In an out of the way corner of southern Tuscany, about 45 minutes from Orvieto, is a town perched on a volcanic ridge – one of the most evocative sights of Italy – Pitigliano Little Jerusalem as it is popularly known. George Dennis, the noted Etruscologist, described it thus in 1847: Pitigliano is a place of […]
Articles posted by patnicholas
Orvieto, Umbrian Jewel
A photography workshop in Italy could not be based in a more appealing place than Ovieto, the most beautiful hill town in all Italy. It stands on its high rock plateau in Umbria, on the borders of both Tuscany and Latium. Orvieto is an ancient city going back to pre-Roman Etruscan times, on the top […]
hill town, Orvieto, Orvieto cathedral, Orvieto Classico, St brizio chapel, St Patrick well, William TurnerCivita Bagnoregio
Civita Bagnoregio near Orvieto is a really ancient place, melancholic, picturesque…. and dying. The tufa cliffs on which it is built are crumbling into the valley below taking houses with them. Until comparatively recently the road signs pointed to Civita, la citta che muore – the dying city. They were removed as this gloomy message appears to […]
Cinema Paradiso, Civita di Bagnoregio, donkey-derby, Giuseppe Tornatore, St BonaventuraLake Bolsena
Lake Bolsena is one of the magnificent sights of Italy. It has been considered a lake of great spiritual importance…. and mystery, for thousands of years. It was the sacred lake of the Etruscans and it still has a powerful effect on anybody who visits its shores. The painter William Turner passed by here in 1795 and […]
Bisenzio, Bizentina Island, lake Bolsena, Marta, saint Christina, VisentiumVulci photography excursion
VULCI is one of the most picturesque spots in Italy and one of Camera Etrusca’s most popular photographic excursions. It boasts Etrusco-Roman ruins, a sinister mediaeval castle, an ancient high bridge, a deep canyon under stalactite cliffs, a rushing waterfall and a deep lake. Vulci was a rich and important Etruscan city founded about 800 […]
D.H.Lawrence, Etruscan city, George dennis, Lucien Bonaparte, Musignano, Vulci, Vulci photo excursionPitigliano, Sorano & Sovana,The Sacred Ways
The mysterious Etruscan Sacred Ways are exclusive to three southern Tuscan towns: Pitigliano, Sovana and Sorano. Some are very deep, up to an astonishing 20m, hewn out of solid rock by the Etruscans about 2500 years ago, and some paths are very long indeed; all of them are winding and twisting like the above. Why […]
cia cava, etruscan, Etruscan sacred way, Pitigliano, Sorano, Tuscany, via Cava san RoccoOrvieto olive oil
The olive hasn’t much to do with photography other than that olive groves end up being in a lot of landscapes. However, olive oil is one of the good things of Italy that most people appreciate while here – Orvieto olive oil is one of the world’s best. The olive is a truly remarkable fruit […]
Civita di Bagnoregio, Italy, not just photography, olive, olive grove, olive oil, olive press, Orvieto, Orvieto olive oil, Tuscany, UmbriaNew Discovery for Camera Etrusca photo treks
What were you doing back in 1990? It was quite a lively year: the USSR collapsed, Nelson Mandela was freed, the Hubble space telescope was launched, Kuwait was invaded then liberated, while a man in London was liberated too…..of his briefcase at knifepoint – and of bonds worth £292 million, Sinéad O’Connor made ‘Nothing Compares to You’, I […]
Discovery MkII, new Land Rover Discovery, scrapped Discovery