events and news from in and around Barga (LU) Italy
Another month has rushed by ... here are the latest batch of images for September by the award winning photographer O'Connor. The subdued tones and light in this month's images seem to reflect the changing seasons as we move along into autumn.
Click here
It has been a long hot summer and a wonderful September but finally it is over. How do we know ? The swallows which arrive each spring and nest under the roofs in Barga Vecchia have started to congregate at the highest point in Barga ... the Duomo.
Each morning there are now thousands of them circling round the Duomo, sitting on the tops of the trees and chattering to each other. It is only a matter of time now before one morning we will wake up to find them all gone as they start their migration south to warmer climes.
The circle continues.
Except, somebody forgot to tell one insect that it was time to move on. In Piazza Angelio last night at 10 pm there was an insect singing away to its hearts content. The fact that it was a chilly late September evening seemed to have made no difference. Download this small MP3 file and judge for yourself here
Inaugurazion Cappella della Madonna del Molino
A crucifix painted in the later part of the 1400's has finally found its way back onto the wall of the Duomo after being away at Lucca for restoration work.
On the opposite wall to the crucifix, the recently restored painting "Descent from the Cross" by the Florentine artist, Giovanni Bizelli, dated 1600 and on the main wall of the restored chapel, another large restored painting above the alter makes up the third element in what is a stunning display of religious art which was opened to the public this afternoon in a short ceremony at the Duomo.
The chapel had been suffering from earthquake damage and increasing dampness for many years but has now restored back to its original glory thanks to a project from Elisabetta Lorenzini. More images here
It started 10 years ago when the Legambiente in Italy started to organise an annual cleaning event; Puliamo il mondo.
Last year there were more than 700,000 volunteers working in 1700 comunes all over Italy on a mass clean up of the environment.
This year the Comune of Barga took part with the area around Villa Gheradi as the center of operations. Children from the elementary school equipped with gloves, hats and bags cleared the area around the villa of rubbish and waste paper. They were helped in their task by the Alpini, the men of ASBUC (Amministrazione separata beni di uso civico) and even a representative from Scotland in the kilted form of Hugh Macnaughton visiting Barga for the first time with his wife Jacky. More images here
A well attended piano and clarinet concert this evening at the Teatro dei Differenti for third in the series organised by the Nova Arcadia Associazione.
This week it was the turn of that popular pair of musicians, The Duo Alban Berg. For once Schoenberg had little to do with the proceedings as the pair happily swam through a series of musical tributes to America from such differing sources as George Gershwin, to jazz numbers by Benny Goodman and through onto Claude Debussy.
The mezzosoprano Ida-Maria Turri came on in the second half of the concert and brought some added verve and colour to the proceedings, although the pianist Massimo Salotti appeared pale and seemed to be having problems with his instrument during some of the numbers... could he have had intruders? More images and a small MP3 file of the beautiful final encore from the Duo can be seen here
No news is good news, but not here in Barga this week.
We have a technical fault with our uploading line which has meant that we cannot update the site or the webcam
Please be patient, we will be back on line as soon as the techs have been to work on the problem
watch this space!!
Meeting of two musical bands
Banda Gaetano Luporini BARGA and Filarmonica Arturo Toscani PIAZZA al SERCHIO
A joint concert this evening in the Teatro dei Differenti from two musical bands; the Banda Gaetano Luporini from Barga and the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini from Piazza al Serchio.
Two different bands with completely different stories behind them but both sharing the same stage and the same joy of making music.
More images and two MP3 files (including a great version of Village People's YMCA by the band from Piazza al Serchio) here
A Friday the 13th is generally regarded as an unlucky day in many english speaking countries but not here in Italy. 13 is seen as a lucky number. The number to avoid is 17 and Friday the 17th is to be avoided at all costs. Good luck charms and talisman are to be worn that day to keep the bad influences at bay.
Somebody forgot to tell the two members of Strabacco, Mirco Muccini and Jack Nannani this important fact. They organised a concert at Altana yesterday Friday the 17th. 
