Close your eyes and imagine that you’re sitting at one of the tables at the “Bar degli artisti.” How many times did you sit there during your stay in Spoleto either working on your computer or having breakfast, sipping a cup of coffee or having a fun conversation with your friends!? Do you remember what was all around you? The beautiful fountain source of fresh water both for thirsty tourists and clouds of pigeons alike. In the morning the vegetable vendors with their little truck filled with luscious fresh tomatoes, peaches, plums. Then the tens of restaurants, pizzerias and bars that have come to crown the entire piazza with their little tables and their wooden chairs. Finally, the noise of the people” living” in the piazza: the usual group of older men who would arrive early in the morning and leave only at lunch time, spending their morning discussing soccer, politics, and gossiping. The ladies with their shopping bags running from one store to the other. The kids running after each other, riding their bikes and filling their mouths with a piece of pastry or some ice cream. Well, everything is still there…with the exception of the people.
The beauty of the place is still stunning, the shining sunlight still covers a golden patina on all of those beautiful buildings. However, the noise is gone and so is the energy, the vitality that was so much a part of the landscape. It reminds me of one of those Renaissance paintings depicting the ”ideal city” - beautiful streets, gorgeous squares, fantastic buildings, but everything empty, muted, silenced by the luck of ordinary life.
What is happening in Piazza del Mercato is no different than what is happening all over town. Piazza Duomo is empty, the Corso has seen more and more shops close because there is no business and lastly the increasing amount of families who now have a terrible time putting food on their table.
Still there is hope. Italian people are resilient and in this case, they have behaved really well. After the initial shock they have observed the “lockdown religiously” and with humor and now there is a general feeling that life is slowly coming back to some sense of normality.
Our biggest surprise was visiting the convent. No students, no pilgrims, no visitors. Just the two Philippine nuns and the “eternal” Suor Chiara. But the garden….! Not having anything else to do besides praying, the nuns dedicated all their free time to their garden! Melons, flowers, lettuce, grapes, it is stunning! A speck of light in a world of grayness and frustration.
Convent Garden
Spoleto Study Abroad is eager to once again share the beauty of central Italy through an immersive experience for students of all ages as soon as it is safe to do so. We cannot wait for you to help fill the streets with life again!
- Lorenzo