seems, too powerful to last.

Torre Maggiore

Villa Rufolo

One of the pieces of property that fell from the grasp of the Rufolo family when their dynasty was struck down was the enigmatic Villa Rufolo in Ravello. It was to the east of the Cathedral and Bishop’s Palace in Ravello, and the della Marra fortress stood to the south west. 

Villa Rufolo continues to stand today, almost one thousand years old, changed, rebuilt and adapted through the many hands which have held it since Lorenzo’s day. The original building was a synthesis of Arabic, Sicilian and Norman architecture. In the 18th century cloisters were added, in the 19th century Romantic gardens that charmed Richard Wagner. Today it’s the home of the famous Ravello Music Festival and of the Centro Universitario Europeo per i Beni Culturali.

Art and architecture

Villa Rufolo is probably the last example of secular Norman Islamic architecture in Southern Italy. It’s covered with Islamic artistic symbols, decorated with arabesques. It bears many resemblances to the Norman churches in Palermo in Sicily. A local historian, Alessio Amato, points out that Sigilgaida Rufolo’s Norman heritage lived on through the years of Angevin rule through subtle architectural and artistic displays in Ravello, despite the Rufolo pledge of allegiance to the new kings. 

Il Chiostro in Villa Rufolo.

Not only is there the Norman Islamic architecture of the Villa. In 1272 Nicòla and Sigilgaida donated a pulpit to the Ravello Cathedral - it’s still there. It’s a fusion of Byzantine and Islamic techniques, Puglian and Campanian artistry, tastes deriving from the Norman-Swabian king Frederico II. The artist employed by the Rufolos to make the pulpit was Nicola da Foggia, an artist of the Frederican school with ties through his father to Frederico II. 

Also installed in the Cathedral was a sculpted bust of Sigilgaida herself, crowned with a royal diadem, which (until a 1973 restoration moved it) used to be positioned over the door leading to the pulpit - so the bishop had to pass under this vision of Sigilgaida before reading the Scriptures. As Allession Amato says in his small booklet “Secrets of Villa Rufolo”:

“Art has always expressed thought and, above all, in antiquity, in periods of great battles, of political, economic and social upheavals, certainly was depicted in tangible artifacts. Families would demonstrate their identity and political allegiances through art and decorations.”

Shadows of the past. Villa Rufolo.

A tour of the Villa

Today, you might choose to visit Villa Rufolo for a concert on the outdoor belvedere in the summer; or to walk through the 19th century Romantic-style gardens established by the Scotsman Neville Reid who rescued the Villa in the 19th century.

You would begin by walking from the piazza in front of the Ravello Cathedral through the Torre d’Ingresso, a crumbling stone structure that dominates the east side of the piazza. It has always been purely decorative, with a ribbed dome and arabesques in polychrome stones and terracotta. 

A stroll down a long avenue of cyprus and lime trees brings you to il Chiostro, the cloister, self-evidently Moorish in style -- twin columns, pointed arches, friezes and arabesques. Turning into the courtyard on your left you’ll find it dominated by the Torre Maggiore, three stories high and the oldest extant part of the Villa. 

19th century gardens.

Beyond the tower the 19th century gardens begin, studied informality, flower beds, pergolas, walks and hidden seats, fountains and vines. Here, Richard Wagner (visiting in May 1880) is said to have found the inspiration to complete the second act of his last opera, ‘Parsifal’, exclaiming that he’d found ‘the magical garden of Klingsor.’ This has to be the most-repeated off-hand comment in history. The whole of the Ravello Music Festival has, since the 1950s, been based on this moment of inspiration - the Festival is dedicated to Wagner and always features a concert of his music.

In the corner of the garden is one of my favourite structure on the site - the so-called Sala dei Cavalieri, or Hall of the Knights. It’s a round pavilion, walls decorated in arabesques, and its roof long since collapsed. No-one has any idea what it was really used for - the name was bestowed much later.

Beyond the gardens is the famous Ravello panorama - difficult to beat. The concert platform, the belvedere, juts out into space over the terraces of Ravello falling away to the sea and the distant mountains. It’s put up each summer, and taken down for the winter. Under the belvedere, you may explore some very ancient parts of the Villa, including an Arabic Bathhouse - a hammam of sorts - the Bagno Turco; the cellars; and a space known as the Sala da Pranza, or dining room, with a cross-vaulted roof and columns supported by odd groups of pillars. 