The enterprising women at the Altana turned the whole thing on its head and instead presented a whole evening based around good luck. The menu included, Horseshoe Prosciutto, Four Leaf Clover Crostate and Red Horn Potato... red horns being good luck here.... In fact most of the customers last night seemed to be wearing red horns in the shape of red peppers. Many, many more images and the full story here
The second concert in the series that started last week with Ida-Maria Turri and Stefano Romani, continued this evening in the Teatro dei Differenti with another duo... this time piano and flute. Enzo Caroli on flauto and Antonio di Cristofano on pianoforte played a selection of Schubert and Frank. A small MP3 file can be downloaded of part of their performance tonight here
A crucifix painted in the later part of the 1400's has finally found its way back onto the wall of the Duomo after being away at Lucca for restoration work that took over 25 years to complete. On the opposite wall to the crucifix will be hung the recently restored painting "Descent from the Cross" by the Florentine artist, Giovanni Bizelli, dated 1600 which has been kept in the Civic Museum next to the Duomo. Another large restored painting above the alter makes up the third element in what is going to be a stunning display of religious art which is to be unveiled to the public next Saturday 25th October. More images here
A question which is asked by many visitors to Barga and to which , for some reason, the reply is almost always never given in full has finally been answered here on barganews.
For those of us who live here in Barga Vecchia we have the chimes of the Duomo to keep us company and tell us the time of day. Hourly they ring out over the castle but there is a kind of code to the ringing.
It is not simply one ring = one o clock, two rings = two o clock ... no, no, nothing so simple. Once you know it becomes a simple thing to work out but until you are given a "key" it is difficult to get to grips with.
People smile when asked and sometimes if they are feeling generous they might even hand out a clue of "think of ships bells" but otherwise it is not really talked about. Want to find out ? Click here
It is estimated that there are more than 19 million gum chewers in the Italy chewing their way through more than 980 million packs of gum per year. World-wide Local Authorities, Property Management Companies, etc., with areas contaminated with this unsightly problem are now actively looking for a successful method of attacking and resolved this major problem. 
The problem of chewing gum on the streets of Barga Vecchia is becoming more acute as each year passes. With the now huge increase in visitors coming to Barga the problem can no longer be ignored. Lets look at the facts:
1.Piazza Angelio
2.Porta Reale
3.Piazza Comune
4. Duomo
5.Fornacetta
6. Via di Mezzo
A weekly collection and recycling service for used chewing gum was launched two years in Barga Vecchia. The aim of the project is to collect the used chewing gum at special collection boxes situated at strategic places around Barga Vecchia.
Full story with images of the collection boxes here
“The Cedars know the history of the earth better than history itself.”Alphonse de Lamartine, French poet and historian (1790-1869).
Planted in 1823 (according to Pina Iacopucci Marroni in her book Barga e i suoi Castelli 1965) or earlier in 1815 according to the official list of Monumental Trees in the Province of Lucca
When ever it actually was is now of little importance as the monumental Lebanese Cedar tree which has dominated the Fosso for around 180 is now very, very ill and looking like a tree that will have great difficulty in passing the coming winter intact. The rest of this sad story is here
Bargarte - 10 artists in the streets
Exhibition by 10 artists from Italy, New Zealand, Spain, and Africa at the Galleria Comunale until 10th October by the Allegri Spazio Arte of Florence.
Franco Bruni
Kirsten Lockie
Magic Luloloko
Virginia Lopez
Patrizia Zingaretti
Angela Policastro
Sabrina Tomasella
Katia Bassi
Erica Saladino
More images here
An exhibition of Circus paintings by Giancarlo Bellini has been gradually touring round Tuscany and from 11th September until 10th October, the caravan stops here in Barga. The Palazza Pancrazi is the venue for these large colourful acrylic and enamel canvases with images of the circus flowing across them. More images are here
Sagra della polenta e uccelli - Filecchio
More or less the last sagra of the year at Filecchio,and usually it can be a chilly affair later on in the evening, but not this year - the good weather has held and the glorious September carries on. 
This evening the music at Filecchio was provided by the home grown six piece group "The Arches" and the suprises came from the magician who walked on broken glass and ate fire to the delight of the many kids present.
