0:00:02 > 0:00:05'I'm Andrew Graham-Dixon and I'm an art historian.'
0:00:05 > 0:00:07We're in the basement of Italian history.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10'And I'm Giorgio Locatelli and I'm a chef.'
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Untuosa, unctuous.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16'We are both passionate about my homeland, Italy.'
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Come on, everybody! Let's go!
0:00:18 > 0:00:23The rich flavour and classic dishes of this land are in my culinary DNA.
0:00:23 > 0:00:24Pasta will be hanging.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26And this country's rich layers of art
0:00:26 > 0:00:30and history have captivated me since childhood.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33It actually brings out the naked body all the more.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35In this series, we'll be travelling all the way down
0:00:35 > 0:00:38the west coast of the country from top to toe.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42- Stepping off the tourist track wherever we go.- This is so Italian.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46I want to show off some of my country's most surprising food.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48It's hot.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52Often most born out of necessity but leaving a legacy that's still
0:00:52 > 0:00:55shaping Italian modern cuisine around the world.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57And the art too, is fantastic.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Exotic, deeply rooted in history.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04This week we're in beautiful Lazio and unlike many visitors,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07we're going to ignore its famous capital city, Rome,
0:01:07 > 0:01:09and focus on the amazing legacy
0:01:09 > 0:01:14of those who took refuge here from the cauldron of Rome life.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17We'll be trying incredibly diverse dishes
0:01:17 > 0:01:21from the banqueting halls of the glutton popes to the peasant kitchen,
0:01:21 > 0:01:24where nothing gets wasted.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41For centuries, Lazio has been a land where dramatic stories have unfolded
0:01:41 > 0:01:45and you can still read them in the region's art and architecture.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52It's a rich and very generous land,
0:01:52 > 0:01:55where for us, not all roads lead to Rome.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59I think a lot of people think of Lazio as being a football team.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01They don't even realise that it's a...
0:02:01 > 0:02:03You know, it's an entire province
0:02:03 > 0:02:06full of wonderful things to see, wonderful things to eat.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09One thing that you must always remember is, like...
0:02:09 > 0:02:13that here is where the Romans invented
0:02:13 > 0:02:15the idea of the weekend.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19So here is dotted with absolutely beautiful places where people
0:02:19 > 0:02:23retire from the cosmopolitan...
0:02:23 > 0:02:24- Yeah.- ..you know...
0:02:24 > 0:02:28- triggering malice of the town. - The idea... Yeah.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33So it's lovely to be in Lazio, with this tree cover, the woods.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37In fact, we are on our way to a place that I've...
0:02:37 > 0:02:40- Well, I've quite, for a long time, wanted you to see...- Right.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42..which is this beautiful garden.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45- I think it's my favourite garden in the world.- Really?
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Because, Andrew, you know I am only interested in gardens
0:02:48 > 0:02:50- that grow things that I can cook. - I think...
0:02:50 > 0:02:53I think you'll be interested in this garden anyway.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56- Fantastic.- It's our first stop.- OK.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03This is the Palazzo d'Este in Tivoli.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07In the 16th century, it became home to a cardinal, who despite his
0:03:07 > 0:03:10high clerical status, had a rather troubled relationship
0:03:10 > 0:03:12with Rome and the Vatican.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23So, Giorgio, we are rubbing the sleep from our eyes,
0:03:23 > 0:03:25it's horribly early in the morning
0:03:25 > 0:03:27but if you want to see the Villa d'Este
0:03:27 > 0:03:30without throngs, throngs of tourists,
0:03:30 > 0:03:32this is the only time to come.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34It's half past seven in the morning,
0:03:34 > 0:03:38they'll actually be arriving fairly soon, believe it or not.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43This is the garden of Cardinal Ippolito d'Este,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46the son of Lucrezia Borgia
0:03:46 > 0:03:48and a very disappointed man.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52- He tried to be elected pope five times.- Wow.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56This garden contains... Well, not a little surprise
0:03:56 > 0:03:58but quite big one.
0:03:58 > 0:03:59Vieni con me.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04It's starting, Giorgio.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07When the garden was finished he simply said...
0:04:07 > 0:04:09"Let there be water!"
0:04:11 > 0:04:15All of you people in Tivoli, well, you'll just have to suffer drought.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20You know, he took a third of the town's water supply for his garden.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23So that he could thrill and surprise visiting dignitaries.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29So you think I'm not good enough to be pope?
0:04:29 > 0:04:31See what I can do!
0:04:33 > 0:04:36How it turned from that little wiggling thing. Look at that!
0:04:36 > 0:04:38The power it's got in that.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42That is incredible.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47The style of this garden is called mannerism.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52The art of the surprise, the conceit, the extravagant gesture.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55I think water is a great symbol for mannerism
0:04:55 > 0:04:59because in mannerist art, things are always turning into other things.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Faces are turning into rocks, rocks are turning into faces,
0:05:02 > 0:05:04dragons are turning into lions.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Water is always changing its shape.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10It's the perfect expression of a culture that's... I think it
0:05:10 > 0:05:15lies at the origin of the modern culture of the spectacle.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17It looked quite dull when we arrived, didn't it?
0:05:17 > 0:05:20But now, look. It's just moving completely.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23The whole thing has just come alive.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Look, it's wonderful! The water's reached the light.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29So when the water reaches the light it becomes like a sparkler.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35And of course, you know, it's kind of obvious
0:05:35 > 0:05:38but it's a huge symbol of potency.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Oh, it's such a beauty.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46How many litres of water
0:05:46 > 0:05:50do you think this garden pumps out every day?
0:05:56 > 0:06:01This is still the original 16th century hydraulic system
0:06:01 > 0:06:03- and they're still using it.- Yeah.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06We wonder at the fact that the Victorian sewage system
0:06:06 > 0:06:07- has survived until now.- Yeah.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10This is 300 years before that!
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Cardinal d'Este might have been bitter about Rome in his own time,
0:06:17 > 0:06:21but his garden was directly inspired by the ancient Romans'
0:06:21 > 0:06:25legendary prowess with water and hydraulic engineering.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38To me, these gardens must have helped him in taking his mind
0:06:38 > 0:06:42off his failure to become a pope and to show off his power.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45I think maybe, even a sweet revenge.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Guardi che bello. Don't fall.
0:06:54 > 0:06:55It's very slippery, Giorgio.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59That is fantastic.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Control of water, I think is...
0:07:11 > 0:07:13I think it's hard for us to understand.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15Now, any of us can turn on a tap.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18But, you know, you go back to the 16th century, it's a lot of water...
0:07:18 > 0:07:19You got a bucket to get the water.
0:07:19 > 0:07:24Yeah, or go to the well and travel with the donkey, you know?
