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| This gate was also locked, preventing us from getting inside the church. |
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| This translates to: “the companionship SS V Del Rois,” appears to be the name of someone of significance to these church grounds. |
It’s ironic that we chose to begin watching Showtime’s series, The Borgias, a historical piece on the raucous lifestyle of the papacy in the late 1400’s Italy. Although filmed in Budapest, many scenes are of renowned Italian cities, many of them now familiar to us.
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| The back view of the church and clock tower facing the cemetery. |
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| Overlooking the iron railing around the cemetery prior before entering. |
Able to download full episodes (with no commercials on any of the TV shows) on Graboid, a $19.95 a month download service, we’ve enjoyed watching one episode a night as we catch up from Season 2 and 3, having seen Season 1 in the US.
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| Another view of a portion of the cemetery from the iron railing. A gate was also locked to the main entrance, but we able to enter through an unlocked side gate. |
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| These steps were much steeper than they appear here, more so than many of the steps on the walk to Bar Ferrari in our neighborhood. At the bottom of these steps, we found the unlocked gate allowing us to enter. |
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| These were the first gravesites we spotted as we entered the cemetery. |
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| Tom, ancestry.com obsessed, was fascinated with the stories revealed by the many headstones, names, dates, and photos. |
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| Many gravesites had these oversized headstones. |
Each night after dinner, we place my laptop on the coffee table in the living room to watch the highly entertaining series. The sofa in the living room, more than 100 years old, is lumpy and uncomfortable, but with the addition of a few well-placed pillows, we’ve managed to make it work for us.
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| The name Ferrari, as in the local bar, was depicted on many of the headstones. |
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| Some of the headstones were quite impressive, both old and new. |
With no appropriate plain wall in this house, we haven’t used our mini projector. With 100’s of movies and shows downloaded on our portable hard drive, we’ll be able to continue to enjoy a few shows in the evening when we spend our upcoming nine months in Africa.
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| It was surprising that many of the headstones here in Boveglio weren’t older. The earliest date we saw was in the early 1800’s. However, the oldest of the markers were embedded into the surrounding wall and difficult to read due to their age. |
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| Most of the flowers were artificial as often is the case except for significant dates and remembrances. |
Watching The Borgias, we’ve marveled over their use of the sound of the clock towers clanging while filming the show. Often, we’ve assumed it was the sound of one of the two bell towers we hear four times an hour, including during the night. Located outside of our bedroom window we’re surprised how quickly we’ve become used to the sound which doesn’t awaken either of us at night.
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| Looking carefully, we could see this may have been born in 1832, passing on in 1898. |
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| More Ferrari family members from Boveglio. |
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| This may have been a husband and wife, or a father and daughter. |
After one month in Boveglio we’ve posted many photos of this church and tower that our house overlooks. Since arriving, we’ve wanted to have a closer look at the 100’s year-old structure and cemetery. It’s one of those places you can see, but it’s not easy to get today.
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| This old basin was working, we surmised it was most likely used for watering flowers. |
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| One of these lost souls was born in 1844. |
A few weeks ago, we drove down the steep hill only to be shooed away by some woman sitting in her car with the door open. Worried we were on private property, that the church had been sold as residential property, we left, not wanting to intrude. With no one to ask about it that speaks English, we assumed we wouldn’t be able to get closer.
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| The view backed up at our home and the clock tower next door to us that clangs four times per hour, not necessarily at the exact same times, including during the night. |
On Saturday evenings, as the bells clanged loudly for over five minutes on two occasions, only minutes apart, we saw a man in a red shirt with two children, inside the tower. Unless they are the owners of the church, we decided that today, we’re taking our chances and driving down the steep road, to walk the remainder of the way to see the church up close.
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| Before driving back up the steep hill we stopped for this shot which was our only unobstructed backside view. |
Satisfied that we’d seen all that we could by car and on foot, we maneuvered the steep inclines to return to the main road. With the sharp angle required to depart the narrow driveway, we had no choice but to travel much further down
the winding mountain road to a tiny turnaround spot we’d used on other occasions.
Each day as we write from the veranda with the fabulous views of the mountains covered with a wealth of lush vegetation, a perpetual fluttering of white butterflies, the melodic sounds of myriad birds, and the endless buzzing of bees flying around our heads, we are content.
Every 15 minutes or so, the clock towers clang as a reminder of the history of this magnificent area, the lives lived and died in Boveglio and the memories any of us are lucky enough to treasure in our hearts and minds forever.