The Shroud of Turin

La Sindone - the Shroud of Turin - is one of the most important Biblical artifacts and one of the biggest attractions in Turin. This piece of cloth is believed to be the shroud that covered Jesus's body in his tomb, and it is famous and important because it appears to have the image of Jesus transferred directly onto the cloth.

The Shroud is kept in this cathedral in the heart of Turin - the Duomo di San Giovanni Battista (Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist).

At the time I took this picture, the cathedral was closed, hence there are no people. But when we came back when it was open, there were several tour groups there. Tourism in Turin is not so big, but I imagine that this is a must-see for the tourists who do come here.

The inside of the church is not as architecturally spectacular as some of the other churches we have seen here, but it is filled with some great religious relics and artwork. The apse of the church has a trompe l'oeil painting on the back wall to give the illusion that the church is bigger than it really is. Now that I think of it, for a "cathedral," the church is actually relatively small.

The huge attractions are along the sides of the church. The walls are lined with alcoves, each ornately decorated and some of which contain relics.

The actual shroud is not publicly displayed, for reasons that are probably not difficult to figure out. It is kept in an ark that can be publicly viewed, but not photographed. The Shroud is only brought out by the pope himself for special occasions. I think there will be a public viewing next summer.

Instead, near the front of the church, they have a replica of the shroud on display, which just looks like a glowing box in this photo because of my camera's exposure and contrast settings or whatnot.

In this picture you can see the image on the Shroud. It's a little misaligned because it's actually two photos spliced together that aren't lined up correctly.

It's clear from the above picture that there is an image on the cloth, but it's hard to tell exactly what it is unless you take a look at the image's negative, which the church has on display right below the Shroud replica.

Today is my last day with internet access at home, so there will likely not be any updates over the weekend. Hopefully, I'll have something to write about at work next week before I finally head back to the US!

And before I close this entry, an odd anecdote from yesterday. On the way back from lunch, two carabinieri (military police) were going into the computer store for a reason we didn't catch. After they exited their car, one of them pretty much goes like "Hold on a sec! I think I forgot something..." when he casually reached into the car and casually pulled out a machine gun, which he casually draped over his shoulder before they casually walked into the store. The carabinieri were being really casual, so I guess nothing too bad was going on, but I guess they might feel a little naked without their machine guns!

22-7-09: Part 2

Here is the second installment on the happenings from our day at "work" yesterday. To pick up where we left off, after a morning on the test track, our boss suggested that we take the day to explore the area surrounding Turin and see the sights. Our final destination during this trip was the city of Avigliana, which is home to the Sacra di San Michele - an abbey located at the very top of the mountain.

This mountaintop is a nice secluded location for an abbey. Fortunately for us, we didn't have to walk all the way to the top, since we were traveling in Sebastian's car. (By the way, did you know that nearly all cars in Italy are manual transmission? Apparently this is a cultural preference.) Here we can see the abbey in the distance, behind these ruins.

The abbey is interesting and unique in that instead of being built on the mountaintop, it is built around the mountaintop. By this, I mean that the peak of the mountain is actually inside the abbey! Here, at the entrance to the Sacra di San Michele, we can see the way in which the stone structure sits in harmony with the stone of the mountain.

Of course, the fact that the mountain continues inside the abbey means that there is a considerable amount of stair-climbing to be done inside! It's not too big of a deal though, compared to the excellent view of the surrounding mountains and the valley and cities below. Sadly, yesterday was really foggy, so the photos didn't turn out too great.

Anyway, moving back inside, after passing through an entranceway in which apparently they used to hang the heads of dead abbots until they decomposed into skulls, we reached a beautiful stairway lined with buttresses that led to the church area.

The church did not try to be showy at all, especially compared to other churches that are more touristy. This one just had some simple pews and the occasional fresco or painting on the wall. The more interesting area though, shown below, is a kind of crypt, right in the church's back area. Elegantly carved sarcophagi presumably containing the remains of previous abbots line the walls.

Right outside the church is a pretty view of the courtyard, which is somewhat run down on the borders but still well-maintained inside and pretty nonetheless.

This courtyard offered us the best views of the abbey. Here we can see the outer walls sprouting right out from the rocks in the mountain!

Some old arches... was this a wall or a buttress?

A huge stone from the mountain juts right out into the courtyard. I guess in the construction of the abbey, they really didn't want to tear the mountain apart at all.

It's as if the mountain and the Sacra di San Michele were one entity!

And good thing we were with Sebastian, because the three of us MITers were finally able to get a picture together. I'm short...

