April 5; We left Cinque Terre the mountain actually Cliff-side small town of Riomaggiori . Driving in and out is an adventure as one drives on very windy narrow one lane road actually 2 lanes. Roberta made it out wonderfully and we were on our way to Pisa only 1 hour away. we passed Carrara where the fabulous white marble comes from that Michelangelo used for David. Many marble companies lined the road with large pieces of marble waiting for shipment with very large cranes overhead.
Pisa was very interesting with of course the leaning Tower really leaning. We bought the combination pass to see all four main attractions. First we climbed the Tower all 294 steps to get a wonderful view of the city. In 1200's Pisa was powerful naval power with a great port. However the Arno river stated to silt in the harbor resulting that now Pisa is 6 miles from the Medditarerian. So it slowly lost power and the renaissance bypassed Pisa, thought it does have a great University. The Tower was started in 1173 and finished in 1350. We toured the incredibly beautiful Duoma began in 1063 with alternating layers of white and black marble. The Campo Santo cemetery with marble arch building with sarcophagi dating from Roman times. Last was the museum with many interesting things. Hard to believe but we did all this in 2 hours as we were on a tight schedule. Pisa has Jews living here in 850
Next stop was Liverno a harbor town just 20 miles south. The Medici's conquered this area and in 1593 issued an order allowing Jews and Converso ( old name Marronos) and just about anyone to come and develop the town as a trading center. Jews came from Turkey, Amsterdam, north Africa as well as others and made this thriving business center that enriched the Medici's even more so. The Jews here did not have to wear a badge, live in a ghetto and could live anywhere they wanted unlike all other towns in Tuscany. The business language was Spanish and Portuguese till 1790 when things got worse for the Jews. Our first stop was our B&B at someone private apartment which was enormous and the owners very friendly as they drove with us to a street with free parking and then walked wwith us backkk too their place. Their daughter then walked us to our first stop the home and museum of Amedeo Modigliani the Jewish painter who lived here till he was 22 before moving on to Venice and the Paris where he was part of the painters world till he died at 35 in 1918 from TB. He competed with Picasso and the others but stuck with painting faces with very long necks and very moving. He died poor and wouldn't you know it one of his painting fetched 30 million 2 months ago. He was movie star good looking and had many lovers. One was a Catholic girl a model who was incredibly stunning. He parents would not let her marry Amedeo for several years and they were about to marry anyway when he died. Unbelievably she jumps out a 9 story building pregnant with their 9 month child. This is really sad. Another lover commits suicide 2 years later He did have another child, a girl rejected by the mother's family so she was raised by his parents in Liverno. She became an artist also and worked to preserve her Father's work. Unfortunately the 'museum did not have any of his originals but many copies that are still very good. The house is now used also as an artist school and we had to leave as a class was starting.
Our guide here then took us to the Jewish Museum of Liverno which was in a rich person's house dating back to the early 1800's. In 1867 it began to be used as a synagogue that remains somewhat intact. It had a beautiful very large arc with gold leaf and many other local hand made religious objects from early 1600's on.
We then walked back to our B&B rested and then went to the famous Liverno synagogue for Friday night services. Liverno had the 2nd most magnificiant synagogue in Europe after Amsterdam-- built in 1780's but destroyed in 1944 when the Allies bombed the port. After the war,it was rebuilt but in a modern style which was very beautiful. Unfortunately there are few Jews left in Liverno but still there were about 18 men. The service is very different using Sephardic and Italian melodies ( from Spanish period so I was lost a large part of the time.) Afterwards we talked with several men.
We asked one older man how he learned English so well. He said he invited US sailors stationed in Livorno to his parents' home for Shabat dinner and learned from them. We asked how his family survived during WW2. He said his father had money and the family was hidden in a monastery.
We then went for dinner to a friendly lively restaurant. We had a great time--everyone there seemed happy and glad to be with friends and enjoying food and wine. By then Stan was familiar with the town and we walked the half mile to our B&B.
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