La Sala dei Cavalieri.

It's dome long since gone...

Visitors

Richard Wagner was not the first artist to be inspired by the Villa Rufolo. In 1327 Giovanni Boccaccio was a guest of the Angevins in Naples and apparently heard the story of Lorenzo Rufolo. The fourth of his famous set of ten stories, ‘The Decameron’, concerns a character named Landolfo Rufolo, and is thought to be loosely based on the real-life tragedy. 

La Sala da Pranza.

In March 1713 an earthquake caused much damage to the Villa, and it probably would be no longer standing in any form if it were not discovered and rescued by Francis Neville Reid, a Scotsman living in Naples in 1851. He was a botanist, a Freemason and a scholar, and is responsible for much of what we see today at Villa Rufolo - along with the master-builder he employed to revive the buildings: Michele Ruggiero, chief foreman of the excavations at Pompeii. Ruggiero also later restored the pulpit in the Ravello Cathedral. 

Since Wagner’s day, the Villa has been visited by the likes of D H Lawrence, Jacqueline Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, and Gore Vidal (who lived in Ravello for many years). 

And me. I can recommend it. As you’re strolling in the cloister or the Sala Dei Cavaliere, don’t forget to spare a thought for Lorenzo Rufolo and his fate in 1283.

And then you can stop for refreshments at 'Bar Klingsor' on the piazza. 

Ravello.

Acknowledgement: Much of this information comes from Alessio Amato's small booklet, "Secrets of Villa Rufolo"

Tuxedo Junction

“The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra” ® (source)

The concert at the Ravello Festival, on the beautiful outdoor belvedere at Villa Rufolo with views along the spectacular Amalfi Coast, was billed as “The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra” ® Now, Glenn Miller was in his heyday as an American big band leader in the 1930s and 1940s, and in fact died tragically young (40) in 1944 when a plane crossing the English Channel during war time was lost. He was leading his band in entertaining the troops at that time.

So who exactly would we see on the belvedere in Ravello? The look was 1940s, the tuxedos had satin lapels, there were bow ties, handkerchiefs peeking from breast pockets, the band leader wore a white jacket, and there was a girl singer in a stunning evening dress. 

The music began: ‘Moonlight Serenade’, ‘Shiny Stockings’, ‘Little Brown Jug’ -- yes, it sounded remarkably like Glenn Miller’s Orchestra. When the band leader paused proceedings to introduce himself, he turned out to have an unintentionally funny Dutch accent. He was Wil Salden. As the evening progressed and various performers were introduced, it seemed that what we had here was a band of Dutchmen playing American music - playing it very well, in fact. But was this a tribute band?

Fortunately, there was a program, and I purchased one for a very reasonable €3. It was money well spent. I learnt that after the sad and unexpected demise of Glenn Miller, his band played on. And on and on, under a variety of leaders over the years, and the astute management of something called Glenn Miller Productions, Inc. In 1990, this company, presumably the official keeper of the Glenn Miller legacy, appointed Dutchman Wil Salden to be “leader of the Glen Miller Orchestra for Europe”. So - the franchise made a territorial expansion. And ever since then, Wil has been tirelessly travelling his band across the face of western and eastern Europe, and even venturing deep into Russia, playing up to 200 concerts per year - though they’ve slowed down now to only 150 -160, since travel time has increased. On night trains and in hired coaches, they criss-cross Europe. Obviously performers come and go - counting the singer, there are 16 members of the troupe - but Wil guides them indefatigably on.

The stage awaits at the Ravello Festival

For performers with such a gruelling schedule, I must say that they are consummate pros. They play vividly and authentically, and appeared to enjoy themselves (especially Wil). He plays the piano and sings; there’s a drummer and double bass player, then four trumpets, four trombones, and five saxophonists, two of whom double as clarinetists, and one who takes up the baritone sax at times. Various brass players also join the girl singer and Wi from time to time, forming a vocal quintet. 

Interestingly, Wil does his best to actually replicate the Glenn Miller ‘sound’. He appears to be a close student of the Swing genre, and says in the program:

“With us, as with Glenn Miller, the clarinet plays the lead and is accompanied an octave lower by the second tenor saxophone. The accompaniment, played by two alto saxophones and the first tenor saxophone, stays within the octave between the clarinet and the second tenor saxophone. Since the lead clarinet dominates the alto saxophone, the saxophone seems half an octave higher...”