Tomorrow, Fernando and I are going to Paris, where my good buddy Man-Yan has kindly offered us hospitality. Kristen, meanwhile, will be touring Italy with her parents. Hopefully there will be some more updates while I'm in France!

Hike to Superga

As our second warmup climb before our trip tomorrow to Bardonecchia in the Alps, Kristen and I climbed to Superga, just on the outskirts of Turin. The hill is a roughly 400m climb with a basilica atop that can be seen from across the river. Here we can just see the basilica from the bus station at the foot of the 4.5 km long climb.

The climb was not too bad, except for some points where the sidewalks were so covered in overgrown bushes that we needed to walk on the street. On one side of the hill (the side away from the city), the land is almost completely covered in trees. This is not really something I would have expected on the direct outskirts of a large city. There are many hillside estates along the way that must have great views.

At the top of the hill, there is a nice view of the city, and wherever there is a nice view, there will be a panoramic photo!

One thing that I don't like about digital cameras is that you can't capture both a sunset and the ground below. On the photo above, the sky was beautiful, but you wouldn't be able to tell. In the picture below, you can see the nice sunset and purple sky, but the ground is completely dark. Maybe I need a better camera or better technical photography skills.

The basilica was of a style I can't quite pin down. It's almost certainly not classical like many of the larger churches here are, although the very front has some clear classical influence.

Now I thought the view from the top of the hill was nice, but after climbing to an observation platform about halfway up the basilica, I realized that a much better view was possible! Thus... another panorama!

It's a shame that the day was particularly foggy. Otherwise, the view would have been much better, and we may have been able to see some mountains. Looking downwards at the basilica, we can see the convent area, which I earlier strolled into not knowing it was a private area.

Story: The public church area was closed, but I saw an open door, so I walked in. It turns out that at the same exact time, some people on pilgrimage were arriving and the open door was to welcome them into the pilgims' convent. Fortunately, the man in charge was still very nice and helpful to me in the act of kicking me out of the convent, and it turns out that the church was to open about 10 minutes later.

Anyway, I think this is the closest I may have come to a bell tower without actually being inside the bell tower.

Our timing on our hikes this week seems to be good, as we always are able to make it into a safe area just before dark. We found a shortcut on the way down that would have been too steep to take up, and so we made it down the hill very quickly. As we were descending, the city was starting to light up.

Tomorrow, we will probably be climbing about twice as high as we did to get to Superga, but I think we'll be able to do it. The views should be spectacular. I better get some rest!

Como and Bellagio

Let's get back to our trip last weekend to Lake Como, which is shaped like an upside-down "Y" and has many town on its shoreline. When you travel from Milan to the lake, the first town you enter is - naturally - Como, which is also one of the larger town on the lake. The town is home to the major train station in the area, so is kind of a gateway to the lake for tourists who don't have a car.

Como is a little more city-like than the other towns on the lake. It is bigger, a little more modern and crowded, and has a larger flat area than most of the other places. As we'll see later, many of the towns are established right on hillsides.

The town of Como was the home of Alessandro Volta, who was the inventor of the electric battery (and the namesake for the "volt"). Como seems to be very proud of him, so they have a temple right by the lake built for him. It resembles the MIT building a little, doesn't it?

Closer to the town center is the Duomo - the cathderal of Como - which seemed like it was always either closed or in session.

After some lunch, we took a funicular up a hill, which dropped us off at about 400m above the lake level. Near the station was this church that looked relatively simple on the outside,

but whose ceiling was nearly completely covered in paintings inside.

After climbing up another 200m, we reached the Faro Volta (Volta Lighthouse), which offered us the best view of the city and lake, since we could see in all directions. Ready for another panorama? This one is a combination of 7 photos, covering about 240º of rotation!

We then took a hydrofoil to the center of the lake, which is where most of the places we visited are located. The first town we checked out was Bellagio, which is the inspiration for the eponymous hotel in Las Vegas.

Bellagio is a quite small town built right on a hillside, so many of its streets are like this:

Its prettiness and luxury makes it a popular but expensive destination for tourists. By the lakeside there is no shortage of nice places to stroll, relax, and enjoy the view.

In addition to Como and Bellagio, we visited the towns of Menaggio, Varenna, and Tremezzo over the course of our stay. There are lots of different things to see in those places, so stay tuned!

Churches and More Churches!

Lyon is an old city with a rich religious history.  Churches are famous all throughout France and Europe, and it is not all too surprising that the biggest tourist attractions in Lyon are the churches.

The most famous church in Lyon is the Basilique de Notre-Dame de Fourvière, which lies on top of a hill overlooking the city.  It is right next to a smaller-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower, which is the highest point in Lyon and serves as a TV and radio antenna.

