Showing posts with label Vicenza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vicenza. Show all posts

8 October 2024

Carlo Cracco - chef and TV presenter

Former MasterChef Italia judge has won six Michelin stars

Carlo Cracco learned his craft under renowned chef Gualtiero Marchesi
Carlo Cracco learned his craft under
renowned chef Gualtiero Marchesi
The chef and television presenter Carlo Cracco, who has restaurants in Milan, the jet-set resort of Portofino and is shortly to open his first venture in London, was born on this day in 1965 in Creazzo, a town just outside the city of Vicenza.

During his career as a chef, which began in earnest when he began working for the renowned Gualtiero Marchesi in Milan in 1986, Cracco has been awarded a total of six Michelin stars.

He has also enjoyed a successful career in television. Between 2011 and 2017 he was a judge on MasterChef Italia and he fronted Hell’s Kitchen Italia from 2014 to 2018. Among other shows in which he participated was Cracco Confidential, a 2018 documentary about a year in his life.

The son of a railway worker, Cracco obtained a diploma in hospitality from the Pellegrino Artusi hotel institute in Recoaro Terme, while working at the Da Remo restaurant in Vicenza.

From there he joined the kitchen of Gualtiero Marchesi at his eponymous restaurant in Via Bonvesin de la Riva in Milan.

The experience was a real baptism of fire. Marchesi is regarded as the Godfather of modern Italian cuisine and his restaurant in the Porta Venezia district of central Milan was the first in Italy to be awarded three Michelin stars.

To expand his knowledge, Cracco spent some time in France, working with leading chefs Alain Ducasse at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, and Alain Senderins at the Lucas Carlton in Paris.

Cracco's flagship restaurant can be found in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Cracco's flagship restaurant can be
found in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Returning to Italy in 1991, Cracco became head chef at L’Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, winning his first two Michelin stars, before reuniting with his mentor Marchesi at L’Albereta, in the town of Erbusco, near Brescia.

From there, he decided to go it alone. After his first venture, Le Clivie at Piobesi d'Alba, southwest of Asti in Piedmont, had earned him another Michelin star, he returned to Milan, where he agreed a deal with the owners of Peck, the luxury food emporium, to open a restaurant called Peck-Cracco.

It was awarded two Michelin stars, soon becoming known simply as ‘Cracco’. He would remain there for 17 years before relocating to new premises within the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the glass-domed 19th century shopping arcade that links Piazza del Duomo with Piazza della Scala. 

Also in Milan, Cracco opened Carlo e Camilla in Segheria, a bistro that takes its name from a disused sawmill, in the Navigli area. In November 2016 he opened his first restaurant outside Italy, OVO by Carlo Cracco, located in Moscow inside the Hotel Lotte.

His Portofino restaurant, Cracco Portofino, opened in 2021 in what was previously the Ristorante Il Pitosforo, directly opposite the harbour. His first London venture - Terra Cracco - within the Eataly food store in Bishopsgate, London is due to open in October, 2024.

From 2014 to 2018, Cracco fronted the reality TV show Hell's Kitchen Italia
From 2014 to 2018, Cracco fronted the
reality TV show Hell's Kitchen Italia
Cracco’s inventive creations include twists on traditional dishes such as Cotoletta alla Milanese and Insalata Russa. His version of the Milanese veal cutlet is a slice of pounded raw Piedmont veal on a rectangle of breadcrumbs, with slivers of lemon peel on the side. 

His Russian Salad, meanwhile, comes caramelised, a crisp nugget of peas, carrot and beans with a creamy mayonnaise centre within its sugar shell. 

Another of Cracco’s signature creations is his marinated egg yolk in salt and sugar, which can be rolled out into pasta without the addition of flour or water.

Not all of his inventions have met with universal approval. His 'healthy' pizza with a grain base was mocked by traditionalists, particularly in Naples, while the town of Amatrice in Lazio disapproved of his addition of garlic to their trademark amatriciana pasta sauce, which is made simply with guanciale (pig’s cheek), tomatoes, pecorino cheese and black pepper.

However, Cracco successfully sued a newspaper in Verona over comments made by its editor following a dinner to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the city’s annual wine festival, where 400 guests were served with a meal cooked by the chef and his team. 

The Villa Masiero-Pegoraro-Monti is one of a  several elegant villas in the hills around Creazzo
The Villa Masiero-Pegoraro-Monti is one of a 
several elegant villas in the hills around Creazzo
Travel tip:

Creazzo, where Carlo Cracco was born, has been inhabited since Rome times and perhaps earlier. Situated about 7km (4 miles) west of the city of Vicenza, it has a historical significance because of the Battle of Creazzo in 1513, which was part of the larger conflict between the Republic of Venice and the combined forces of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, which highlighted the town’s strategic importance. The town came under Venetian rule and the influence of Venetian architecture and culture can still be seen in the town’s buildings and traditions. In an area of fertile land, Creazzo is known for the production of figs, cheese and a variety of broccoli called Broccoli fiolaro di Creazzo. As well as an elegant centre, the hills around Creazzo are also distinguished by a series of elegant villas including the 18th-century Villa Fadinelli-Suppiej, or Villa dei Veneziani; the Villa Legrenzi, also known as Villa del Sole; and the Villa Masiero-Pegoraro-Monti.

