Discovery in Roccasecca, Italy
Jeff and I planned our trip to Italy to celebrate both our milestone 70th years and our 46th wedding anniversary last year, October 2017. We'd fly into Rome first, visit with our friend Paolo who would accompany us on our rounds of the usual touristy sites of antiquity....Colosseum, Palatine Hill, excellent cafe lunch with lots of conversation, wine and laughter, followed by a walk around the city to work it all off. I never got to see the Sistine Chapel because of the throngs of people and Jeff's impatience, so that was disappointing for me. I only learned later that we should have bought tickets online before our trip.
Dinner with Roberta and Carlos, friends of Paolo's, was equally entertaining and delicious, and it was there that I mentioned Roccasecca as a destination I wanted to see at the end of our trip. Roberta said it was about a half hour east of her town and we agreed to meet for lunch there on our way back to Rome.
Day two in Rome was an excursion to Museo Frati Cappuccini e Cripta Ossario located in the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini. Basically it was a row of tiny chapels filled with the "artistically arranged" bones; pelvises, thighs, legs, vertebrae, skulls and full skeletons, of Capuchin Friars who died from the 15th to the 18th century and were applied to the walls and ceilings. It was actually pretty gross in my opinion so we didn't stay long. We weren't allowed to take pictures but if you google it, you'll see for yourself https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capuchin_Crypt
The Coast was breathtaking, our villa in Conca dei Marini just outside of Amalfi was perfect. Wine was cheap, plentiful and could be bought in any type of store and the food.... if you see me any time soon you'll observe it's affect on my expanded anatomy. Closest to heaven as I'll ever be.
We saw Capri (crowded) , Amalfi (beyond crowded), Positano (twice, though crowded as well), Maori, Minori and passed through Salerno stopping for an espresso. With each excursion, I ingested Dramamine like I was eating Skittles. The winding roads in the cliffs of the coast produced a nausea unlike any I'd ever experienced including two pregnancies and the day my dog died. I developed a chronic neck ache from the ensuing tension (read: listening to Jeff kvetch about how insane it was to drive a luxury car on such narrow roads). Little smart cars (name was self evident) whisked around blind turns only to be met grill to grill, by full sized tour buses looming before them and forcing all cars to stop, back up as close to the rock face as possible, fold in their side view mirrors, and allow said bus to pass. A friendly wave from the bus driver, a toot of the horn, and he was on his way. We however, were about to throw up!
We got the picture after a couple days of attempting to drive ourselves around, parked our totally unsuitable luxury rental in a safe lot, and either walked the NUMEROUS stairs to explore the seaside and nearby random ruins, or bused to our desired destinations. This appeared to be the safest option in the event of a head on collision, which seemed profoundly inevitable but, to our astonishment, never happened. Despite the automotive debacle, sunrises with coffee were sublime on our terrace overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea as were the sunsets (and cocktails...... lots of cocktails!) An herb garden in back of the villa provided fresh basil, rosemary, lemongrass, and tarragon if I decided to cook, which I happily did once, on Jeff's actual birthday, feeling a bit like Sophia Loren, barefoot and navigating the pots and pans of an authentic Italian kitchen. It was pure paradise and we loved every minute of it. After an amazing 9 days, we were ready to say arrivederci and go to our final destination.
And so, on to Roccasecca:
We arrived in Roccasecca around 11:30 AM and walked the aged cobblestone streets just taking it all in. The town itself is typical of European towns with a central square and narrow streets branching into the residential area like spider legs lined with 2 story residences along the tiny paths on either side, complete with thick, heavy, wooden doors and nameplates identifying its occupants. There was an obelisk at the center of the street entering the town, engraved with the name and region so naturally, I took advantage of a selfie opportunity.
We looked around the square with it's ancient fountain and crumbling stone walls and realized this could be where our grandfather, Luigi, played as a young boy in the 1890's. There was a church that dominated the entrance to the town but it was hard to tell its age because of the new coat of paint. Its heavy wooden doors were locked and there were no identifying plaques to give any indication as to its age. However, there was an ancient stone fountain built into the wall beside it that looked like it was at one time, part of the church. A grotto maybe?
Across from the church, was an official looking municipal type building and Jeff suggested we go inside to see if anyone could help us find out about Luigi Santoro. I'm sorry to say, I was not aware that our grandmother Mary Decalis Santoro was also born in Roccasecca or I would have certainly looked for her records too.
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| Paolo and Jeff |
Day two in Rome was an excursion to Museo Frati Cappuccini e Cripta Ossario located in the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini. Basically it was a row of tiny chapels filled with the "artistically arranged" bones; pelvises, thighs, legs, vertebrae, skulls and full skeletons, of Capuchin Friars who died from the 15th to the 18th century and were applied to the walls and ceilings. It was actually pretty gross in my opinion so we didn't stay long. We weren't allowed to take pictures but if you google it, you'll see for yourself https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capuchin_Crypt
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| Palantine Hill a residential area in Rome (at the foot of the hill.) |
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| The colosseum |
At the Di Vinci Airport in Rome, we rented a car, which we were told, was upgraded to a luxury station wagon at no extra cost, and we started our "luxurious" drive to the Amalfi Coast. Wow did we ever luck out, so we thought (more on that later) It was smooth sailing until we got to a toll booth which, thinking that the auto pass we requested with the rental was automatically attached to the car, we breezed through the red light. Crap. After a while, we figured out that we should probably pay the tolls ourselves, which we did, but expect some kind of bill to arrive in the mail when we return home, for those that inadvertently went unpaid. Something to look forward to for sure.
