A POSTCARD from POSADA

A couple of days ago, I went bicycle-riding in the countryside of Posada, behind the hill on which the medieval little town is per-

ched, toward the sea. There are a number of gardens and fields cultivated with orange, lemon, vine trees and I am not sure what

else. Here and there you may spot a few simple buildings at the service of the activities in the field. Several flocks of sheep may

be pasturing these lands at the same time.

At times it can be bothersome for me to come across a watch-dog guarding a flock, because it starts to bark and get excited,

and I just move away, if nothing else from discretion. As soon as I go, however, the dog will bark louder and become more furi-

ous, and sometimes it might even follow me for a little bit. I was told that it does that because it sees me back away, but I don’t

want to just stand there and be the cause for all that din from the dog.

However, a part from these particular cases, I very much appreciated these excursions into the paths of the countryside on my

bike. A couple of days ago, for instance, at a certain moment, I noticed that there was a silence which was very unusual to me.

I could hear the noises of human activities in the distance, toward the inhabited areas, or of the cars, running along the far-off

highway, but the only sounds that I could perceive from close around me were the ones of the insects, of the wind, the bells of

the sheep, the plants, when blown through by the breeze.

I thought about Iowa and Royal, a town of a few hundred inhabitants where I lived for 11 months when I was 17- years-old: over

there also, not far away from the school and the town in general, one could easily reach places where there was nearly complete

silence. Almost as if the idea of other people and human relationships was strange and remote.

In a town as Monza or Milan, I thought, one can always hear some noise due to the incessant and various activities which take

place in a bigger urban center. One has to go quite a distance in order to reach some place where no sound is heard except for

those of nature, if not in the distance. At Posada, in Sardinia, and at Royal, in Iowa, this is instead more immediate.

Indeed, I thought that this is one of those characteristics which relate Posada and Royal much more than Posada and a bigger town

such as Monza or Milan, even if Italian and less distant. There are similarities between living in a little town in Sardinia and in Iowa,

in the U.S.A., just as I believe in any other place, that can hardly be found between that same town and a bigger city which is at a

shorter distance.

The organization of a settlement, and the gathering of its inhabitants in one manner rather than another, assumes typical character-

istics and traits which transcend the particular places, space and, I’m convinced, also time.

So there may be those peculiarities of attitude of the people inhabiting a little town that are even proverbial, such as the inclination to

become all acquainted and familiar with one another in a connecting and bonding way, whereas in a bigger city this certainly occurs

to a lesser degree, there being a greater chance to meet new people that one has never seen before and that they will most likely

never meet again.

I personally believe that there are positive and negative aspects in both situations, because if I can appreciate a good-heart relation-

ship between neighbors that isn’t indifferent, in certain cases and instances, I feel that the reserve and discretion of a bigger urban

center is necessary. But this is maybe a matter of the inclinations and preferences of everyone.

Another aspect of affinity between the little town of Posada and Royal, I thought, consists of their principal reference point for the

inhabitants. At Posada, as might have been evident to whoever has happened to even just drop by these parts, the tower on top of

the hill of the historic center is a visual call for remarkable distances, and, at any rate, from practically every place of its surround-

ing plains.

View of the hill from the pond to the south The fortress and the tower seen from the slopes of the town

In any spot that one might find themselves in, whether it be the fields of the countryside, or a black-top road leading to another

town, or the sea-shore, or the top of a hill of the vicinity, if one takes a glance they may see the tower rising up from the rocks.

Ever since the Middle Ages the tower has been an important presence and reference for the inhabitants of the town. At night, the

most ancient part of the settlement lit up on the slopes of the hill, with the tower on top, almost seems like a nativity scene, such is

the sensation of gathering of the homes around this common center.

At Royal, instead, the central construction which catches the eye and the attention of the inhabitants and visitors passing through

is the silos for collecting corn. Tall and of significant sizes, they are well visibile from the surrounding countryside, as they await

the products of the land earned by the work of man. Here, unlike Posada where the medieval tower is only open for the tourists’

visits, the silos of quite more recent construction are at present still in full use.

The silos for collecting agricultural products A view of the surrounding territory

In Monza or Milano, just as I believe in any bigger city, is certainly more difficult that there may be references that are visually as

all-present. Of course, if I climb to one of the top floors of a tall building I may get to see the roofs of the most part of the other

constructions and above these I might spot the tallest buildings of the city, even at remarkable distances. These might be skyscrapers,

bell towers, high-rises and elevated buildings in general. At ground level I may encounter these and other important and outstanding

buildings, and monuments that are noticed and sensed greatly in the city on the part of the inhabitants and of the passing travellers.

As soon as I walk away a certain distance, however, the view is mostly hindered or closed out by something else that is nearer. The

views in the cities at ground level are unlikely to reach great distances or depths, and more unlikely yet they maintain these

characteristics for an ample visual angle, being for the most part contained and limited by walls, volumes, or building structures

of some type.

If someone were to ask me right now what is the most important and relevant presence of the town of Monza, or the city of Milan,

or of any other town that I have ever been to, I would immediately answer the cathedral, the Dome. The religious building is no

doubt the central and major place, in which the inhabitants may get together, alone and in intimate communion with God, or in

group, on the occasions of community prayers, or on a visit to its artistic works of art and architecture. In that sacred place, I believe

that the whole town can recognize and reflect themselves, individually and as a community. However, for the most part, one holds

and carries that place within oneself, in their heart, their soul, or their spirit, because as soon as they leave the square, the piazza

where the building stands, it is no longer directly visible from most of the other places of the town or city.

WORDS and IMAGES HOMEPAGE