M. Robert told us that while tourists love this basilica, the natives of Lyon hate it.  Unlike the other churches in the area which are Romanesque and date back to the 11th century, this church has much more recent Byzantine-style architecture and is much too ornate for the locals tastes.  They refer to the church as looking like "an elephant lying on its back."  Can you see it?

Still, there's no denying that the church is architecturally and artistically impressive, starting with the facade,

and then the upper-floor church (there is another church area in the lower floor),

whose walls are completely lined with colorful paintings.

I think the basilica is - at the very least - cool to look at, but I can understand why it can be an eyesore for those who see it a lot.

At the bottom of the Fourvière hill and in the heart of Vieux Lyon is the Primatiale Saint-Jean Baptiste, which dates back from the 11th century but has needed numerous restorations since then.  There seems to be something major going on with the left tower right now.

The highlight of this cathedral is an astronomical clock with some crazy mechanisms (especially on the lower face).  At every hour, it chimes and some toys come out to dance.

M. Robert's favorite church is the Église Saint-Nizier, which dates all the way back to the 5th century, but has also needed many reconstructions throughout the ages.  In fact, if you look at the two spires, the one on the left is simple and made with tiles, while the one on the right is much more ornate and made of stone.

Just like the Primatiale Saint-Jean Baptiste, this church has a more traditional Roman-style architecture, which is simple and elegant, as opposed to the complex, ornate style of the Fourvière Basilica.

The centerpiece of the church is a beautiful altar.  Behind the altar, you can also see organ pipes, which also distinguishes this church from the Fourvière Basilica, which uses an electric organ.

The best way to enjoy Lyon is to just walk through the streets and enjoy life as the Lyonnais do.  It is not really a touristy city, and is not designed to be one in the way that other cities are.  Still, it does have its own share of "tourist attractions," which don't disappoint.

Tomorrow, I'll be wrapping up the recap of my visit to Lyon with some more on what to see and what to do in the city!

Celebration!

The Patriots-Cardinals game on Sunday was kind of pathetic, but this snow angel touchdown celebration by Wes Welker was one of the high points.  Gotta love the commentating.

And here is an interesting article I found on the name "Jesus"

On Thursday, Christians will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Was the Christian Messiah the first to have that name, or were there a lot of Jesuses running around back then?

Many people shared the name. Christ's given name, commonly Romanized as Yeshua, was quite common in first-century Galilee. (Jesus comes from the transliteration of Yeshua into Greek and then English.) Archaeologists have unearthed the tombs of 71 Yeshuas from the period of Jesus' death. The name also appears 30 times in the Old Testament in reference to four separate characters—including a descendent of Aaron who helped to distribute offerings of grain (2 Chronicles 31:15) and a man who accompanied former captives of Nebuchadnezzar back to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:2).

The long version of the name, Yehoshua, appears another few hundred times, referring most notably to the legendary conqueror of Jericho (and the second most famous bearer of the name). So why do we call the Hebrew hero of Jericho Joshua and the Christian Messiah Jesus? Because the New Testament was originally written in Greek, not Hebrew or Aramaic. Greeks did not use the sound sh, so the evangelists substituted an S sound. Then, to make it a masculine name, they added another S sound at the end. The earliest written version of the name Jesus is Romanized today as Iesous. (Thus the crucifix inscription INRI: "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum," or "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.")

The initial J didn't come until much later. That sound was foreign to Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Not even English distinguished J from I until the mid-17th century. Thus, the 1611 King James Bible refers to Jesus as "Iesus" and his father as "Ioseph." The current spelling likely came from Switzerland, where J sounds more like the English Y. When English Protestants fled to Switzerland during the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary I, they drafted the Geneva Bible and used the Swiss spelling. Translators in England adopted the Geneva spelling by 1769.

In contrast, the Old Testament was translated directly from the original Hebrew into English, rather than via Greek. So anyone named Yehoshua or Yeshua in the Old Testament became Joshua in English. Meanwhile, the holy book of the Syrian Orthodox church, known as the Syriac Bible, is written in Aramaic. While its Gospels were translated from the original Greek, the early scribes recognized that Iesous was a corruption of the original Aramaic. Thus, the Syriac text refers to Yeshua.

Bonus Explainer: What was Jesus' last name? It wasn't Christ. Contemporaries would have called him Yeshua Bar Yehosef or Yeshua Nasraya. (That's "Jesus, son of Joseph" or "Jesus of Nazareth.") Galileans distinguished themselves from others with the same first name by adding either "son of" and their father's name, or their birthplace. People who knew Jesus would not have called him Christ, which is the translation of a Greek word meaning "anointed one."

Merry Christmas!