0:07:24 > 0:07:27To have water like that is such a symbol of your power.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Look at this guy. What is he doing?
0:07:29 > 0:07:31Buongiorno.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Every day, they start from the top and they clean all the way down,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50because every level must work,
0:07:50 > 0:07:55because you receive enough water to be constant flow all the way through.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00So, if one of the mouth is shut, or two mouth are shut, or there is
0:08:00 > 0:08:04a problem, then it will start to overflow and it loses its effect.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27- How does it feel, Giorgio? - It's brilliant.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30I feel like I'm working on this big project
0:08:30 > 0:08:32and getting it all working as well.
0:08:36 > 0:08:37No, no, no.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42- Sorry, Giorgio.- I didn't get a job.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47- Grazie, buono lavoro. Buono giornata.- Ciao.- Ciao.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53What I love about the garden is...
0:08:54 > 0:08:57..it's designed like the set of an opera.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04But you stand in it and where you're allowed to stand, you know...
0:09:04 > 0:09:09- This is a position of power. Only a few people would be allowed here.- Right.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12You know, the lower cardinals down there,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15the members of the court on level three.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17You really feel like you're
0:09:17 > 0:09:21looking down on the rest of the world from up here,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25with Ippolito d'Este. He clearly wanted to look down on everyone else.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29And you say to everybody, "Look at me. Look what I'm able to do.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32"Look what I am... what I'm capable of. "
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Very Lazio.
0:09:34 > 0:09:39- Said from the outside of Rome, but in the direction of Rome, eh?- Power.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41There's always that black hole of Rome over there.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43- You always know that. - Struggle for power.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47- Like, standing over Rome, isn't it?- I think it's like...
0:09:47 > 0:09:50How... What's the Italian expression?
0:09:50 > 0:09:52Ah, thank you.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Lazio's history may be full of stories about wealth and power,
0:10:03 > 0:10:05like that of Cardinal d'Este,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09but the food of this region is mainly made up of simple dishes.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14Often made with ingredients that people anywhere else may throw away.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16Like the coda alla vaccinara, the oxtail stew.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23This is our first meal in Lazio so I could not, you know,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26ignore what is the great tradition that they have in this region,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30which is the quinto quarto. Quinto quarto,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33- so the fifth fourth. - The fifth quarter.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36The offal makes up more than a quarter of the carcass
0:10:36 > 0:10:39in terms of weight, with the snout, the tripe,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42the tongue and, in this case, the tail.
0:10:42 > 0:10:47Coda alla vaccinara is possibly one of the most representative
0:10:47 > 0:10:49dishes of this region.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52It is something that comes from hundreds and hundreds of years ago.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55The recipe is really, really simple.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58The only problem with this... I'm sorry to say to you - I know that
0:10:58 > 0:11:02you're a very patient man, but it's going to take three hours.
0:11:02 > 0:11:07- I can wait, I can wait.- So the tail is being cut down in pieces.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12This meat is really muscly and it's got a lot of tendons
0:11:12 > 0:11:15and hard bits. These we're going to have to melt gently, OK,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18when we cook it, so that's why the cooking time is just so long.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22OK, I'm going to start to blanch the coda for a minute.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27OK, now look, all we're going to do is... I've got a dish there.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29While those ones are coming back to...
0:11:29 > 0:11:32- What's that sink you're working at? - Look.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34THEY LAUGH
0:11:36 > 0:11:38There's a lot of vegetables to cut.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41What do you want me to do, wash the celery?
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Not wash it, but take away the leaves. Yeah?
0:11:44 > 0:11:47- Get rid of all the leaves. - All of the leaves?- Yeah.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51The vegetables here are exceptional.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57Mmm. It's amazing celery, Giorgio.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11- It's smelling good. - A tiny little bit of white wine.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19The sauce becomes rich and untuosa.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23- Unctuous.- Unctuous.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28Good word. You didn't put very much, you just put enough to do it's job.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32- I put in... - Half a glass?- A glass maybe, yeah.
0:12:33 > 0:12:34Here we go.
0:12:35 > 0:12:36Tomato paste.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41And this is a way I learn how to cook.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43I must admit that with the tomato paste,
0:12:43 > 0:12:46it gets a better flavour kind of thing.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48Just a good old squidge.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52OK, listen, now I'm going to put in the onions,
0:12:52 > 0:12:54the celery and the carrots.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57Cos it's a very traditional thing.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01Not many people cook out of this, outside this region.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08So now we've got to wait for three hours.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11That we can't wait for things, this is incredible, especially with food.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14We have come across this idea that it has to be fast
0:13:14 > 0:13:17because we haven't got the time.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20But now suddenly, no, you have to put it in the microwave
0:13:20 > 0:13:23and tick-tick-tick, ping!
0:13:24 > 0:13:28I'm going to do nothing but I'm just deciding where to do nothing.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30And, actually, you have to do nothing
0:13:30 > 0:13:32but I have to keep on watching what is going on there.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34It's not like I'm doing nothing.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37I just kind of worry a little bit, which is part of the recipe.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40To worry a little bit about it.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43It's an ingredient. "What you doing?"
0:13:43 > 0:13:45I'm worried that it's cooking properly.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49- And every now and then, I go and check it.- Can I have a sleep?
0:13:50 > 0:13:54No, because then you are asleep, you are not doing nothing.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57ANDREW LAUGHS
0:13:57 > 0:13:59You have to be consciously doing nothing.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02- Consciously.- Consciously.
0:14:03 > 0:14:04OK.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07I'll give it a go.
0:14:11 > 0:14:16The tradition of quinto quarto goes back to the second century BC,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19when the Romans indulged themselves with extravagant
0:14:19 > 0:14:23dishes like fattened goose liver and figs, crest of swan,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26flamingo tongue and rooster's testicles.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28Offaly good, they thought.
0:14:32 > 0:14:33But by the 19th century,
0:14:33 > 0:14:37offal had been degraded to poor man's food only.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40It's thanks to the vaccinari, the people who work at the meat market,
0:14:40 > 0:14:43that we have this fabulous recipe.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46They were paid in leftovers of the animals, which they
0:14:46 > 0:14:49ingeniously turn into a coda alla vaccinara dish.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54After three hours of a bit of worrying and a bit of waiting,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56it's finally ready.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03- See all the vegetables are almost gone.- Beautiful.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07Use your hand, use your hand! Pick this, take the bone.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Just, you know, the bone between your fingers like that and then...
0:15:11 > 0:15:15You should suck the meat. It'll soon come out.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18You suck at it like that.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20It's just hot, man.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24Hello. I'm not giving you any of my food.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26I've been waiting three hours for this
0:15:26 > 0:15:29so you can just sit and wait, mate.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31Wow.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35I like all the jelly bits.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39When you get close to the knuckle, you get those jelly bits.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42All the nerves and the tendons and they are on the tail.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44Can you imagine? The tail has got...