The Navigli district is one of the most popular areas of Milan for restaurants and night life
The Navigli district is one of the most popular
areas of Milan for restaurants and night life
Travel tip:

The Navigli district, where Cracco opened the Carlo e Camilla in Segheria bistro, is an area to the southwest of central Milan that originally consisted of five canals used for commercial transport in the city that date back to the Middle Ages. Their importance declined in the last century and only two - Naviglio Grande and Naviglio Pavese - still exist.  Once a poor neighbourhood, the Navigli is now very popular for the restaurants and bars that line the two waterways and is often thronged with young Milanese in the evenings. What is reputed to be Milan’s best flea and antiques market is held on the last Sunday of the month, with almost two kilometres (one and a quarter miles) of stalls lining the Naviglio Grande. The area still has some examples of palazzi di ringhiera - tenement buildings with shared balconies - which were once typical of the city. 

Also on this day:

1551: The birth of composer Giulio Caccini

1881: The birth of Mona Lisa thief Vincenzo Perrugia

1957: The birth of footballer Antonio Cabrini


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26 April 2022

Tommaso Allan - rugby player

Ex-Treviso star has won 61 international caps

Tommaso Allan in the green colours of Benetton Treviso, his home for five years
Tommaso Allan in the green colours of
Benetton Treviso, his home for five years
The rugby player Tommaso Allan, who has won 61 international caps for the Italy rugby union team since his debut in 2013, was born on this day in 1993 in Vicenza.

A specialist fly-half, Allan is third in the all-time points scoring chart for the Azzurri, having amassed a total of 327 points, including 12 tries and 54 conversions.  Only Diego Dominguez and Stefano Bettarello, both of whom also played at fly-half, scored more points for the national team in their careers.

Currently playing for Harlequins in the English Premiership, Allan spent five seasons playing for Benetton Treviso, one of Italy’s most famous and successful clubs.

Allan was born into a rugby-playing family. His mother, Paola Berlato, was herself an international player, with four caps for the Azzurre at scrum half; his father, William, born in Scotland, spent two years playing for the rugby team of Thiene, a small city in Vicenza province. His father’s brother, John, won nine international caps for Scotland and 13 for South Africa.

Tommaso began playing himself at around the age of six, training at the Petrarca Padova youth academy. 

His father’s career, however, meant that the family left Italy and Allan acquired his rugby education in England, training with the London Scottish and Wasps academies, and then in South Africa where, in 2012, he was a member of the Western Province under-19 team that won the Currie Cup. 

When his father took the family back to Scotland, Tommaso’s dual passport status meant he was eligible for Scotland’s junior teams and he was selected at under-17, under-18 and under-20 levels, competing in both the World Cup and the Six Nations at youth level. 

Allan being interviewed after his Harlequins debut
Allan being interviewed after
his Harlequins debut
He began his club career in France with Perpignan, for whom he made his debut in 2013. Among his teammates was Tommaso Benvenuti, a member of the Italy national team, while the club’s assistant coach was another Italian, Ciccio De Carli. 

They noted his talent and brought him to the attention of Jacques Brunel, the Frenchman who was then Italy’s coach. 

When Brunel named Allan in his 35-man training squad for the 2013 Tests against Australia, Fiji and Argentina, the player had to make a choice between playing for Italy or Scotland at senior level. 

Ultimately, he decided that the opportunity to play international rugby at the age of 20 was something he could not turn down and opted for the Azzurri, making his debut in the match against Australia, coming off the bench to score.

The following year he made his debut in the Six Nations championship, playing for Italy against Wales, France and Scotland. Thereafter, he became a regular in the Azzurri line-up. The following year he was a member of the Italy team that defeated Scotland at Murrayfield in the Six Nations, only the country’s second victory away from Italian soil since they were admitted to the Six Nations in 2000.

After that 2015 victory, Italy went another seven years without recording a single success, home or away, in the competition. The run ended when they beat Wales by a single point in Cardiff in March, 2022.

Allan in action for the Italy national team
Allan in action for the
Italy national team
Allan returned to his native country to play club rugby in 2016, when he signed for Benetton Treviso, one of Italy’s most famous clubs and national champions 15 times.

He made Treviso his home, settling there with his girlfriend, Benan, a Turkish-born student he had met on holiday in Barcelona. 

After sharing an apartment near Benetton Treviso’s base at the Ghirada sports complex south of Treviso, they were married at the Villa Condulmer, a 17th-century Venetian villa built in the Palladian style near Mogliano Veneto, a town between Treviso and Mestra.

While Tommaso pursued his career, Benan, who specialises in neurosciences, continued her education at the University of Padua, where she obtained a PhD. 

Allan left Benetton Treviso in 2021 to join Harlequins, who play at The Stoop, their home in Twickenham, South West London. He told the current Italy coach, the New Zealander Kieran Crowley, not to consider him for selection while he gives full attention to establishing himself in the Premiership but has not ruled out a return to international duty.

UPDATE: Since this article was written, Allan has increased his number of Italy caps to 80 and his points tally to 501, moving him up to second in the all-time chart behind Dominguez. He has also rejoined the French club, Perpignan.

The Piazza dei Signori is Vicenza's main square, attraction thousands of visitors in the summer
The Piazza dei Signori is Vicenza's main square,
attraction thousands of visitors in the summer
Travel tip: 

Known as both the city of Palladio and, on account of its historical trade in precious metals, the ‘city of gold’, Tommaso Allan’s home city of Vicenza is one of the gems of Italy’s Veneto region, with a centre rich in beautiful architecture, much of which has been built or influenced by the 16th century architect Andrea Palladio, who also left his mark on the area by building many impressive villas in the countryside around Vicenza. The most famous of these is the symmetrically four-sided Villa Almerico Capra, commonly known as La Rotonda. There are some 23 buildings in the city itself that were designed by Palladio, including perhaps the city’s most popular attraction, the Teatro Olimpico, which was his last work.

