Italian Hill Towns Class

This is a group of photos that I have taken in my Italian Hill Towns class.  It is a very interesting course.  First it is taught in Italian, my professor doesn't speak a word of English but we do have Simone who works with USAC and is our translator.  The first class was a little intimidating because of this but I have realized that I now can separate the words that my teacher is saying and I can put together the words I know and come up with an idea of what he is telling us.  One day I did this and when Simone translated I was surprised to hear that what I thought he said was actually correct!!! That was an awesome feeling.  In this class we learn about the architecture of the town of Viterbo and surrounding hill towns.  I can now tell how old a building is and the year of the reconstruction or addition to them by the layout of their bricks.  I have learned that the forms of arches also tell you the time period of when they were built and many arches were a form of defense.  I love this class and it is only the beginning so stay tuned for more photos and interesting facts. :)

Our first field trip; Tarquinia

This is the city center of Tarquinia. To the left there is an arch that separates the new town with the old.  This is the side of the new town. 

It is hard to see in this picture but towards the bottom of this building the bricks are very uniform.  Similar in size and are stacked very neatly this part was built in the 12th century.  You can see a dark horizontal line going across where the windows are and that was how high the wall was in the 12th century.  Above the line the bricks very in shape this was part of the addition in the 13th century.

The arch that connects both sides of the town.  This is the older side.

There are a lot of towers in hill towns.  It is a form of protection.

You can see that the what the inside of structures looked like was not important.  The out side was all that mattered.

Another tower and to the right is Simone :)

Beautiful clouds.

Lions are found everywhere.  They relate to the story of Hercules and are a symbol of power.

A beautiful panorama of the town of Tarquinia.  

My teacher and Simone pointing out differences in bricks.

My professor

I love the trees that are here.

An old church

Millions of Mosaic tiles make up the floors.  This blows me away at how detailed they were back in the day

Orvieto and Bagnoregio

The town of Bagnoregio

The path to get to the town.  Cars are not allowed in the town because it is built on clay so it could collapse.

someones garden

These were made by two sisters and they are in an alley where their shop is located.

This is there shop.  Some people hire them to decorate their houses like this.

A caffe that has the sisters art.