0:15:44 > 0:15:47It's absolutely really fibrous muscle.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50This recipe releases it.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53That's why you have to cook it long time and low temperature.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57It really melts away and that's what'll give you that glutinous bit.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01- It's glutinous, it's unctuous. - Unctuous, yeah.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03It's sticky and meaty.
0:16:05 > 0:16:06Mmm. That is...
0:16:06 > 0:16:11- That is delicious.- It's really good.
0:16:11 > 0:16:17- To the quinto quarto.- Si. To the fifth quarter, grazie.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21Mmm.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28The fountains of Villa d'Este told the story of one man's troubled relationship
0:16:28 > 0:16:32with Rome, but the complications between city
0:16:32 > 0:16:35and region date back as far as Rome itself,
0:16:35 > 0:16:38to the ancient civilisation that was here before,
0:16:38 > 0:16:40that of the Etruscans.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49It's a nice road, this one, don't you think?
0:16:49 > 0:16:53- Not only nice, it's unbelievably beautiful too.- Yeah.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Look at that yellow.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59It feels like a really primeval landscape and it's still grown
0:16:59 > 0:17:03with, I think, what the Etruscans first cultivated, which was...
0:17:03 > 0:17:08- spelt, do you call it?- Spelt, yeah, spelt. Spelt is in English.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10- It's called farro in Italian.- Farro.
0:17:10 > 0:17:16This part of Italy, in a sense, it's slightly forgotten or it's the
0:17:16 > 0:17:19land of things that have been forgotten.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22There's an aqueduct that looks like it's been
0:17:22 > 0:17:26abandoned for several centuries and we're on our way to
0:17:26 > 0:17:31explore the remains of a largely forgotten people, the Etruscans.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39We're at Tarquinia,
0:17:39 > 0:17:43one of the coastal centres of the ancient Etruscan civilisation,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46about 80km north of Rome.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50The Etruscans had a rich and varied culture
0:17:50 > 0:17:55and were thriving well before Rome became a dominant power.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58Their story begins around the seventh century BC.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04On the surface, if you compare this site to Roman ruins,
0:18:04 > 0:18:06you could be a little bit underwhelmed.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09Who were the Etruscans?
0:18:09 > 0:18:11We don't actually know that much about them,
0:18:11 > 0:18:13their texts do not survive.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15We do know there were a lot of them
0:18:15 > 0:18:18because there are 6,000 of these tombs in the hills.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22It's dark and cool.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33This is spectacular.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35Oh, look.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38How beautiful.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44- You see this guy?- He's got a catapult.- That's a sling.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47So he's hunting the birds.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49I love these birds.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54And, Andrew, look at these.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Look, the guys just pushed the other guys down the...
0:18:57 > 0:19:00I think he's climbing up the rock and he's diving.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02That's beautiful, the diving figure.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Look, he's got a little smile on his face.
0:19:04 > 0:19:09That, to me, looks almost like Egyptian, isn't it?
0:19:09 > 0:19:12- Yes, all the figures seen in profile.- Yes.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Especially that figure on the right.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20I love that figure of the diver.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23- Do you know, the diver? - Yes, fantastic.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32I found these wall paintings really fascinating and even touching.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35I'm happy we came here.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39But there are some other beautiful frescos that we should really see.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47Spectacular colours.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50Here are the people whose tomb it is.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53The dancer is dancing to the music of the flute.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59Wearing a diaphanous, see through dress.
0:19:59 > 0:20:04Dancing, holding an amphora on her head in the centre of the room.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10These scenes of Bacchic revelries - drinking wine, dancing.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14Just one line, look at it, it's perfect.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19A modern cemetery, there is a lot of gloom.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22- This is more like, so beautiful.- It's a celebration.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27Dancing and singing that seems to accompany them into death.
0:20:27 > 0:20:32All these birds and fish. Like a dolphin, it looks like.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36You don't find these in Ancient Greek art, the dolphins
0:20:36 > 0:20:40and the birds. That's Etruscan. This shows the influence of Greece.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44They have Cult of Dionysus, which becomes the Cult of Bacchus.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46All these different levels of history.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49I mean, Christ takes on the same...
0:20:49 > 0:20:51You know, the blood of Christ that saves us,
0:20:51 > 0:20:55that comes from the blood of the wine of Bacchus, Dionysus.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58So there's these layers of meaning that continue through
0:20:58 > 0:21:00thousands of years in Italy.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05We've just come down here, we're in the basement of Italian history.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08This is where it all kind of started.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Curiously, a man defecating,
0:21:10 > 0:21:15- complete with the end product so to speak.- Yes, the end product midway.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Maybe he suffered from constipation in real life, so in the
0:21:18 > 0:21:20afterlife he's going to
0:21:20 > 0:21:23defecate copiously through all eternity.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Let's hope so.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29There's 6,000 of these tombs!
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Hey, Andrew, we're not going to go and see all of them, are we?
0:21:35 > 0:21:37They've only excavated about 150.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42It's going to take them 600 years to dig up the lot at this rate.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53Eventually, in 264 BC, this rather wonderful Etruscan civilisation
0:21:53 > 0:21:57crumbled under the assault of the Roman invaders
0:21:57 > 0:22:00and was absorbed into the culture of their conquerors.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07Before moving on, I think it's time for a little break.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11We are in Ariccia, where they do the best porchetta in Italy
0:22:11 > 0:22:13and I know that Andrew is a big fan.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18- That's Claudio. Ciao, Claudio. - Ciao, Giorgio.
0:22:24 > 0:22:25The one that he makes is special.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37The thing is, this is so part of their tradition.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55I love the crackling.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10- Salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary. - Buon appetito.- Grazie.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13- Grazie, grazie.- Prego.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Porchetta is another reminder of the Roman Empire,
0:23:17 > 0:23:20since it dates back more than 2,000 years.
0:23:20 > 0:23:25History even tells us that this was one of Nero's favourite foods.
0:23:25 > 0:23:30I mean, this is delicious, isn't it? Fantastic.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34- I love it when you get the little bits of crackling.- Yeah.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39- I also love the temperature, is perfect.- Yeah, that's interesting.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43I think of roast pork as something you eat hot, but it's lovely just like this.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47They cook it and then they let the temperature naturally drop,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49so you have it this kind of lukewarm
0:23:49 > 0:23:51and I think that's the best to get the sweetness.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55- So, if it's too hot, you lose a bit of that.- So the meat really rests.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57That's right, the tenderness,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00the juiciness - so important, so fantastic.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05It's something that you don't have at home because it's impossible
0:24:05 > 0:24:08to cook, in that way, that piece of pig like that.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10So you have to have it as a takeaway food sort of thing.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13And this is it, this is the Italian fast food.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17- You almost have to cook it, like, in a baker's oven, I mean, it's so big. - That's what it is.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Something of such a high quality becomes street food
0:24:20 > 0:24:24and that shows you why the Italians don't have so many McDonald's,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27because you have things like this and it sustains it, you know?