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The Coast was breathtaking, our villa in Conca dei Marini just outside of Amalfi was perfect. Wine was cheap, plentiful and could be bought in any type of store and the food.... if you see me any time soon you'll observe it's affect on my expanded anatomy. Closest to heaven as I'll ever be.
We saw Capri (crowded) , Amalfi (beyond crowded), Positano (twice, though crowded as well), Maori, Minori and passed through Salerno stopping for an espresso. With each excursion, I ingested Dramamine like I was eating Skittles. The winding roads in the cliffs of the coast produced a nausea unlike any I'd ever experienced including two pregnancies and the day my dog died. I developed a chronic neck ache from the ensuing tension (read: listening to Jeff kvetch about how insane it was to drive a luxury car on such narrow roads). Little smart cars (name was self evident) whisked around blind turns only to be met grill to grill, by full sized tour buses looming before them and forcing all cars to stop, back up as close to the rock face as possible, fold in their side view mirrors, and allow said bus to pass. A friendly wave from the bus driver, a toot of the horn, and he was on his way. We however, were about to throw up!
We got the picture after a couple days of attempting to drive ourselves around, parked our totally unsuitable luxury rental in a safe lot, and either walked the NUMEROUS stairs to explore the seaside and nearby random ruins, or bused to our desired destinations. This appeared to be the safest option in the event of a head on collision, which seemed profoundly inevitable but, to our astonishment, never happened. Despite the automotive debacle, sunrises with coffee were sublime on our terrace overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea as were the sunsets (and cocktails...... lots of cocktails!) An herb garden in back of the villa provided fresh basil, rosemary, lemongrass, and tarragon if I decided to cook, which I happily did once, on Jeff's actual birthday, feeling a bit like Sophia Loren, barefoot and navigating the pots and pans of an authentic Italian kitchen. It was pure paradise and we loved every minute of it. After an amazing 9 days, we were ready to say arrivederci and go to our final destination.And so, on to Roccasecca:
We arrived in Roccasecca around 11:30 AM and walked the aged cobblestone streets just taking it all in. The town itself is typical of European towns with a central square and narrow streets branching into the residential area like spider legs lined with 2 story residences along the tiny paths on either side, complete with thick, heavy, wooden doors and nameplates identifying its occupants. There was an obelisk at the center of the street entering the town, engraved with the name and region so naturally, I took advantage of a selfie opportunity. We looked around the square with it's ancient fountain and crumbling stone walls and realized this could be where our grandfather, Luigi, played as a young boy in the 1890's. There was a church that dominated the entrance to the town but it was hard to tell its age because of the new coat of paint. Its heavy wooden doors were locked and there were no identifying plaques to give any indication as to its age. However, there was an ancient stone fountain built into the wall beside it that looked like it was at one time, part of the church. A grotto maybe?
After attempting to communicate with two very gracious and accommodating women who only spoke Italian, we were lead to the office of someone who spoke limited English and told him about our search. He lead us to another office, explained to the clerk that we were seeking the birth records of one, Luigi Santoro, born here in 1888. He pulled out a thin and peeling volume from the glassed-in barrister bookcase beside his desk, checked the index and opened to page 76. There he was Luigi--date of birth, father, mother, house, street. I took pictures of the page and have since had the document translated by my new Italian friend Roberta, and will attach it at the end of this blog. The two gentlemen saw how excited I was (hugging the clerk repeatedly was a dead giveaway) and it was suggested that we visit the small cafe in the square which was owned by, ofcourse!!.....Santoros!!!
We went into the Sabot Cafe, walking past a large red sign of a bull with a halo (saint bull=santoro... get it?) and asked the young man at the counter if he was a Santoro. His name was Deneb Volante and he called Fabio and Davide , two Santoro brothers, out of the back room .
cell phones to connect to our facebook pages. Isn't technology astounding? In a matter of minutes they knew about us and we knew about them!! We explained to Clementina that we found the records of my grandfather, Luigi Santoro, and hoped to find out more about him. The document stated that the house he was born in was located on via Polonia off the Piazza Patamia and Rocco took us to the house his family was born in, on the Piazza Patamia!! His grandfather was Antonio and unfortunately, when I asked my dad if he remembered a brother Luigi had, he didn't know of one. Luigi went to the US at age 16 with his father Michele and the house was passed on to Antonio's son, Rocco's father, also named Antonio and that's how Rocco kept the house. It's now a bed and breakfast run by Rocco.