Canals are a feature of Treviso's urban landscape
Canals are a feature of
Treviso's urban landscape
Travel tip:

For many visitors to Italy, Treviso is no more than the name of the airport at which they might land en route to Venice, yet it is an attractive city worth visiting in its own right, rebuilt and faithfully restored after the damage suffered in two world wars. Canals are a feature of the urban landscape – not on the scale of Venice but significant nonetheless – and the Sile river blesses the city with another stretch of attractive waterway, lined with weeping willows. The arcaded streets have an air of refinement and prosperity and there are plenty of restaurants, as well as bars serving prosecco from a number of vineyards. The prime growing area for prosecco grapes in Valdobbiadene is only 40km (25 miles) away to the northeast.



Also on this day:

1538: The birth of painter Gian Paolo Lomazzo

1575: The birth of Maria de’ Medici, Queen of France

1925: The birth of chocolatier Michele Ferrero

1977: The birth of astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti 


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7 August 2018

Vincenzo Scamozzi – architect

Follower of Palladio had his own distinctive style


A portrait of  Vincenzo Scamozzi attributed to Paolo Veronese
A portrait of  Vincenzo Scamozzi
attributed to Paolo Veronese
The architect and writer Vincenzo Scamozzi, whose work in the second half of the 16th century had a profound effect on the landscape of Vicenza and Venice, died on this day in 1616 in Venice.

Scamozzi’s influence was later to spread far beyond Italy as a result of his two-volume work, L’idea dell’Architettura Universale - The idea of a universal architecture - which was one of the last Renaissance works about the theory of architecture.

Trained by his father, Scamozzi went on to study in Venice and Rome and also travelled in Europe.

The classical influence of Andrea Palladio is evident in many of the palaces, villas and churches that Scamozzi designed in Vicenza, Venice and Padua.

His work influenced English neoclassical architects such as Inigo Jones and many others who came after him.

Scamozzi's Palazzo Contarini degli Scrigni on the Grand Canal in Venice
Scamozzi's Palazzo Contarini degli Scrigni
on the Grand Canal in Venice
Scamozzi was also an important theatre architect and stage set designer. He completed Palladio’s Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza in 1585, adding his own design for a stage set constructed of timber and plaster, using trompe-l'Å“il techniques to create the appearance of long streets receding to a distant horizon

Scamozzi was invited to Venice to design housing for the procuratorate of San Marco. He continued the end façade of the Sansovino Library, with its arcaded ground floor, adding an upper floor to provide the required accommodation in the Piazzetta.

Between 1569 and 1614, Scamozzi designed villas, palaces and churches throughout the Venetian Republic, often completing and reworking designs by Palladio, such as the one for Villa Capra “La Rotonda” near Vicenza.

In 1601 he continued the work of the architect Andrea Moroni after his death, by designing a new façade for Palazzo del Bò, the main building of Padua University

Scamozzi designed Palazzo Contarini degli Scrigni on the Grand Canal in Venice and his final project in 1614 was Palazzo Loredan Vendramin Calergi in Venice.

His seven children had died before him, so Scamozzi left the proceeds of his estate to set up a scholarship to enable poor boys from Vicenza to study architecture.

Scamozzi's stage set at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza
Scamozzi's stage set at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza
Travel tip:

The Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza was the last piece of architecture designed by Andrea Palladio and it was not completed until after his death. It is one of three Renaissance theatres remaining in existence and since 1994 it has been listed by Unesco as a World Heritage Site. In 1579 Palladio was asked to produce a design for a permanent theatre in Vicenza and he decided to base it on designs of Roman theatres he had studied. After his death, only six months into the project, Vincenzo Scamozzi was called in to complete it. Scamozzi’s original scenery for the theatre, which was meant to represent the streets of Thebes, has miraculously survived to this day. The theatre is still used for plays and musical performance, but audiences are limited to 400 for conservation reasons. The theatre was also used as a location for the films Don Giovanni and Casanova.

The inner courtyard at Palazzo del Bò, where Scamozzi designed a new facade
The inner courtyard at Palazzo del Bò, where Scamozzi
designed a new facade
Travel tip:

The main building of Padua University is Palazzo del Bò in Via 8 Febbraio in the centre of Padua. Vincenzo Scamozzi designed a new façade for the palace after the death of the original architect commissioned, Andrea Moroni. The building used to house the medical faculty of the university and visitors can take a guided tour of the palace and see the actual lectern used by Galileo when he taught there between 1592 and 1610.

More reading:

How Andrea Palladio became the world's favourite architect

Jacopo Sansovino - the architect of Piazza San Marco

How Canaletto captured the look of Venice

Also on this day:

1919: The birth of film producer Dino De Laurentiis

1956: The birth of Italy's 'Millionaire' Presenter Gerry Scotti

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6 October 2017

Maria Bertilla Boscardin – wartime nurse

Brave nun was prepared to die caring for others


A depiction of Maria Bertilla Boscardin from Catholic Church literature
A depiction of Maria Bertilla Boscardin
from Catholic Church literature
Maria Bertilla Boscardin, a nun who was canonised for her devoted nursing of sick children and air raid victims in the First World War, was born on this day in 1888 in Brendola, a small town in the Veneto.

She was beatified by Pope Pius XII in 1952, just 30 years after she died, and made a saint by Pope John XXIII nine years later.

It was one of the quicker canonisations of modern history. Sometimes many decades or even hundreds of years pass before a person’s life is recognised with sainthood. 