0:24:27 > 0:24:29That is a very good point.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32If you are a pig,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35that's what you want to be, what you want to become really.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39If you're a pig, this is what you want to become?!
0:24:39 > 0:24:43- I suggest we take a straw poll of pigs.- Hey, boys!
0:24:48 > 0:24:50They're parking next to our car.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01- You see, this is the typical day. - A little tour outside the door.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Outside the door of the town.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05That's a hell of a snack. I mean...
0:25:07 > 0:25:12- I'll have another one.- You'll have another one?- It's very, very good.
0:25:15 > 0:25:20The Romans might not have been the most tolerant civilisation,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23but they definitely knew how to eat.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27As we have seen, this area wasn't home just to the Romans.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31The Etruscans weren't the only sophisticated civilisation to
0:25:31 > 0:25:37blossom in Lazio under the expanding shadow of Imperial Rome.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40The Prenestini were another people who flourished
0:25:40 > 0:25:45and I'm bringing Giorgio to Palestrina, once their capital city,
0:25:45 > 0:25:50to see a remarkable work of art from around the second century BC.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54So here we are. You get this great elevator ride...
0:25:55 > 0:26:01..up through the ancient ruins of this Roman foundation.
0:26:01 > 0:26:02This is amazing.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05- So, we're going up in space, but we're going back in time.- Oh.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07Now, they call it Palestrina but that's a medieval name.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09In Roman times, it was called Preneste
0:26:09 > 0:26:12but the people from here, if we go back to the second century BC,
0:26:12 > 0:26:14- they're not actually part of Rome. - No.
0:26:14 > 0:26:20They're part of an independent city state and they're doing really well.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22Their money is built on slavery,
0:26:22 > 0:26:26they control a large part of the territory that goes all the way
0:26:26 > 0:26:29down to the sea, they're basically seafarers and they're merchants,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32and they create this whole town complex.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35What we're going to go and see is something that gives us
0:26:35 > 0:26:39a little picture of what Preneste was like when it was independent.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43- What is it?- It's a fantastic, really rare, mosaic.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48For my money, it's one of the greatest mosaics in the world.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55So, here we are.
0:26:55 > 0:26:56GIORGIO LAUGHS
0:26:56 > 0:26:59- It's big, isn't it?- Enormous!
0:27:00 > 0:27:01Really big.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03Because this is so close to Rome,
0:27:03 > 0:27:06they assumed this must be an ancient Roman mosaic,
0:27:06 > 0:27:08but no, it's not an ancient Roman mosaic.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12This is created for the independent people of Praeneste
0:27:12 > 0:27:17and it's made by Greek artists from Alexandria.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19And that's why, look at the tesserae,
0:27:19 > 0:27:22look how small they are and look how fine the detail is.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Unbelievable. It looks exactly like a mallard.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28- You see there, the little duck?- Yeah.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33You can't be that specific with Roman-style mosaic
0:27:33 > 0:27:37because in the Roman mosaic, the pieces are much bigger.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40It's a Nile scene. It's a wonderful subject.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45It's created about 150 years after the Greeks had moved into Egypt.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49It feels like the river is coming down with all its goodness.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54And then the men come through, transform whatever it is.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56I mean, in a way, we're looking at it as if it were a painting
0:27:56 > 0:27:59because that's how they display it in the museum,
0:27:59 > 0:28:02but that's not how it would have been experienced.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04- It would have been on the floor. - And not only was it on the floor,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06it would have been part of a water feature.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10So, this would've been probably under about that much water.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14I can't emphasise how rare it is.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17The detail are incredible.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19Look at the shadow of the boat.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21Shadow of the boat - I hadn't seen that!
0:28:21 > 0:28:27I really love the way the artist has created an abstract idea
0:28:27 > 0:28:29of a mass of people.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33They are kind of like shadows, with their swords raised up.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37- Can you see that black line going through?- Yes.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40- It's almost like the water is moving, isn't it?- Yep.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43That's really vivid there, the way it's eddying around the rock.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50I love this staring eye.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54That is a hippo that has been skewered to death.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59It's like a one-off, like so many of the wonderful things in Lazio.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02It's not what you can necessarily easily put a label on
0:29:02 > 0:29:06or put into a package. It's created for these people
0:29:06 > 0:29:10who are now no longer very well known in Praeneste,
0:29:10 > 0:29:14who are allowed their independence, up to a point, by Rome.
0:29:14 > 0:29:20Nothing in Rome of this period survives that is as fine as this.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23- That's why we've come here. - OK, I got you!
0:29:24 > 0:29:27So, in that sense, although they lost out to the Romans...
0:29:27 > 0:29:32- They won.- ..they won the art battle. - The thousand years.
0:29:32 > 0:29:33Well, now they did,
0:29:33 > 0:29:37in that we still have to come here to see the very best of it.
0:29:43 > 0:29:48The relationship between Rome and Lazio has been a pretty continuous
0:29:48 > 0:29:53drama and that tale will continue in our next stop - Viterbo.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59But before that, we need to pick up supplies for this evening's supper.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02'I want to stop at the nearby Lake Bolsena,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05'to find one of the specialities of this area.'
0:30:18 > 0:30:20Look at that!
0:30:20 > 0:30:22This is the fish that I grew up with.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26This is freshwater fish, unbelievable stuff. Can't remember the name!
0:30:41 > 0:30:45This is what I used to fish when I was little - perch!
0:30:45 > 0:30:46OK, grazie.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54Eels aren't the only slippery characters here.
0:30:54 > 0:30:59It's also been home to some very political clerics.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01It's very hilly, the landscape of Lazio.
0:31:01 > 0:31:06It constantly opens up to these beautiful panoramic views.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09A landscape full of lakes.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13- And these hilltop fortress towns.- Mmm.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18And we are going to visit one of the most beautiful of them -
0:31:18 > 0:31:20Viterbo.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23Viterbo!
0:31:23 > 0:31:27Which is principally famous for what happened there in the Middle Ages,
0:31:27 > 0:31:33when, in this land of exiles, discontents and fantasists,
0:31:33 > 0:31:39it became home to the exiled papacy, the entire papal conclave
0:31:39 > 0:31:43who settled there for about 20 years, 25 years,
0:31:43 > 0:31:45in the 13th century,
0:31:45 > 0:31:49when Rome became too uncomfortable for them.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51- Maybe dangerous, I guess. - Dangerous.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53I know one thing...