We were then shown the interior of Rocco's
"wine cellar" where he produced white and red wine and later presented us with a liter water bottle filled with each. We walked to the house they currently lived in, not too far away, and he brought out an ancient sepia photo of his grandfather Antonio posed beside his wife. Here is Antonio on the left and Luigi on the right. All I could say was an unintelligent "WOW". But wait there's more.......I had our friend Roberta translate the birth document of Luigi and here's what it says:
We went back into town and Rocco decided to fetch a cousin to come meet us at the cafe. He arrived back a few minutes later while I was in the rest room, and I could hear Jeff yelling for me to hurry out. I came out scolding him and stopped in my tracks when I saw why. Standing next to Rocco was Concetta Santoro, a sweet lady bearing a striking resemblance to Aunt Margaret!! We were all a bit overwhelmed but chattered away in our respective languages (poor Clementina could hardly keep up, but managed to tell me Concetta had invited us to stay the night at her home while we visited the family. I told her we had to go to Rome for our flight back to NY but she insisted we stay with her when we return. I told her we would.
Well, it's been a year since our family discovery. We had hoped to make another trip to Italy this year to search through records for our grandmother, Maria DeCarlos also from Roccasecca, wife of Luigi, but Jeff's deteriorated hip had other ideas and we needed to put those plans on hold temporarily. His hip replacement went great though so we have to do this while his other hip and my rickety knees are still in working order. 2019 perhaps? More to come.......
We went into the Sabot Cafe, walking past a large red sign of a bull with a halo (saint bull=santoro... get it?) and asked the young man at the counter if he was a Santoro. His name was Deneb Volante and he called Fabio and Davide , two Santoro brothers, out of the back room .
I told them I was a Santoro and at that point everyone started talking at once, Jeff and I in English and they, in Italian but the smiles and hugs said it all. We were so excited !!Familia. Out came Clementina, the absolutely gorgeous girlfriend of Fabio, who told us she spoke some English and would translate, a herculean feat on her part since we were all jabbering so fast, she was only able to decode a word or two at a time. Then Davide and Fabio's father, Rocco Santoro, came into the cafe and Clementina explained to him, who I was while the boys handed us their
cell phones to connect to our facebook pages. Isn't technology astounding? In a matter of minutes they knew about us and we knew about them!! We explained to Clementina that we found the records of my grandfather, Luigi Santoro, and hoped to find out more about him. The document stated that the house he was born in was located on via Polonia off the Piazza Patamia and Rocco took us to the house his family was born in, on the Piazza Patamia!! His grandfather was Antonio and unfortunately, when I asked my dad if he remembered a brother Luigi had, he didn't know of one. Luigi went to the US at age 16 with his father Michele and the house was passed on to Antonio's son, Rocco's father, also named Antonio and that's how Rocco kept the house. It's now a bed and breakfast run by Rocco.
We were then shown the interior of Rocco's
"wine cellar" where he produced white and red wine and later presented us with a liter water bottle filled with each. We walked to the house they currently lived in, not too far away, and he brought out an ancient sepia photo of his grandfather Antonio posed beside his wife. Here is Antonio on the left and Luigi on the right. All I could say was an unintelligent "WOW". But wait there's more.......I had our friend Roberta translate the birth document of Luigi and here's what it says:
BIRTH
CERTIFICATE
In the year
1888, on April 3, @9,12 a.m. in the town hall, before me Antonio Vona, town clerk,
designated by the Mayor on May 13, 1888, duly approved by the town hall officer
of the municipality of Roccasecca, appeared Michele Santoro, 28 years old,
peasant domiciled in Roccasecca, who declared that @2,08 p.m. last month on the
30th (I suppose it’s March), in the house located in via Polonia,
his wife Carmela Colantonio, a peasant living with him, gave birth to a baby
boy that he presents to me and who is named Luigi.
The present deed
is written before the following witnesses: Giuseppe Renzi, 44 years old,
landowner, and Angelantonio Rufo, 42 years old, police officer, both domiciled
in Roccasecca.
The present deed is by me read to the
people before me and to the witnesses who undersign it as the person interested
cannot write
Giuseppe Renzi, witness
Angelantonio Rufo, witness
The town officer Antonio Vona
We went back into town and Rocco decided to fetch a cousin to come meet us at the cafe. He arrived back a few minutes later while I was in the rest room, and I could hear Jeff yelling for me to hurry out. I came out scolding him and stopped in my tracks when I saw why. Standing next to Rocco was Concetta Santoro, a sweet lady bearing a striking resemblance to Aunt Margaret!! We were all a bit overwhelmed but chattered away in our respective languages (poor Clementina could hardly keep up, but managed to tell me Concetta had invited us to stay the night at her home while we visited the family. I told her we had to go to Rome for our flight back to NY but she insisted we stay with her when we return. I told her we would.Well, it's been a year since our family discovery. We had hoped to make another trip to Italy this year to search through records for our grandmother, Maria DeCarlos also from Roccasecca, wife of Luigi, but Jeff's deteriorated hip had other ideas and we needed to put those plans on hold temporarily. His hip replacement went great though so we have to do this while his other hip and my rickety knees are still in working order. 2019 perhaps? More to come.......
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