The Road to from Rome Day 11: Minturnae - Sessa Aurunca
Today we crossed from the region of Lazio into the region of Campania, and tallied up 200 km total distance walked from Rome!
The scenery along the quiet country roads we walked on was not particularly spectacular, but our day was made eventful by the reception we received in the town of Santi Cosma e Damiano, which we passed through late in the morning. First, us stragglers at the back of the group were distracted by a doughnut stand, whose owner refused to take payment for the delicious doughnuts we enjoyed! Then the deputy mayor met us in the parish hall with refreshments and a presentation by the students of the local high school, Istituto Comprensivo Guido Rossi, who read out their research project about the Via Francigena and then accompanied us through the town, along with a group of young women doing civil service, parishioners and representatives of the local tourist office, plus a police officer stopping traffic, creating chaos in the town!
We said goodbye to the students at a monument to peace that they themselves had designed. Then we carried on to the church of Santa Maria in Pensulis, and from there to Suio, where a small ceremony marked the passage of the pilgrim stick that has travelled all the way from Canterbury from the region of Lazio to the region of Campania.
Upon arriving in Sessa Aurunca at the end of the day we were received by the bishop, who showed us around the cathedral. He asked us not to publish pictures of the cathedral interior, so I shall respect his wish and show you only a tiny corner of the amazing stone mosaic decorations in Cosmatic style on the cathedral floor!
After checking into our comfortable rooms at Casa per Ferie Caterina Volpicelli, run by nuns, Alfredo, Massimo and I rejoined the others in the centre of town for a brief tour led by a representative of the Sessa Aurunca Pro Loco or office for the promotion of tourism. The city has many hidden gems in addition to its fantastic cathedral. On the wall of the castle, a plaque commemorates the first known written document in the vulgar Italian tongue (as opposed to Latin), dating back to 960 and confirming the Monastery of Monte Cassino's ownership of three parcels of disputed land, one of which was in Sessa Aurunca.
Original text:
Sao ko kelle terre, per kelle fini que ki contene, trenta anni le possette parte Sancti Benedicti.
Sao cco kelle terre, per kelle fini que tebe monstrai, Pergoaldi foro, que ki contene, et trenta anni le possette.
Kella terra, per kelle fini que bobe mostrai, sancte Marie è, et trenta anni la posset parte sancte Marie.
Sao cco kelle terre, per kelle fini que tebe mostrai, trenta anni le possette parte sancte Marie.
Translation:
"I know that these lands, within the borders shown here, have been owned by the monastery of St. Benedict for thirty years."
"I know that these lands, within the borders that I have shown you, belonged to Pergoaldo, and he has owned them for thirty years."
"This land, within the borders that I have shown you, is property of Saint Mary, and the monastery of Saint Mary has owned it for thirty years."
"I know those lands, within the borders that I have shown you, have been owned by the monastery of Saint Mary for thirty years.
Those who speak Italian may recognise this as somewhat similar...
And note that the adolescents of today are not the first to be inclined to use the letter K in place of QU!
Sessa Aurunca also has a Roman theatre, outside the old town and built taking advantage of a natural slope in the ground.
The Roman theatre was uncovered only recently, having been covered with soil and olive trees until only a few decades ago. According to our guide, there are many more such treasures remaining to be excavated in the earth below the city and the countryside around Sessa Aurunca, a town which deserves more visitors than it gets! In the historic town centre I felt I had gone back in time and was seeing again the authentic side of Italy as it was when I first came to live in the country thirty years ago: small shops selling a bit of everything in place of today's flashy boutiques and retail chains, children playing ball on the street rather than videogames on smartphones, adults sitting on benches chatting instead of rushing around, and (on a negative note) cars squeezing past pedestrians along the narrow lanes of the city centre. The town centre really deserves pedestrianising and rediscovering... If this can be accomplished without sacrificing its authenticity and turning it into yet another showcase for tourism!
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