0:31:53 > 0:31:59that the idea of conclave with the keys was born in Viterbo.
0:31:59 > 0:32:01That's what I studied when I was little.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04And they made some extraordinary decisions, or rather
0:32:04 > 0:32:09they failed to make one extraordinary decision!
0:32:09 > 0:32:12Rome wasn't always a safe place for the clerics.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16Back in the 13th century, they had to flee the city several times
0:32:16 > 0:32:20and one of their favourite refuges was the town of Viterbo -
0:32:20 > 0:32:25a town that still looks like a medieval stage set.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30I remember from school the story of how Viterbo hosted
0:32:30 > 0:32:32the longest papal election in history,
0:32:32 > 0:32:35in what became the first conclave.
0:32:38 > 0:32:43We are meeting Professor Luciano Osbat, an expert in papal studies,
0:32:43 > 0:32:47who is going to simplify this extraordinary tale.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33During that period, Viterbo was even called the City of Popes.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37It changed the way popes are elected right up to the present day.
0:33:47 > 0:33:52The 19 cardinals were inside here and they have to elect the pope.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55Took long time, a long time. So, they shut the door first.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57They can't take a decision.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59Two years and a half goes by,
0:33:59 > 0:34:03the people of the city goes nuts about it.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12It's obviously raining in and it's cold and everything.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24This is so Italian, it's unbelievable! It's so Italian.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27Three years to take a decision and at the end of the day,
0:34:27 > 0:34:30it was somebody else who took the decision!
0:34:30 > 0:34:34The idea of the conclave was born here, the fact that you have
0:34:34 > 0:34:37to take somebody, shut him in a room in order to take a decision.
0:34:37 > 0:34:39Because if you leave him to go out
0:34:39 > 0:34:42and consult, you will never get a decision.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45This is so Italian!
0:34:45 > 0:34:47It's like Macchiavelli before Macchiavelli.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49This is definitely like so Macchiavellian!
0:34:55 > 0:34:59So, trying to disentangle all the political interests at work
0:34:59 > 0:35:02would almost be like trying to disentangle the different pieces
0:35:02 > 0:35:08- of spaghetti on a plate.- With a lot of sauce on it! A lot of sauce on it!
0:35:14 > 0:35:17The discourse always finishes with the table!
0:35:24 > 0:35:28Before ending the day around the table with a suitable papal feast,
0:35:28 > 0:35:31I'd like to see a fresco that I've only ever read about.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35Where the scale is quite this...sort of, cosy.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37I feel like I'm in a... It's like a stage set,
0:35:37 > 0:35:41you expect Romeo and Juliet to be kissing on that balcony...
0:35:41 > 0:35:43or not getting to kiss.
0:35:56 > 0:35:57Wow!
0:35:58 > 0:36:02This is the only known work, bar one,
0:36:02 > 0:36:08by a mysterious painter called Lorenzo di Viterbo.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10It's the first time I've seen it.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14Absolutely beautiful and the colour is very light.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17I love the way he has painted this grey cloak,
0:36:17 > 0:36:21very difficult in fresco, because you are really just painting
0:36:21 > 0:36:23into wet plaster.
0:36:23 > 0:36:27That outline...that is sculptural, that sense of line.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31The scene that's fullest of life, teeming with life
0:36:31 > 0:36:35is this freeze-like depiction of the marriage of the Virgin
0:36:35 > 0:36:40to the aged Joseph. According to legend, all of these suitors
0:36:40 > 0:36:45have come to try to win Mary's hand, much younger than Joseph,
0:36:45 > 0:36:49but she will only marry the one who brings a stick
0:36:49 > 0:36:52that miraculously bursts into leaf.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55All of the suitors with their dry sticks -
0:36:55 > 0:36:58can you see them in the background sort of sticking up in the air?
0:36:58 > 0:37:00And broken sticks on the floor.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04In fact, see this chap here in red, is actually snapping his stick
0:37:04 > 0:37:06across his knee in frustration,
0:37:06 > 0:37:08so there are all the frustrated suitors.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11That guy with the green shirt on the left, look at his face.
0:37:11 > 0:37:16He is incredible. He looks really like he's looking at the Virgin Mary.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19You know, I've missed out!
0:37:19 > 0:37:23So, these were done in 1472.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25It's this moment where you can really see
0:37:25 > 0:37:28what people really looked like. It's high realism.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30The faces of the people are incredible.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33You could meet those faces in the streets now.
0:37:33 > 0:37:38It's said that these are actual portraits of 15th century people
0:37:38 > 0:37:42from Viterbo and I think they have the actuality that you believe them.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45I mean, the chap with the grin,
0:37:45 > 0:37:49you know, he's definitely a real person. You couldn't make him up!
0:37:56 > 0:37:59Andrew doesn't know it, but I've been doing some research too
0:37:59 > 0:38:04and I found a cookbook written by the chef of Pope Martin V.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08I'm taking him to a wonderful medieval kitchen
0:38:08 > 0:38:12in the Corte della Maesta to cook him a meal fit for a pope.
0:38:12 > 0:38:17I make you a starter, a pie
0:38:17 > 0:38:19and a dessert!
0:38:19 > 0:38:21What's in the mystery bag?
0:38:21 > 0:38:25I'm going to cook you something you'll love. Look what I got you!
0:38:27 > 0:38:29Errrrhhhh!
0:38:29 > 0:38:33In the past, it was kind of a real, real speciality.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36- The pope used to eat these. - And is this in an old recipe?
0:38:36 > 0:38:39This is an old recipe that I got from this book.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42It's that one from papal cuisine.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45A cook of Martino Quinto.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49Martino Quarto - fourth - when he died,
0:38:49 > 0:38:54on his tomb they wrote, "Gaudent Anguillas.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59"Qui mortus hic giacet quasi mortorear exorbitant eas..."
0:38:59 > 0:39:07"Here lay the guy who died because he ate too many eels!"
0:39:07 > 0:39:12- Does it actually say that on his tomb?- On his tomb. Imagine that.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15They are still extremely alive.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18They have to be and this is one of the quality of this fish.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20You can make it travel quite a long time,
0:39:20 > 0:39:22compared to other fishes, and it's still alive.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26That means that you, we...have got to kill them.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28I kill them!
0:39:28 > 0:39:30They're really slimy! So I'm going to show you
0:39:30 > 0:39:32a little trick with fig leaves.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35- What are they for? For, sort of, descaling the eel?- That's right.