Boscardin’s came so swiftly that relatives and some of the patients she cared for were present at her canonisation ceremony. Indeed, her father, Angelo, was asked to provide testimony during the beatification process.

Born into a peasant family, who knew her as Annette, her life in Brendola, which is about 15km (9 miles) southwest of Vicenza, was tough.  She was seen as rather a slow-witted child, mocked by her peers and unkindly nicknamed ‘the goose’ even by the local priest. Her father, a drunkard, was often abusive and violent.

She wanted to become educated but her attendance at school was at times only sporadic because her family required her to work.

Her ambition to become a nun was in part to escape from this unhappy childhood.  She was turned down by the first order to which she applied but the Sisters of St Dorothy in Vicenza admitted her to their convent, assigning her the religious name Maria Bertilla.

After a tough upbringing, Maria found her calling as a carer for sick children
After a tough upbringing, Maria found her
calling as a carer for sick children
Her first job was at the order’s large charity hospital in Treviso, where she worked in the kitchen, peeling potatoes.  What she is said to have told the novice-mistress of the convent indicated that she had very low self-esteem but she asked for their help to become a better person.

She found her calling after being assigned to work with the children being treated at the hospital, many of whom were suffering from diptheria, and needed constant attention.

One of the doctors at Treviso later testified that many of the children, separated from their families for the first time, arrived at the hospital so agitated that they would cry constantly for several days.

But Sister Bertilla, he recalled, “succeeded in rapidly becoming a mother to them all. After two or three hours the child, who was desperate, clung to her, calmly, as to his mother and followed her wherever she went.”

When the First World War spread to Italy in 1915, Bertilla vowed she would make the ultimate sacrifice, if necessary, to care for the wounded.  An entry in her diary read: ‘Here I am, Lord, to do according to your will, under whatever aspect it presents itself, let it be life, death or terror.'

As Treviso came under attack following the defeat of the Italian army at the Battle of Caporetto, she is said to have stayed with patients who could not be moved, praying and providing marsala wine for those who needed it.

After the war, she was sent to a sanatorium to care for soldiers with tuberculosis. Next she was sent to a seminary to care for survivors of an epidemic.

The statue of Maria Bertilla Boscardin at the
church of Saints Peter and Paul in Cagnano
She was unlucky with her own health, however.  Discovered to have a tumour in her early 20s, after which she underwent surgery, she fell ill again in her early 30s.

The cancer had recurred. The only hope of a cure was to have another operation. But she was much weaker this time and died in October, 1922, two weeks after her 34th birthday.

Having suffered so much cruelty as a young girl and left home with little sense of self-worth, Maria Bertilla ultimately left a deep impression on those who knew her.

She was initially buried in Treviso but after crowds regularly gathered at her grave, it was decided to erect a tomb for her in Vicenza. A memorial plaque placed on her tomb described her as "a chosen soul of heroic goodness ... an angelic alleviator of human suffering in this place."

The tomb became a pilgrimage site where several miracles of healing were said to have taken place.

A number of churches in the area around Vicenza have been dedicated to Saint Maria Bertilla Boscardin, including one at Via Antonio Federico Ozanam in the west of the city and another in the village of Cagnano, about 40km (25 miles) south of Vicenza, which has a statute of her.

Travel tip:

The house of the Sister Teachers of Santa Dorothea, where Maria Bertilla Boscardin took vows, is located in Contrà San Domenico in Vicenza. It contains a chapel dedicated to her which was built in 1952, in view of her beatification. In the same year the urn containing the remains of the saint, originally buried in Treviso, were placed under the altar table.  In 2002 thanks to architect Paolo Portoghesi the altar - previously in burnished copper - was replaced with one in white marble and the urn containing the remains of the saint was placed in front of it.

Waterways lined with weeping willows are a common sight in Treviso
Waterways lined with weeping willows are a
common sight in Treviso
Travel tip:

For many visitors to Italy, Treviso is no more than the name of the airport at which they might land en route to Venice, yet it is an attractive city worth visiting in its own right, rebuilt and faithfully restored after the damage suffered in two world wars. Canals are a feature of the urban landscape – not on the scale of Venice but significant nonetheless – and the Sile river blesses the city with another stretch of attractive waterway, lined with weeping willows. The arcaded streets have an air of refinement and prosperity and there are plenty of restaurants, as well as bars serving prosecco from a number of vineyards. The prime growing area for prosecco grapes in Valdobbiadene is only 40km (25 miles) away to the northeast.




23 September 2017

Paolo Rossi - World Cup hero

Goalscorer who bounced back from two-year ban


(This article was written in 2017; sadly, Paolo Rossi passed away in 2020 at the age of 64)

Paolo Rossi celebrates his goal in the 1982 World Cup final in Spain
Paolo Rossi celebrates his goal in the 1982
World Cup final in Spain
The footballer Paolo Rossi, whose goals steered Italy to World Cup glory in 1982, was born on this day in 1956 in Prato in Tuscany.

At the peak of his career in club football, in which his best years were with Juventus and Vicenza, Rossi scored almost 100 Serie A and Serie B goals in seven seasons.

Yet for many his exploits with the Italian national team define his career. In 48 appearances he scored 20 goals, including six in the 1982 finals in Spain, when he won the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer and the Golden Ball as the best player.

In 1982 he also won the Ballon D’Or, the prestigious award given to the player of the season across all the European leagues, following in the footsteps of Omar Sivori and Gianni Rivera to become the third Italian player to win the vote, in which company he has since been joined by Roberto Baggio and Fabio Cannavaro.

