In Italy we have too much art, architecture and museums… You may wonder how these things can be TOO MUCH, easy: we do not have enough resources to have them all open and available for people to see and/or we do not have enough interest in things that are considered “minor” only because of the abundance of the “major” ones.
A few days ago some friends from Spain came to visit and one of them has a special interest in representations of the “Noli me tangere” episode of the Bible. Months ago I could see a beautiful painting portraying the “Noli me tangere” by Timoteo Viti in Sant’Angelo Minore church in Cagli, I took some pictures and sent them over to my friend who was thrilled and wanted to see the painting. When she decided to visit for New Year’s Eve we didn’t hesitate in defining the visit to Sant’Angelo Minore as one of the highlights of her visit.
After a very nice meal at Alimentare (now sadly closed… 2020 update) we headed towards the beautiful little church that features a small loggia before the main entrance. …of course the door was firmly locked…
Luckily in Italy we may have too many things to see, but definitely also many unusual ways to obtain what we want. We asked a kind lady next door if she knew when the church would open and she called a neighbour who directed us to Ermes, “down at the household appliances shop” who keeps the keys. When the shop opened he was very nice and opened the church for us!
Going back to where I started, something that I always wanted to visit and never could (it only opened for groups upon appointment) is the Gabinetto di Fisica e Museo di Strumenti Scientifici (Phyics laboratory and museum of scientific instruments) in Urbino. It’s been just relocated inside the Collegio Raffaello in Piazza della Repubblica and is open daily from monday to friday 10,00/12,00 – 15,00/17,00.
It’s a gorgeous collection of scientific instruments that range from optics to magnetism and from acoustics to atomic physics dating from the end of the XVIII century to the beginning of the XX century.
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A key to the church, opened just for you! Such hospitality.
As my friend commented: “Who would’nt enjoy a visit for our eyes only, photos allowed, free entrance fee…”
This is quite common in Italy, if you know whose door you should knock, you can have access to many hidden wonders! Somehow sad (I really wish everything was available for everybody to see) but definitely exciting!