0:39:35 > 0:39:39- This is to make it easier to handle the eel?- To handle it, yeah.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46- That's it! The eel is dead. - What are you doing now?
0:39:46 > 0:39:49We're going to take the skin off. It's not going to be that easy.
0:39:53 > 0:39:54HE GAGS
0:39:56 > 0:40:00- OK, you want to try to do one?- I'd love to.- Come on.- OK. Can I pull it?
0:40:00 > 0:40:02Yes. Vai.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05- OK?- Now you go. Pull it!
0:40:05 > 0:40:07ANDREW GROANS
0:40:07 > 0:40:11- It's difficult to...keep my grip. - Come on!
0:40:11 > 0:40:14Bravo! Yeah! GIORGIO LAUGHS
0:40:14 > 0:40:16I've peeled an eel!
0:40:16 > 0:40:19- I show quite a lot of promise, don't I, as a sous chef?- Yes.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21I think the emphasis is on promise.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29It's time to start.
0:40:32 > 0:40:33There are so many herbs and spices
0:40:33 > 0:40:36that I have to carefully put together.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38Although it's complicated,
0:40:38 > 0:40:41I want to try to stick to the original recipe as much as possible.
0:40:42 > 0:40:47The dishes require such meticulous and time-consuming preparation
0:40:47 > 0:40:50that I'm not surprised that they have been largely forgotten.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54You really need time and an army of people to make it happen.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59A leaf of sage between two slices of eel.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01As strange as it might sound,
0:41:01 > 0:41:05the top of the meat pie has to be covered with sugar.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09And, of course, there is still the dessert to come.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11How long have you been cooking?!
0:41:11 > 0:41:13You've been cooking for a long time.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17I've been reading in the garden, I've fallen asleep twice, erm...
0:41:17 > 0:41:21- Andrew it's a papal dinner, it takes time!- No, I appreciate it.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24There was no conception of fast food at this time,
0:41:24 > 0:41:27- there was no fast food as such. - Well, no, absolutely.
0:41:27 > 0:41:32Andrew, here we are...after hours of slaving away for you!
0:41:32 > 0:41:34ANDREW SIGHS
0:41:34 > 0:41:38An eel...fit for a pope.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43This is my first taste of eel.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47It's very delicate.
0:41:47 > 0:41:48Really delicious!
0:41:48 > 0:41:52Such a subtle flesh that it takes the flavour of the sage.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54With a little crispiness, I should add.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58Those recipes sort of almost look like they are made
0:41:58 > 0:42:01for the chef to justify his wages.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04Almost...they invented recipes that required 15 sous chefs,
0:42:04 > 0:42:07so that they can then justify the fact they've got 15 sous chefs.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10Yes. Otherwise, if they had a little kitchen, they were nobody,
0:42:10 > 0:42:12while if they have big kitchen and a big army of people,
0:42:12 > 0:42:14then they were big chefs.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18The thing that puzzles me about this dish is that it's very delicious
0:42:18 > 0:42:20and I could eat lots and lots and lots of it,
0:42:20 > 0:42:25- but I really don't see how you could eat so much of that that you'd die. - HE LAUGHS
0:42:25 > 0:42:29I mean, Martin IV must have had some kind of eel appetite.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32Mmm! Well, I'm finished.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34I want to eat the pie!
0:42:34 > 0:42:37I choose this because it actually says in here...
0:42:41 > 0:42:45- .."Fit to eat...per l'inglese." - "Per l'inglese."
0:42:45 > 0:42:48- "English visitors to the papal court shall be served pie."- Yes.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52The cook was also...kind of, in a way, he was a diplomat.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55The cook to the pope must have been a really powerful man.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59Absolutely! People of a... quite influence.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04So what's unusual about this recipe?
0:43:04 > 0:43:07It's got meat but it's sweet, it's got sugar on top.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11- What's the meat?- You can use beef, you can use chicken,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14or also you can use birds, because at that time, you know,
0:43:14 > 0:43:19- wild birds would be always kind of...available.- So what did you use?
0:43:19 > 0:43:23I used chicken and...veal.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25I love the smell.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32- GIORGIO LAUGHS - It's unusual!
0:43:32 > 0:43:35Unusual for modern taste, but it's really nice.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37It's delicious!
0:43:37 > 0:43:39This is real medieval cooking, you know,
0:43:39 > 0:43:42where the sugar has the same importance as salt.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45And where, you know...
0:43:45 > 0:43:46It's rich food.
0:43:46 > 0:43:51- I mean, it feels like...a rich person's food.- It really does.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57- Do you want me to get you the dessert?- Yes!
0:43:58 > 0:44:01You know, people kind of think,
0:44:01 > 0:44:06"Oh, they used to love spice because they get to cover up the bad smell."
0:44:06 > 0:44:08No! They used a lot of spice
0:44:08 > 0:44:11because spice would come from foreign countries.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15And to have a lot of spice in your food means you are extremely rich.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18Sugar starts to be commercialised.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20The clerics were the biggest buyer.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25OK. There we are.
0:44:25 > 0:44:29Kind of pancakes, they've got no flour, no nothing else, just eggs.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35- Mmm!- Yeah.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37It's very nice. The only thing I would say,
0:44:37 > 0:44:41- is that after the pie...it's a bit similar, the taste.- That's right.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44- Some of the things coming on again. - That's right, I think there is that little flavour.
0:44:44 > 0:44:48- But this is completely sweet. - How many courses?
0:44:48 > 0:44:52The banquet was, you know, 18, 20, 22 courses easy.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57You know, there are one or two medieval paintings
0:44:57 > 0:44:59- of the circles of Dante's Hell. - Yeah.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01And in the gluttons' section,
0:45:01 > 0:45:06there are always a lot of men of the cloth, ecclesiastic types.
0:45:06 > 0:45:12- They've got these huge bellies and now I understand...why.- Pie.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15- THEY LAUGH - Cheers!
0:45:21 > 0:45:24Well, I enjoyed cooking the papal dinner,
0:45:24 > 0:45:28but it's definitely something that I wouldn't put on my restaurant menu.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30That was certainly quite an unusual taste,
0:45:30 > 0:45:33not entirely unlike the next stop on our journey.
0:45:36 > 0:45:39Not far from Viterbo in these beautiful hills
0:45:39 > 0:45:42another man created his own refuge
0:45:42 > 0:45:45from the political machinations of Rome.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47Often called the Park of Monsters,
0:45:47 > 0:45:51Bomarzo dates back to the 16th century like Villa D'Este.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55Its creator was the eccentric, disenchanted,
0:45:55 > 0:45:58mercenary aristocrat Count Vicino Orsini.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01The sculptures here are grotesque and disturbing,
0:46:01 > 0:46:05the outward expression of Vicino's inner despondency
0:46:05 > 0:46:07at a life of disappointment.