His success story is all the more remarkable for the fact that he scaled so many personal peaks after being banned from football for two years in a match-fixing scandal, although he denied the accusations levelled at him.

The 1982 World Cup saved his career and his reputation, although the fairytale would never have happened but for the faith shown in him by the national coach, Enzo Bearzot.

Italy's coach, Enzo Bearzot, stood by Rossi
Italy's coach, Enzo Bearzot, stood by Rossi
Bearzot’s selection of Rossi for the squad he took to Spain came barely a month after his suspension was lifted and sparked an outcry in Italy. Apart from those who thought he was unworthy of wearing the Azzurri shirt, others argued he would be too lacking in fitness to make an effective contribution.

Yet Bearzot not only believed in Rossi’s innocence, he also recalled the three goals the striker had scored in the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina and was convinced he could make an impact again.

His faith was borne out totally.  Rossi looked off the pace at the start of the tournament but found his feet memorably in the second phase, scoring all three of Italy’s goals in a 3-2 win against a superior Brazil team that still ranks as one of the greatest matches in World Cup history.

He went on to score both Italy’s goals as they defeated Poland in the semi-finals and opened the scoring in Italy’s 3-1 victory over West Germany in the final.

As a boy, Rossi played his first football with an amateur team in the Santa Lucia area of Prato. At the age of 12, he was spotted by a scout from Juventus, who had also been interested in his brother, Rossano, but had sent him home after a year.

His mother, who had always been worried about Rossano having to fend for himself in Turin, was reluctant to suffer a similarly anxious time with Paolo, especially since Rossano’s dreams ultimately came to nothing.

Paolo Rossi in action for Juventus
Paolo Rossi in action for Juventus
But Juventus were persuasive, offering substantial inducements for him to sign, and ultimately in 1972 a deal was agreed.

It took a long time for his career to take off, however. He suffered a series of serious knee injuries and apart from a handful of Coppa Italia games he did not make any real progress towards a regular place in the first team at Juventus.

A spell on loan with Como did not change his fortunes and he might have been told to seek an alternative career had Lanerossi Vicenza, the Serie B club, not stepped in with another loan deal.

Rossi had, until then, been seen as a winger, slight in build but with the speed to beat defenders. Vicenza’s coach, Giovan Battista Fabbri, had other ideas, reckoning that Rossi’s pace could be deployed in the middle, despite his lack of physical stature. 

It proved a masterstroke.  Rossi scored 21 goals to help Vicenza win promotion to Serie A and followed it with 24 in the top flight as Vicenza finished second, a remarkable performance.  Rossi became the first player to be top scorer in Serie B and Serie A in consecutive seasons.

In the event, Vicenza’s flame went out as quickly as it had ignited. They paid 2.612 million lire to make Rossi their own player, making him the world’s most expensive footballer, which he rewarded with another 15 goals, despite missing many games through injury. Yet Vicenza were relegated.

Rossi (right) with Giovan Battista Fabbri, the coach of Vicenza, who turned him into a striker
Rossi (right) with Giovan Battista Fabbri, the
coach of Vicenza, who turned him into a striker
Had they stayed up, Rossi might never have been embroiled in the match-fixing allegations.  Instead, in order to continue playing in Serie A and continue his international career, he went on loan to Perugia, who were heavily implicated in what became known as the Totonero scandal after a match against Avellino, in which Rossi scored twice, was found to have been rigged to end in a draw.

Rossi admitted he had been approached by a third party interested in fixing the result but said he had agreed to nothing.  Nonetheless, he was found guilty and banned for three years, reduced on appeal to two.

Disillusioned, he threatened to leave Italy for a new life elsewhere but Juventus bought him back from Vicenza and the bianconeri finally saw the real Rossi.  He helped them win the Serie A title – the ‘Scudetto’ - the UEFA Cup and the European Cup during a period when his very presence in a team seemed to guarantee their winning a trophy.

Since retiring, Rossi has run a real estate company, opened an agritourism complex in Bucine, near Arezzo, taken part in Ballando con le Stelle – the Italian version of Strictly Come Dancing – and worked for several newspapers and television stations as a columnist and pundit.

He has also run for election to the European Parliament and worked on behalf of a number of charities.  Married to journalist Federica Cappelletti, he has three children.

The Castello dell'Imperatore in Prato
The Castello dell'Imperatore in Prato
Travel tip:

Paolo Rossi’s home city of Prato is the second largest in Tuscany after Florence and has a considerable number of historic churches and palaces and two castles, yet is rarely part of anyone’s tourist itinerary.  Attractions include beautiful frescoes by Filippo Lippi inside the Duomo and the external pulpit by Michelozzo and Donatello, the beautiful Palazzo Pretorio and Piazza del Comune where it sits.  The remains of Castello dell’Imperatore are also worth exploring.  Prato’s traditional textile industry, which today employs many of the city’s large Chinese population, once saw it described as ‘the Manchester of Italy.’

Palladio's Villa Capra, known as La Rotonda
Palladio's Villa Capra, known as La Rotonda
Travel tip:

Known as both the city of Palladio and, on account of its historical trade in precious metals, the ‘city of gold’, Vicenza is one of the gems of the Veneto, with a centre rich in beautiful architecture, much of which has been built or influenced by the 16th century architect Andrea Palladio, who also left his mark on the area by building many impressive villas in the countryside around Vicenza, the most famous of which, the symmetrically four-sided Villa Almerico Capra, commonly known as La Rotonda. There are some 23 buildings in the city itself that were designed by Palladio, including perhaps the city’s most popular attraction, the Teatro Olimpico, which was his last work.