I give you this interesting quote to illustrate Wil’s passion for having his band sound as close as possible to the original. He claims that radio stations often prefer to play his band’s recordings of the old numbers because they sound authentically like the originals but are much better quality, being modern recordings. 

So in a way, Wil’s band is both a descendant of the original Glenn Miller orchestra, and a very special tribute band.

“Swing, Brother, Swing!”

Swing music is danceable and hum-along-able; it’s joyous and catchy. It’s a close sister to Jazz, but a fusion of different Jazz styles, and somewhat more ‘white’. It was popular from the 1920s through to the end WWII, and one feature of Swing was the formation of “Big Bands” based on lots of brass players. From the program:

“Swing describes the style of Jazz in the thirties...On one of his albums in the late twenties, Louis Armstrong told his musicians to “Swing, Brother, Swing!” and so he gave the style a name. In 1928/29, a new way of playing developed in Harlem and particularly in Kansas. When this new style got together with the music of Chicago and New Orleans, Swing was created. It then spread along the road of historic Jazz to New York.”

I was interested to learn that ‘Swing’ had a special resonance in Germany during the inter-war years, since the ‘Jazz’ was banned by the National Socialists as ‘corrupted music’. A European overlay on Jazz added some “white precision” that “took away some of Jazz’s expressionism but gave it a clear European, singable sound that was accepted by a wide public.”

'Somewhere Over The Rainbow’

But back to Glenn Miller, who took the Swing scene by storm from humble beginnings to broadcasting and concert success across America. He was one of the country’s favourite band leaders when he enlisted in the army and flew to his fate. ‘Moonlight Serenade’ is considered his signature tune; but there are lots of others you’ll know, and possibly love. In the Ravello concert we were treated to great renditions of favourites from the Big Band era: ‘American Patrol’, ‘Ain’t We Got Fun’, ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’, ‘Cheek to Cheek’, ‘Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree’, ‘Pennsylvania 6-5000’, ‘In The Mood’, ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo’, and - of course - ‘Tuxedo Junction’.

The original.....

And today....

San Pantaleone

Icon of Saint Panteleimon, with scenes from his life,
13th century (Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai).
(source)

The patron saint of Napoli - you may have heard of him - is San Gennaro, and he is particularly famous for the preservation of a vial of his blood which miraculously liquifies - in a good year - on his saint’s day. I was intrigued to learn that the Amalfi Coast village of Ravello - famous for its Classical Music Festival and the fact that Wagner thought it lovely - also has a patron saint with a cruet of blood which - in a good year - liquifies.

Ravello's Cathedral (source)

San Pantaleone’s Feast Day is 27th July, and Ravello, like all Italian villages, puts on a respectable party for its saint: a quality band is hired from Puglia, lights are strung up, tacky stalls come to town, there’s a parade where the effigy of the saint is taken out and given an airing around town, some religious remembrance, and - of course - fireworks.

Canelone for San Panteleone

Enjoying the festivities, I needed to know the history of San Pantaleone, so looked him up. He was Christian doctor who lived in the fourth century, and was killed during the persecution of Christians by the Roman emperor Diocletian (before Emperor Constantine converted and took the whole Roman Empire over to Christianity with him). It's said that an old woman - it’s not clear why or who - collected some of San Pantaleone’s blood in a small cruet when he was killed. This very cruet made its way to Ravello - by sea; the ship carrying the cruet was shipwrecked near Ravello, and the cruet preserved by the village, which thus acquired a patron saint. The cruet - or perhaps a successor, it's now a the glass, gold, and silver ampulla - sits in the Chapel of San Pantaleone in the Ravello Duomo, and each year on 27th July (usually in the morning) it is watched carefully for signs of the liquefaction of the saint’s blood.