0:46:07 > 0:46:12So... GIORGIO SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:46:17 > 0:46:19Fantastic!
0:46:19 > 0:46:22It's attached to a sphinx and what it says is,
0:46:22 > 0:46:27"Enter this garden with your eyes wide open and your mouths closed
0:46:27 > 0:46:29"and then you'll appreciate that in this place
0:46:29 > 0:46:31"you will find another seven wonders of the world."
0:46:31 > 0:46:34- That's right.- Let's go and find them. - Let's go and find them.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36Of course, the sphinx introduces you to the garden,
0:46:36 > 0:46:39a sphinx is a symbol of mystery.
0:46:43 > 0:46:48Vicino Orsini was a rather melancholic military man.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50He'd been off to the wars,
0:46:50 > 0:46:53fought with the French against the Holy Roman Emperor,
0:46:53 > 0:46:58picking the wrong side, and ended up in jail for three years.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00By the look of the sculptures,
0:47:00 > 0:47:02he really must have been wounded by life.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06- Look at that! - ANDREW LAUGHS
0:47:06 > 0:47:08It's really something!
0:47:08 > 0:47:12This garden was completely lost and forgotten,
0:47:12 > 0:47:14overgrown until the 1940s,
0:47:14 > 0:47:18when Salvador Dali, who else, rediscovered it.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22Dali immediately thought, "Oh, this is surrealism before surrealism."
0:47:22 > 0:47:26This figure that seems to be a man is actually a woman,
0:47:26 > 0:47:30being seemingly ripped in half by this giant.
0:47:32 > 0:47:37This was a stone that was here? They didn't bring this here?
0:47:37 > 0:47:39No, it's carved from the stone.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41That was here? There was a massive stone like that
0:47:41 > 0:47:44- and then they are coming - Bam! Bam! Bam! - and just carve it out.- Yeah.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48- That is exceptional. - It's really amazing!
0:47:48 > 0:47:51We don't even know the names of the artists.
0:47:51 > 0:47:56- All created between 1552 and 1583 near Rome.- Hmm.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58So, Michelangelo is still alive,
0:47:58 > 0:48:02he's the founder of this extreme mannerist style.
0:48:02 > 0:48:06Some people even think that Michelangelo may have played a part in designing these things.
0:48:06 > 0:48:10It definitely looks like one of those Michelangelo sculptures.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13Look at the muscles, how they are really well defined.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17I think maybe...maybe this garden
0:48:17 > 0:48:22is meant to be a kind of allegory of his tormented tempestuous life.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26You know, if you go through the garden, you'll see that you come
0:48:26 > 0:48:30from one struggle to another. You move through this sort of dark garden.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38The 16th century was a period of huge turmoil in Europe
0:48:38 > 0:48:40with the Protestant Reformation
0:48:40 > 0:48:44dealing a major blow to the Roman Catholic Church.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48European politics were dominated by religious conflict.
0:48:48 > 0:48:53I can see why, in 1557, Count Orsini retreated here,
0:48:53 > 0:48:56away from the power games of Rome
0:48:56 > 0:48:59and all those wars that he never wanted to fight.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01The elephant! Isn't it fantastic?
0:49:01 > 0:49:05- I think it's a reference to Hannibal and his army.- Annibale.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07But it's also a reference to Orsini's son -
0:49:07 > 0:49:10the elephant's got a dead soldier in his trunk.
0:49:10 > 0:49:12And I think Orsini's son died in 1573,
0:49:12 > 0:49:15which was when this part of the garden was built.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18So classical references but also personal references.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25That's Pegasus, Andrew. Cavallo Alato.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29Beautiful! I love it with the backlight and the trees coming down.
0:49:30 > 0:49:36The mythology says that when Pegasus touches earth, water spurts out
0:49:36 > 0:49:38and so this is a big fountain.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41It must have been fun when it was all working.
0:49:49 > 0:49:54I kept my favourite of the garden's conceits, the Leaning House, for last.
0:49:54 > 0:49:59For me, it's still got Vicino's feelings of pain and powerlessness,
0:49:59 > 0:50:03but here it's as if he's laughing in the dark.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06- I feel like the building is falling on me.- Yeah.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09GIORGIO WHIMPERS
0:50:09 > 0:50:11Oh! Oh!
0:50:11 > 0:50:14It feels VERY strange!
0:50:17 > 0:50:22It's almost like your brain doesn't register properly,
0:50:22 > 0:50:24something is wrong with it.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27And it's weird, cos you look out and you see mostly the sky.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30- You don't actually see the garden. - Si, because you look up.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33- What?! Ahh!- Are you looking up?
0:50:33 > 0:50:36THEY LAUGH
0:50:36 > 0:50:38- It's really good, isn't it? - It's amazing!
0:50:38 > 0:50:41Orsino...towards the end of his life,
0:50:41 > 0:50:44he felt that everything was wrong in the world.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47So there are these symbols of everything being wrong.
0:50:47 > 0:50:52Like, in art, you see these images where everybody is upside down
0:50:52 > 0:50:55- to indicate the topsy-turvy nature of existence.- Hmm.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59And I think this tower...
0:50:59 > 0:51:04This tower was created to design... It's meant to convey Orsino's sense
0:51:04 > 0:51:08that everything in the world is awry, it's not working properly.
0:51:08 > 0:51:13- Either that or he just employed an architect from Pisa!- From Pisa!
0:51:13 > 0:51:15THEY LAUGH
0:51:23 > 0:51:27The last leg of our trip takes us further away from Rome,
0:51:27 > 0:51:31towards the coast of Lazio's southern border with Campania.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36This was also a place with architectural ambitions,
0:51:36 > 0:51:38but here it's not just a villa.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41400 years after the park of Bomarzo,
0:51:41 > 0:51:46one man built not a villa or a garden, but a city.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51We're in Latina, Benito Mussolini's urban planning dream designed in the '30s.
0:51:53 > 0:52:00Latina is a statement of a new dream of Italy that the Fascists had.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04- Look at this!- That's Fascio Romano. - But can you imagine in Berlin
0:52:04 > 0:52:09- leaving a huge metal sculpture of a swastika?!- This belongs to the Italian from the Roman times,
0:52:09 > 0:52:11then the Fascists used it.
0:52:11 > 0:52:12Look at the square.
0:52:12 > 0:52:17You know, it's like a statement of the new dream of Italy
0:52:17 > 0:52:21that the Fascists had, which is to modernize it.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24- A geometrical plan.- A geometrical plan, you know, all worked out.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27I sort of get it, but I just don't feel it.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30To me, it feels like a stage-set version of an ideal city,
0:52:30 > 0:52:33not really something that believes in itself.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37I mean, these columns... The whole thing feels very sort of brittle and crumbly,
0:52:37 > 0:52:41insubstantial, almost like the Fascist regime itself.