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18 February 2017

Roberto Baggio - football icon

Azzurri star regarded as Italy's greatest player


Roberto Baggio pictured after his world record transfer to Juventus
Roberto Baggio pictured after his world
record transfer to Juventus
The footballer Roberto Baggio, regarded by fans in Italy and around the world as one of the game's greatest players, was born on this day in 1967 in Caldogno, a small town situated about 10km (6 miles) north of Vicenza in the Veneto.

Baggio's career spanned 22 years, most of them spent at the highest level, with Fiorentina, Juventus, Bologna, both Milan clubs and, finally, Brescia, winning the Serie A title twice, the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup.  He played in three World Cups - in 1990, 1994 and 1998 - and achieved the unique distinction among Italian players of scoring at all three.

He scored 318 goals all told, the first Italian for 50 years to top 300 in his career.  Yet he spent almost the whole of his active playing days battling against injury.  Over the course of his career, he had six knee operations, four on his right knee and two on the left, and often could play only with the help of painkillers.

His fans believe that without his injuries, Baggio would have been placed in the same bracket as Pele, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi as the best players in history.  Italy's most famous football journalist, the late Gianni Brera, said Baggio was the greatest Italian player he ever saw, better than both Giuseppe Meazza and Gianni Rivera.

Baggio prepares to take his fateful penalty at the 1994 World Cup
Baggio prepares to take his fateful
penalty at the 1994 World Cup
Those supporters held him in such reverence they gave him the nickname il Divin' Codino - the Divine Ponytail - on account of the hairstyle he wore for most of his career, of his conversion to Buddhism, and because to them he was a football god.

Baggio's career was almost finished before it had really begun when he suffered his first serious knee injury at the age of 18, playing for his first club, Lanerossi Vicenza, in Serie B.

He barely played for the next two years and required extensive surgery.  The injury came two days before he was due to finalise his transfer to Serie A club Fiorentina and several doctors predicted he would not play again, thanks to the damage done to the anterior cruciate ligaments and the meniscus of his right knee.

Yet Fiorentina stuck by him, funded the cost of two operations and were ultimately rewarded with performances of the exquisite brilliance that defined his career and identified him as the complete player, a creative midfielder who could set up a goal for a teammate with the perfect pass, but also a dribbler with the guile and trickery of the greatest wingers and a finisher as deadly as the finest strikers.

In Italy he was categorised as a fantasista, the kind of player every coach dreams of if he has any romance in his veins, the kind of player capable, to use a description Italians would understand, of "inventing the game" with a moment of sublime and unpredictable skill.

When he moved to Juventus in 1990, the £8 million fee made him at the time the most expensive footballer in the world.

Baggio at the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy, where he announced himself as a star
Baggio at the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy,
where he announced himself as a star
It is hardly any wonder that his supporters despair of the fact that he is remembered all too often for the moment in his career when it all went wrong, when he missed his penalty in the shoot-out at the end of the 1994 World Cup final in the United States, handing the trophy to Brazil.  It was one of only eight penalties Baggio failed to convert from a total of 79 in his career.

Yet the picture of Baggio, head bowed, suddenly lost and alone among the 95,000 people present at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, became the image of the tournament, symbolic of an heroic failure.  Baggio had dragged his nation to the final almost singlehandedly by scoring five of their six goals in the knock-out stages. He was, as usual, defying injury - playing in the final with painkilling injections and a heavily strapped thigh after suffering a hamstring tear - yet at the critical moment fate turned against him and his kick went over the bar.

For all the strength of his faith - and he credits Buddhism with helping him through his darkest moments - Baggio confessed that the penalty miss haunted him for many years afterwards, because he had not been able to deliver the dream for his teammates but also because it felt wrong that he would be remembered for something negative.  In fact, by its very longevity, his career had been a triumph against the odds, given the bleak prognosis he was given at only 18 years old.

His fans prefer to remember a seemingly endless list of brilliant goals and spend many hours debating which might be called the best, given that he scored so many of all types, from superbly placed free kicks and perfectly executed volleys to delicate lobs and wonderful mazy dribbles.

Robert Baggio during a recent television documentary reflecting on his career
Robert Baggio during a recent television
documentary reflecting on his career
The most famous goals, inevitably, are those he scored for Italy, such as the one with which he announced himself on the world stage against Czechoslovakia in Rome in the 1990 World Cup finals in his home country, a run from the half-way line full of feints, dips and swerves, capped with a clinical finish.

Others prefer the two he scored against Bulgaria in a one-man show in the semi-final in 1994 at the Giants Stadium in New York.

His own favourites include a perfect lob from the edge of the penalty area towards the end of his career, playing for Brescia against Atalanta in Serie A.

Although born into a large Catholic family, Baggio became a Buddhist on New Year's Day 1988, his conversion a response to the despair and pain he endured during his long period of injury while with Fiorentina.  He prays and meditates daily and claims the religion, to which he was introduced by a friend, made him see life as a challenge to his inner strength.

In 1989, he married Andreina, the daughter of a neighbour in Caldogno he had known since he was 15. They have three children, a daughter, Valentina, and two sons, Mattia and Leonardo, the latter named after one of his heroes, Leonardo da Vinci.

He has a home in Argentina, where he is a supporter of the Boca Juniors club from the Italian neighbourhood of La Boca in Buenos Aires, and often visits Japan through his Buddhist links.

