DAY EIGHT, CASTELLO PORCIANO, TUSCANY, SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2013
Today is a very big day. Today we are all driving together to Castello Porciano in Tuscany owned by my dear friend Martha Specht. We have a group of eight. And we have been planing this for almost a year. I will tell you all about everyone later, but first I will tell you the itinerary: Milan, Parma, Bologna, in our Hertz rented cars, up over the mountains (The Apennines) then off the autostrada through the Mugello, and over the last mountain down into the Casentino to begin a week at Castello Porciano (you can visit the website: First here is a map of Italy so you can see what we are doing today: Milan, Parma, Bologna, then over the mountains and into the hills and valleys north of Florence ( we don’t go to Florence, we skirt it thus avoiding all the traffic ) and then east through the beautiful valley of the Mugello (the valley of the Mugello runs along the word “Tosco” in the hyphenated Tosco-Emiliane on the map) and finally over the last mountains and down into the valley called the Casentino in which stands the great Castello Porciano. (the castle stands exactly under the letter “E” in that word Tosco-Emiliane).

Here is a photo of the Castello which has been standing here for 1,000 years.

You will want to know where it is located so here is a map of Tuscany. If you look at the map and find Florence. You will see that it sits in a river valley. The Arno Valley. You will see that the Arno is running east of Florence but then you will notice that the direction of the river swings south and goes around that big mountain which is written on the map, “Pratomagno.” The river goes around that mountain and at the bottom of the mountain (at Arezzo), it swings all the way around and goes north up another mountain valley called The Casentino. That’s where Castello Porciano stands. Way up at the top of that valley commanding all of the valley as it looks south towards Arezzo. And it sits at the origin of the Arno. The little tiny rivulet of an Arno springs up at the foot of the mountain upon which stands Castello Porciano. The Castello is almost exactly east of Florence.

Here is another map of the Casentino only, and you will see the red dot which marks the town of Stia, a lovely small town that sits at the foot of the Castello Porciano. Stia is your “town” during your week at Castello Porciiano. There you will find a selection of really great restaurants, fine stores and an excellent up to date supermarkert open all day. So the red dot is your marker for all our trips this week. Each day that you stay at the Castle you can do a nice one-day trip south, east or west and then back in the same day to cuddle down in front of the fire in the Great Hall of the Castello Porciano. Poppi, Bibbiena, La Verna, and of course Arezzo are all worth a trip.

Here is the castle from the other side, the north side, towards the mountains, with the original wall that would have enclosed the entire, inner territory of the castello.

Here I am standing in the opening in the wall of the Castello di Porciano.

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Here is a view of the Great Hall with the huge thick walls and the beautiful Madonna.

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And the feast that was waiting for us in the Great Hall of the castle when we pulled into the courtyard in the early evening hours of Saturday September 14: prosciuto, figs from the castle trees, and delicious red Tuscan wine and many other treats. That’s the firplace over there in the corner where Dante may have sat warming his Tuscan toes while he wrote some poems..

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Here is another view of the great hall at the castle. Notice you have an elevator to move among the seven stories.

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Here is one of our party, Dagmar Zimdahl sitting at her computer using the Castello Wi-Fi (very modern castle).

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Here is a view across the table through the main window which allows you to see the whole of the valley down below which is called The Casentino.

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This photo looks out of the window-seat and past the thick stone walls and into the country following the little road that wanders up the hill behind the castle that you can follow for miles til it turns into little path that runs into the forest.

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The great story of the castle begins with Flaminia Goretti (descended from the Medici and the Strozzi) and the American from Minnesota, George Specht. Flamnia and George met during World War II when George came through Tuscany as Captain George Specht with the American army. The Contessa Corsini gave a lunchean for the American military to meet the Florentines and at the luncheon in the cortile of the Palazzo Corsini that still stands on the banks of the Arno in the center of the city, the Contessa put Captain George Specht next to her old friend the lovely Flaminia. George and Flaminia fell in love. And after the war George came back and married Flaminia. Here is a photo of them at their wedding in the historic church of Santissimi Apostoli in Florence in 1946.

When George saw the castle in ruins and heard the tale of Flaminia’s family he said: “We must rebuild the castle.” Here is a photo of the castle before the restoration. And the second photo shows a view of the castle inside. As you can see, all the floors, all the interior is gone. Collapsed. The huge walls are standing with nothing inside to hold it together. Fortunately, Flaminia’s father had installed an iron chain/bar to hold the walls together. You can see the two iron bars on the exterior. Otherwise, it would have fallen down. One thing to note as you look at the photo of the interio is that the old inner structure of the castle was perfectly clear when they began the restoration. The floors could be rebuilt following the structure of the remaining castle. But, George faced a huge task: how to build a modern, habitable castle residence inside of a one thousand year old castle. But he did it. And his stroke of genius was the design of a central core shaft that would run down the center of the castle tower, totally independent and never touching the ancient walls that had to be preserved, a core shaft that would contain water, electricity, and an elevator. That was what changed the whole project. With an elevator, the ancient tower became a modern residence.

And so for the next twenty years, the restoration of the castle became their life, their passion, their every waking moment. Everything that they had, every resource they could find, went into the reconstruction of this great tower. Flamina sold property; they borrowed; they saved. It became their one goal: saving the castle. George, Flaminia and little Martha. They worked for twnty years. Finally in 1973 it was done. They could move in. And then one day, George died suddenly of a heart attack. His work was done.

When they finished the restoration, they had created one of the premier attractions of this part of the Casentino, and a spectacular, seven-storey habitation that has been standing in this high vantage point of the valley for almost a thousand years. That little arch on the left side of the castle, was a little niche with an altar. During one period of the castle’s history, there was a projecting balcony running around the castle at about the fourth storey, permitting the counts and their families to enjoy the outdoors and the view, high up where they were safe. The little arched indentation would have been part of that structure. Now that is the door opening out from the kitchen. It is a little protected niche way high up, and in some years a mother owl has mades it her nesting spot so then you have to be careful about opening the door so that you don’t disturb her nursery.

Here is Flaminia, as she presided over the newly restored Castello Porciano. She was one of my greatest friends, and one of the most inspirational people I have ever known. It is due to her and her daughter Martha, that all the good things that have come to me here in Tuscany have become part of my life. I would never have known nor appreciated all the wonder and beauty of Tuscany if I had not come to know these great Italians. They became my Italian family and one of the best times ever was bringing my mother Florence (yes, her name was Florence!) here to the Castello Porciano, so that Florence and Flaminia could sit in the Great Hall of the castle and talk and talk and talk together and enjoy the magnificent space that Flaminia and George had created. And now here we are again in that great space in September, 2013.

Here is Martha in the castle.

And Martha and her daughter Lisa.

Martha and sister Patricia Fredlund.

And Martha with the Chairman of the Board of the Institute, Nat Collins during another visit of Instituters to the castle. Martha is serving one of her many specialties. She is the author of a fine Tuscan cookbook.

On Sunday Martha gave us all a tour of the museum of the Castle. Left to right: John Warner, Jennie Warner (Institute Digital Librarian), Peggy Carlisle, Gina Gianini (Wed night class, this year doing Rome) Prof. Fredlund on the stairs, sister Patricia in the white coat, and Jane Blanchard. Heinz took the photo.

It is a wonderful collection of items unearthed during the restoration. Pottery and other historically interesting things were discovered proving that this site upon which the castle stands has been continuously occupied since before Christ.

One final photo of the castle that I love: the shadow of the castle reflected against the trees and greenery of Porciano. Look at the mountain and forest to the north, you can walk for days.