0:52:41 > 0:52:47- Maybe I'm just looking at it with the hindsight of we know what happened to Fascism.- Yeah.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50- Buongiorno.- Ciao.- Ciao.
0:52:55 > 0:52:57But we've really come here to see something
0:52:57 > 0:53:01that perfectly represents Mussolini's idea of his new Italy.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09- Here we are, here we are. - Here we are.- La sala comunale.
0:53:09 > 0:53:11This is Mussolini's Sistine Chapel.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13I've never seen these.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15It's brilliant, isn't it?
0:53:15 > 0:53:20He has a fantastic name the artist, Duilio Cambellotti!
0:53:20 > 0:53:23And this is his masterpiece.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26And look, it's got everything!
0:53:26 > 0:53:30From that side there, I'll read it for you, you don't need to be an art historian to do this.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34Look, that's the working people, old Italy.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37That's the malaria swamps that have been completely cleared,
0:53:37 > 0:53:40all flat and all arable,
0:53:40 > 0:53:42with little houses dotted around
0:53:42 > 0:53:44so that everybody owns their little plot of land,
0:53:44 > 0:53:46because that's what he promised everybody.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49- And there's Mussolini's town. - That's right.
0:53:49 > 0:53:54- With the streets designed like a cobweb.- Yes.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58And here you have... Those guys with the helmet, those are the people who worked...not army.
0:53:58 > 0:54:02Well, Cambellotti was a big fan of William Morris.
0:54:02 > 0:54:04It was all about getting back to nature.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08It was about unalienated labour. He hated the idea of people working in factories.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12They should be working with their hands. There's even a hand that's full of soil.
0:54:17 > 0:54:21I love the way the clouds are sort of exploding on the horizon.
0:54:21 > 0:54:26He was a real idealist, Cambellotti, he managed to persuade himself
0:54:26 > 0:54:29that Mussolini was a kind of saviour of Italy
0:54:29 > 0:54:33and that this was really a form of benevolent socialism.
0:54:33 > 0:54:39And he thought that Mussolini was giving power, giving Italy back to the humble poor Italian people.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41This is what's proposed.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44A vision of order and purity.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47This is actually Latina as it was in Mussolini's imagination.
0:54:47 > 0:54:52- That's what all apparatus was made of.- The propaganda! - The propaganda was like...
0:54:52 > 0:54:56You know, remember the Nazis and the Fascists were very good at their propaganda.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59Very good at giving this message out.
0:54:59 > 0:55:01- "This is all for you." - Unifying them.
0:55:06 > 0:55:10Luckily, Mussolini was overthrown in 1945.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14I can't imagine Italy covered in replicas of Latina.
0:55:14 > 0:55:16For me, this isn't one of Lazio's hidden gems,
0:55:16 > 0:55:19definitely not a place you'd swap Rome for.
0:55:19 > 0:55:23Well, we are at the end of our fascinating journey around Lazio,
0:55:23 > 0:55:28but there's just time to stop for one last view of this breathtaking landscape.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32- Do you think that we have missed out not going to Rome?- No.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34And...if you look over there,
0:55:34 > 0:55:38well, if you squint, you can see St Peter's,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41which reminds me that, in a sense,
0:55:41 > 0:55:44this has been a little bit of a perverse journey.
0:55:44 > 0:55:46They say all roads lead to Rome
0:55:46 > 0:55:51and we have deliberately taken the opposite view where all roads must lead away from Rome,
0:55:51 > 0:55:53because we wanted to explore Lazio -
0:55:53 > 0:55:55the area that lives, as it were,
0:55:55 > 0:55:58and has always lived in the shadow of Rome.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02I suppose if I'm trying to think of the one thing that holds all of the art that we've seen together,
0:56:02 > 0:56:07perhaps it is the fact that it was all created away from Rome.
0:56:07 > 0:56:11Tivoli created by a cardinal who didn't make it in Rome.
0:56:11 > 0:56:16Bomarzo created by a man who'd failed in the great power struggles in Rome.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19Even, in a sense, the Etruscans, their tombs.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22The Etruscans are a people who now live in the shadow of the ancient Romans.
0:56:22 > 0:56:26Many people have never heard of them, they're almost like a civilisation in the shadow of Rome.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28So, I think when you come out to Lazio,
0:56:28 > 0:56:33you discover, so to speak, those who've been left behind, those who failed.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36What is most amazing, especially travelling around with you,
0:56:36 > 0:56:40we saw these statements in art for the rich people
0:56:40 > 0:56:45and, you know, all we got on the food is only the food of the poor.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47The food of the rich has disappeared.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50When we tried to make a recipe of the papal dinner,
0:56:50 > 0:56:55it was so complicated, so time wasting and so many ingredients.
0:56:55 > 0:56:57- Peel an eel!- Peel an eel. GIORGIO LAUGHS
0:56:57 > 0:57:00You know, so laborious all the work.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04And, obviously, the world hasn't got no more time for that.
0:57:04 > 0:57:06This is the produce, this is the land that talks.
0:57:06 > 0:57:11- Here's the Quinto Quarto.- Also the porchetta, which is like, so simple.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13- Porchetta is...- It just comes out the oven and he slices it,
0:57:13 > 0:57:18put it in-between two slices of bread and there you've got the rosemary, pork and - badabing!
0:57:18 > 0:57:22These are the things that are still representative for the region.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25And the art that we've been looking at and the gardens and so on,
0:57:25 > 0:57:29in a sense they're also the underdog.
0:57:29 > 0:57:31They're still made by powerful people,
0:57:31 > 0:57:33but they're made by powerful people on hard times.
0:57:33 > 0:57:38I do think that Lazio is a wonderful place, I really do, and I think it is worth coming here.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41It is worth actually, deliberately, avoiding Rome.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44What was your favourite piece of art if I had to put you on the spot?
0:57:44 > 0:57:48I was really touched, you know, when we went to the catacombs.
0:57:48 > 0:57:53- The Etruscans?- Yeah, there was a moment there, you know, that was really beautiful.
0:57:53 > 0:57:59It felt really like we were back... in common with them.
0:57:59 > 0:58:01Here's to Lazio.
0:58:01 > 0:58:06- And we're going to finish the whole journey without having gone to Rome. - GIORGIO LAUGHS
0:58:06 > 0:58:09No, now the best part of our journey comes.
0:58:09 > 0:58:14We're going into Mezzogiorno now, man! Are you ready? THEY LAUGH
0:58:14 > 0:58:15Andiamo.