Since finishing his playing career he has spent some time coaching with the Italian Federation and a lot of time involved with charity work, raising money for research into motor neurone disease (also known as ALS) and on behalf of the United Nations, for whom he was active in raising money to fund hospitals, generate help for the victims of the Haiti earthquake, and to tackle bird flu.  His support for the Burmese pro-democracy movement and its imprisoned leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, contributed to Baggio being named 2010 Man of Peace by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates.

The Basilica Palladiana in the centre of Vicenza
The Basilica Palladiana in the centre of Vicenza
Travel tip:

Vicenza is always associated with Andrea Palladio, the city's most famous resident, and no visit should miss out the Teatro Olimpico, which he wanted to create as a Roman theatre inside a medieval building and which was completed, after his death, by Vincenzo Scamozzi, the designer responsible for stage sets giving the illusion of three dimensions.  The city is notable too, of course, for its rich collection of Palladian villas, as well as churches containing paintings by Giovanni Bellini and Paolo Veronese among others.  Away from art and architecture, Vicenza is a city with a wealth of fine restaurants and chic bars and comes to life from about 6pm, with bars serving the traditional aperitivi - vast, free buffets from which customers buying a drink can help themselves at the start of an evening on the town, or simply on the way home from work.

Hotels in Vicenza from Expedia

Travel tip:

Although Brescia, where Roberto Baggio ended his career, is a wealthy city thanks in the most part to its industrial past, there are sights worth seeing for travellers not put off by the somewhat scruffy streets and downmarket shops around the railway station.  The ruins of a Roman forum can be found at Tempio Capitolino, there are two cathedrals, one 150 years old, the other dating back to pre-Renaissance times, and the castle, which holds a museum of the Risorgimento, has its origins in pre-Roman times and has been fortified a number of times, most notably by the Venetians in the 16th century.

Hotels in Brescia from Hotels.com

More reading:

Arrigo Sacchi - coach who steered Italy to the 1994 World Cup final

How Azeglio Vicini's bid to win the World Cup for Italy on home soil ended in heartbreak

When Marco Tardelli's scream became the symbol of Italy's 1982 World Cup triumph

Also on this day:

1455: The death of early Renaissance painter Fra Angelico

1564: The genius Michelangelo dies in Rome

1983: The birth of tennis star Roberta Vinci


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19 August 2016

Andrea Palladio - world's favourite architect

Humble stonecutter became his profession's biggest name


Andrea Palladio, whose designs have been  copied the world over
Andrea Palladio, whose designs have been
copied the world over
Andrea Palladio, the humble stonecutter who became the most influential architect in the history of his profession, died on this day in 1580, aged 71.

The cause of his death is not clear but some accounts say he collapsed while inspecting the construction of the Tempietto Barbaro, a church in Maser, a town in the Veneto not far from Treviso.

He was initially buried in a family vault in the church of Santa Corona in Vicenza, the city in which he spent most of his life, but later re-interred at the civic cemetery, where a chapel was built in his honour.

Examples of Palladio's work can be found all over the region where he lived and in Venice, where he was commissioned to build, among other architectural masterpieces, the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, the focal point of the view across the lagoon from St Mark's Square through the Piazzetta.

He built a substantial number of villas for wealthy clients across the Veneto region, some of them lining the Brenta Canal that links the lagoon of Venice with Padua. Others such as the Villa Capra, otherwise known as La Rotonda, famous for its symmetrically square design with four six-columned porticoes, can be found in open countryside near Vicenza.

Vicenza itself features many of Palladio's designs, including the fabulous Teatro Olimpico, in which perspective was used to create the optical illusion of city streets receding from the stage.  He was working on the theatre at the time of his death, after which the project was finished by his son, Silla, one of five children, and Palladio's assistant, Vincenzo Scamozzi.

The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, one of Venice's most familiar views, was among Palladio's triumphs
The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, one of Venice's most
familiar views, was among Palladio's triumphs
Palladio was born Andrea Di Pietro della Gondola, the son of a miller, in Padua in November 1508. He found work as a stonecutter the workshop of a sculptor before moving to Vicenza when he was 16, joining a guild of stonemasons and bricklayers.

It was while working for the poet and scholar Gian Giorgio Trissino, that his career began to gather pace.  Trissino not only gave him the name Palladio, after the Greek goddess of wisdom, Pallas Athene, but encouraged and helped him to study classical architecture in Rome. He was fascinated with the work of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, architect and engineer of the 1st century BC. It was while in Rome that he came across the Pantheon, with its huge hemispheric dome inspired by Vitruvius, which was to influence many of his designs.

Trissino also introduced Palladio to a number of wealthy and influential families, including the Barbaro brothers, through whom he ultimately became chief architect of the Republic of Venice, having already occupied the equivalent position in Vicenza.

Palladio received his first commissions in the 1530s and thereafter was in constant demand, his style inspiring other architects outside Italy, at first in Europe and later around the world.  One factor in the spread of his fame was his publication in 1570 of his treatise, I Quattro Libri dell'Archittetura (The Four Books of Architecture), which set out rules others could follow.

The style of his designs became so popular that in Britain, for example, there was an explosion of town halls, assembly rooms, country houses, churches, inns and farmhouses that owed the essence of their design to Palladio's interpretation of classical Roman architecture.

The pattern was replicated elsewhere.  The White House, the residence occupied by the most powerful man in the world, the President of the United States, has many echoes of Palladio.

