Tende
Some places never look as good in a photograph as they do when you are there breathing in its air.
Tende is on the Salt Route and located within the Parc Mercantour in the French Alps. It has been populated since 690 and for centuries it has been traded back and forth between France and Italy. In 1947, as part of the war settlements, it was ceded to France. Here the boundary between France and Italy is determined by the watershed line between the two countries.
This line of mountain tops contains more than 20 summits exceeding 2,000 meters.
I return again to this place in a second attempt to find le Sorcier, the god of thunder.
I arrive at the campsite ill and exhausted.
As I unpack my tent there are thunderclaps and lightening
and I know he is greeting me and that this time we will meet.
Outside the church of St. Elmo
Inside the church
Martyrdom of St. Elmo
St. Elmo, aka Erasmus of Formiae, still wearing his bishop's mitre is being methodically disemboweled as his intestines are wound around a windlass.
Apparently there is a bit of confusion over his death, however. Some accounts
say that despite earlier torture which left him unscathed,
St. Elmo died a peaceful death. Other accounts were that he was a patron saint of sailors
and as such would have had the windlass as his symbol. Perhaps in an attempt to jazz up an otherwise
ordinary story, it was declared that the windlass was instrumental in his death, giving rise to a
new, and improved, form of torture. According to religious art historian, Rosa Giorgi,
this is one example where imagery influenced hagiography.
In addition to being the patron saint of sailors, St Elmo is also the patron saint of explosives workers, ordnance workers, and women in labor. He is also invoked against colic, intestinal disorders, stomach diseases, and storms. He is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a group of saints regarded as special protectors against various illnesses.
Fountain with scarlet geraniums
Fountain with cute baby
No comments:
Post a Comment