This evening candles were put by windows and on balconies of many houses in Barga to show their support and solidarity with the two Italian women still held in Iraq. No news so far of the fate of Simona Pari and Simona Torretta
Al popolo iracheno e a tutti gli amanti della pace nel mondo, e in Italia, chiediamo di aiutarci nel tentativo di salvare la vita di Simona Pari, di Simona Torretta, di Raad Alì Abdul-Aziz, di Mahnaz Bassam.
Erano a Baghdad a nome di tutti noi. Nella loro prigione siamo anche noi, oggi. La loro liberazione sarebbe uno spiraglio di luce nel buio della violenza. Ancora in queste ore, in molte città irachene, la guerra miete vittime innocenti. Perciò continuiamo a chiedere con fermezza che tacciano le armi, che termini l'occupazione. Ogni forma di mobilitazione, di pressione, gli appelli e le fiaccolate, i messaggi ai rispettivi governi sono i mezzi di cui disponiamo, noi popolo della pace. Usiamoli tutti, adesso.
Simona Pari e Simona Torretta raccontano la loro vita in Iraq -- a video here
Teatro Dei Differenti - An evening of opera, lieder and songs from the shows laced with a pinch of piano and fun from the husband and wife team of Ida-Maria Turri - mezzosoprano and Stefano Romani - Pianoforte A small MP3 file of one of the songs this evening can be downloaded here
There is a suspicion that the Gnome Liberation Front have become active once again in this area.
This morning as the staff arrived at the barganews offices they were greeted by a gnome left outside the main door bearing gifts. Upon closer inspection these gifts turned out to be sweets, chocolate covered blue berries and cherries from a maker who does not even have an outlet in europe and which can only be found in the states and canada, so just how did they arrive on our door step? No note was attached and so we are none the wiser.
More information about the European Gnome Sanctuary here
Exhibition at the Osteria Angelio in Piazza Angelio, Barga Vecchia by the Lucchese artist Patrizia Bianchi will run from 6th to the 27th September. More images here
Something strange is going on with the monthly episodes of Adam J. Shardlow's story Moving Mountains ..... The first was published in March. There was a gap in May as preparations to make the move from England to Italy gave him little time in front of the keyboards but from then on, regular as clockwork his articles have appeared each month here on barganews ... that is until the last week in July. 
So what happened in July ? Adam and Helen married here in Barga and for some unaccountable reason the Moving Mountains Episode five has gone missing. It was delivered to the barganews office on time and all in one piece. It was uploaded to the servers but from there it seems to have just vanished into thin air.
Not really sure what to do about this, so in the meantime ......
Moving Mountains part 6 - Adam J. Shardlow
It is not until you travel through Italy that you realise what a diverse and complex country this is. In truth it is not a country at all but a collection of sovereign states that had little choice but to unite after Napoleon’s successful invasion of the land. The north still represent the rich and fertile soil that gave the country its name (Italia was in use by 500BC and derives from the tribal word for ‘calf’) while the south still feels it has had the rough end of the deal.
Having finished a week of parties, hellos and goodbyes for friends and family, we were able to breathe a collective sigh and embark on our Honeymoon. We had decided to travel down through Italy, via train from Barga to Rome and then by air to Sicily and the second largest of the Aeolian Islands, Salina
The rest of part six is here
aristodemo casciani - barganews.com information about the medieval city of Barga (LU) Tuscany Italy
Aristodemo has been collecting bottles for the last 50 years
The summer festas is the time of year where an extremely old game is sometimes played by men of the area.
The ancient game of Morra - known since Roman times and probably stretches back even to Ancient Greek as well, is a version of the paper - scissors - rock game which can be found all over the world.
Simplicity itself as no objects are needed for the game except a head for numbers and a good memory.
It is a fast and furious game and only the very quick survive. Tempers are raised and blood starts to boil as the game progresses. The game is actually still illegal in Italy after laws were passed in the last century in an attempt to curb the acts of violence between rival players but at festas during the summer you can sometimes hear the raised voices of men playing the game. Download a small (730kb) MP3 file and more images to get a taste of just how fast this game is played here
Daily Images from the award winning photographer O'Connor for the month of August ... as you would expect there are a number of jazz based images this month as he covered the Barga Jazz festival from start to finish (including the after hour jazz sessions which went on till dawn) As usual the most important element of his images are the people of Barga . More images here
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