The unmistakably Palladian Church of the Redeemer - Il Redentore - commands the Giudecca Canal
The unmistakably Palladian Church of the Redeemer -
Il Redentore - commands the Giudecca Canal
Travel tip:

The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, situated on the island of the same name across the lagoon and directly opposite the Doge's Palace and the Riva degli Schiavoni, is one of Venice's most recognisable sights.  Along the Giudecca island, opposite the Fondamenta Zattere that flanks the Giudecca Canal on the Dorsoduoro side, is the Church of the Redeemer, better known as Il Redentore, of which the facade is another Palladian masterpiece.

Travel tip:

The city of Vicenza is almost a living museum of Palladio's works, featuring 23 buildings designed by the architect that have been included on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.  In addition to the Villa Capra, which lies outside the centre, and the Teatro Olimpico, there is the Basilicata Palladiana on Vicenza's central Piazza dei Signori, the Palazzo Thiene and the Palazzo Barbaran da Porto, which houses the Museo Palladio.  There is a statue of Palladio in the Piazza dei Signori.

More reading:



Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola - contemporary of Palladio who helped spread Renaissance style

(Photo of Il Redentore by Satdeep Gill CC BY-SA 4.0)

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5 July 2016

Paolo Rossi's World Cup hat-trick

Spain 1982: Italy defeat Brazil in classic match


Paolo Rossi kisses the World Cup trophy on the plane back to Italy
Paolo Rossi kisses the World Cup
trophy on the plane back to Italy
Italians were celebrating up and down the country on this day in 1982 as striker Paolo Rossi turned from villain to hero with a magnificent hat-trick to knock hot favourites Brazil out of the World Cup finals in Spain.

The Juventus forward had served a two-year suspension for his role in an alleged match-fixing scandal while on loan with Perugia and was controversially selected for the World Cup by Italy coach Enzo Bearzot.

He had returned to action in Serie A late in the 1981-82 season after his ban was lifted less than six weeks before the finals were due to begin. Critics argued that with so little preparation time he could not possibly be match fit.

Boasting stars such as Zico, Falcão, Éder and Sócrates, the 1982 Brazil side was reckoned to be at least the equal of the team of Pelé, Rivellino, Tostão and Jairzinho that won the 1970 World Cup in such flamboyant, thrilling style.

Some say the 1982 vintage was even better. What is true is that they needed only to avoid defeat against Italy in their final match in the second group phase in the Estadio Sarrià in Barcelona to reach the semi-finals.  Italy, by contrast, had been uninspiring, scraping through their first-round group without winning a match.

They kept their hopes alive, however, by beating Argentina 2-1 in the first of their two second-round matches and against Brazil, inspired by Rossi, produced one of the most memorable performances by the Azzurri in a match regarded by some football watchers as the greatest World Cup match of all time.

Italy were ahead after just five minutes when Rossi justified the faith of manager Bearzot by heading in Antonio Cabrini's cross.  From that point on, the game consisted of Brazil pushing forward and Italy defending superbly while looking to sting the South Americans on the counter-attack.

Within seven minutes, however, the scores were level as Sócrates played a one-two with Zico and drove the ball in at goalkeeper Dino Zoff's near post.

Paolo Rossi had been a controversial choice in the Italy squad after his ban for alleged match fixing
Paolo Rossi had been a controversial choice in the
Italy squad after his ban for alleged match fixing 
Brazil looked to have momentum and Italy seemed in danger of collapsing under pressure but then a casual pass by Cerezo towards Junior after 25 minutes presented the opportunity for Italy to regain the lead. Rossi, rediscovering his old poacher's sharpness, latched on to the stray ball and shot past goalkeeper Waldir Peres.

The lead held this time until well into the second half, when Rossi could have made it 3-1 but sent an easy chance wide. Two minutes later, Italian fans were stunned when Falcão, given too much time and space, equalised with a powerful drive.

Brazil could have settled then for keeping the scores level but in their desire to win the game they left themselves vulnerable. An Italian attack won a corner, which was only half cleared.  Marco Tardelli's shot was not strong enough to beat Peres but Rossi, his predatory instincts kicking in again, diverted the ball into the net to complete his hat-trick and take Italy into the last four.

With renewed confidence, Italy went on to defeat Poland 2-0 in the semi-finals with Rossi scoring both goals, and overcame West Germany 3-1 in the final.  Rossi scored the opening goal to take his tally to six, which earned him the Golden Boot as the tournament's leading marksman.

Rossi, who was born in Prato in Tuscany and played for Juventus, Vicenza, AC Milan and Hellas Verona in domestic football, retired in 1987. Now 59, he regularly appears on Italian television as a football pundit.

UPDATE: Sadly, Paolo Rossi died in December 2020 at the age of only 64, having been diagnosed with lung cancer.

The Castello dell'Imperatore in Prato
The Castello dell'Imperatore in Prato
Travel tip:

Paolo Rossi's home town of Prato is situated around 25km north-west of Florence.  Its main sights include the 13th century Castello dell'Imperatore and the Church of Santa Maria delle Carceri, which can both be found adjoining the wide Piazza Santa Maria delle Carceri in the centre of the town.

Travel tip:

Paolo Rossi's final club before he retired, Hellas Verona, was founded in 1903 by a group of students, who called the club Hellas, which is the Italian word for Greece, at the suggestion of their classics professor.  In 1906, the team attempted to raise their profile by playing a match inside Verona's famous Roman amphitheatre, the Arena di Verona, nowadays famous for its outdoor productions of opera.

(Photo of Castello dell'Imperatore by Massimilianogallardi CC BY-SA 3.0)

More reading:


Dino Zoff: Italy's 40-year-old World Cup winning captain

Marcello Lippi and Italy's 2006 World Cup triumph

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