The Wiki entries on San Pantaleone make interesting reading. For example:

Pantaleon implored Heaven to forgive them [those who wished to persecute him], for which reason he also received the name of Panteleimon ("mercy for everyone" or "all-compassionate"). It was not until he himself desired it that it was possible to behead him, upon which there issued forth blood and a white liquid like milk.
St. Alphonsus wrote:
At Ravello, a city in the kingdom of Naples, there is a vial of his blood, which becomes blood every year [on his feastday], and may be seen in this state interspersed with the milk, as I, the author of this work, have seen it. (source) 

On the other hand, there is this disappointing comment:

Though there is evidence to suggest that a martyr named Pantaleon existed, the various stories told of his life and death are considered by some to be purely legendary. (source)

There are relics of San Pantaleone spread amongst various churches in Italy and elsewhere; and Ravello has even shared some of the holy blood with other shrines, where the devout similarly await its liquefaction on 27th July.

Although the fireworks were very impressive, and San Pantaleone was given a respectful parade with music and incense, all of which I enjoyed, I was unable to learn whether the morning of the 27th July had this year produced the holy liquefaction. It would be nice to know what kind of year lies ahead.

San Pantaleone on the steps of the Ravello Duomo

Fireworks over the valley - Ravello

Ravishing Ravello

Ah...the views

Gore Vidal and I have something in common. No, I’m not (yet) a best selling author. But I do love Ravello, that Italian hill town perched spectacularly above the brilliant Amalfi Coast, looking down a little disdainfully on the beach crowd and preferring to enjoy a refined music festival through the summer months. Gore Vidal loved Ravello too, and had a home there, a white house precariously sited on the steep escarpment, and named ‘La Rondinaia’. Read about it and see pictures here.  It seems that a constant stream of literary talent passed through, from Tennesee Williams to Truman Capote to Virginia Woolfe. Vidal only sold La Rondinaia a few years ago. Until then he had come to stay in Ravello every year since 1972, and found inspiration for his writing.

And what’s not to inspire? Ravello’s links to music are even more well established than its links to literature. Every summer since the 1950s the small town has hosted a Music festival, that has become world renowned. The story goes that Wagner, passing through as did so many artistes, compared Ravello to Klingsor’s garden in his ‘Parsifal’ (his last opera), where the seductive Flower Maidens dance their enticing dance. It seems to me rather a slim thread upon which to hang the rationale for entire long-running music festival, but hey - do we really need an excuse anyway?

Awaiting the orchestra

This year’s Ravello Festival (the website is here) included musicians from Philip Glass to The Buena Vista Social Club (what’s left of it), and man orchestras, singers and musicians in between. Every festival features a Wagner concert - it’s a kind of ritual - and this year I attended. We had the orchestra of the Teatro San Carlo, the famous Opera House in Naples, conducted by Michel Tabachnik, and soprano Martina Serafin. The performers did an excellent job, especially of holding down their flapping musical scores with clothes pegs. The music tended to fly away in the slight breeze - we were, you see, outdoors in the belvedere of the Villa Rufulo, a wonderful building with foundations that go back to the Romans.

People dress. Nice.

The Villa Rufulo is not the only spectacular venue in Ravello. Bolstered by the success of the Music festival, this tiny hillside village has, somewhat improbably, acquired a lovely auditorium designed by Oscar Niemeyer, the Brazilian architect known for designing Brasilia, being 104 years old, and building sweeping white structures. The 10 year old Oscar Niemeyer Auditorium in Ravello is no exception, and sits somewhat incongruously amongst the traditional homes and vineyards of the Amalfi Coast, visible from far away at sea or along the Coast road. But it is a fascinating and well-designed building, making the most of the steep, narrow site, tucking the seating into the hillside and projecting the stage out on cantilevers. Inside, defying the usual auditorium interior, great windows open to the mountains, and smaller ones to the sea and the sky. I heard a lovely, quiet, technically brilliant, soothing guitar concert there one Sunday morning during the Festival.

I could also tell you about the delightful piazza of Ravello, with its complement of cafes and bars and an interesting duomo, or about the Villa Cimbrone, once the home of an eccentric English aristocrat with another bevy of famous guests and now a gorgeous hotel. I could mention the incredible views (the best on the Amalfi Coast, IMHO, and that is really saying something), or the many walks you could do around the hills, towards Scala and Pontone and Atrani, or down to Minori. Or I could go straight to the most important thing you need to know about Ravello: where to get the greatest pizza on the Coast: follow the steps down to Salvatore’s, but keep going past the swank restaurant, down to the pizzeria below, with red check table cloths and great smells. Eat nella familglia - and enjoy the view.

Speciality of the house.

The view from Ravello. Agree with Gore Vidal?