Likewise, their countless cathedrals are preserved through the continual process of restoration. Restorations of the structure and decorations of ceilings, walls, and floors are made in order to preserve the 15th & 16th century churches. In addition, very ancient churches were undergoing excavations to unearth what was for the sake of learning and preserving.
By Amber Saunders Italians treasure the preservation of their culture. They love their deeply rooted history — how they developed into what they are today. They build on the lives on the shoulders of their ancestors — LITERALLY. They have built many of their cities on top of ancient cities especially in the region of Perugia. Walking through the humongous doors of the underground train station in Perugia, we witnessed with our own eyes the layers of the underground city as the current town was built on top a 1540 medieval city that is now “frozen” underneath. The interesting thing about Italians is that they choose not to clean the slate, but preserve what was and build on it. Likewise, their countless cathedrals are preserved through the continual process of restoration. Restorations of the structure and decorations of ceilings, walls, and floors are made in order to preserve the 15th & 16th century churches. In addition, very ancient churches were undergoing excavations to unearth what was for the sake of learning and preserving. Preservation of culture was not only seen in their physical cities and religious institutions but in their celebrations and traditions. The crazy "Festa dei Ceri" is held every year on May 15th in Gubbio. The locals carry on the religious celebration of carrying three heavy wooden ceris or pedestals that represent candles. Three teams of locals race to carry the ceris around the city and up Mount Ingino while other locals run around like they are crazy. It is a deeply rooted ritual where men train for years to be a part of a team and they train their kids to be a part of the tradition and, literally, carry it on. Carrying on of culture is not only evident in the streets during celebrations, but in the kitchens at all times. No recipes are to be seen there, only the ones ingrained in the memories of the chefs: the recipes passed on from generation to generation. No formal culinary skills are evident just the methods they mimic from the people they observed. No written rules of cooking are hung on the walls, just the oral rules that are etched onto the hearts of the chefs. In fact, we only knew rules existed when our chef from Naples, Rosa, identified violations of the rules. She would say, "Forbidden! It is a SIN." Mixing onion and garlic in the same dish was among the greatest of sins followed closely by mixing fish and cheese or, worse, fish and onion. These food combinations rules were clearly not learned from a book, but rather learned from the palate and then passed on from mouth to mouth.
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November 2016
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