4. First Day in the Caves

Another very full day. We spent the morning going through caves, seeing the remains of 1000 year-old frescoes in “churches,” which seem to be small devotional spaces, not churches in our sense of the word. Tonio has made it his life’s work to have access to as much of the land where they sit as he can, to restore and conserve this amazing cultural heritage.

We had a professor from a Romanian university today explaining the murals, some of which were so corroded that I really couldn’t make out the features he was pointing out.

Then, of course, because it’s Italy, they set up a fantastic lunch for us in one of the larger caves. Local meats, cheese, salad, melon, and olive oil from Tonio’s land.