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 > 0:00:13Untuoso. Unctuous.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16'We are both passionate about my homeland, Italy.'
0:00:16 > 0:00:17Come on, everybody, let's go!
0:00:19 > 0:00:21'The rich flavour and classic dishes of this land
0:00:21 > 0:00:23'are in my culinary DNA.'
0:00:23 > 0:00:24Pasta with an egg in it.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28'And this country's rich layers of art and history have captivated me
0:00:28 > 0:00:29'since childhood.'
0:00:29 > 0:00:33It actually brings out the naked body all the more.
0:00:33 > 0:00:34'In this series,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37'we'll be travelling all the way down the west coast of the country,
0:00:37 > 0:00:41'from top to toe, stepping off the tourist track wherever we go.'
0:00:41 > 0:00:42This is so Italian.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46'I want to show off some of my country's most surprising food...'
0:00:46 > 0:00:47- It is hot! - HE GASPS
0:00:47 > 0:00:51'..oftenmost born out of necessity, but leaving a legacy that's
0:00:51 > 0:00:54'still shaping Italian modern cuisine around the world.'
0:00:54 > 0:00:55Mmm...
0:00:55 > 0:01:01'And the art, too, is fantastic, exotic, deeply rooted in history.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04'The final stretch of our journey takes us to the Mezzogiorno.'
0:01:04 > 0:01:06It's one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09'Naples and the South, Italy's "Wild West".'
0:01:11 > 0:01:14'Here, invaders and foreign empires have shaped the culture
0:01:14 > 0:01:20'and cooking over millennia to make this Italy's most exotic region.'
0:01:20 > 0:01:24THEME MUSIC ENDS
0:01:25 > 0:01:29PACY, RHYTHMIC MUSIC
0:01:32 > 0:01:34Come on, everybody, let's go!
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Driving your scooter in Naples, this is the thing you want to do.
0:01:47 > 0:01:48- Ciao.- Ciao.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51HORN TOOTS
0:01:51 > 0:01:56Our journey starts in one of my favourite cities - Naples.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01A wild, wonderful place, unlike anywhere else in Italy or the world.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04And the only way to really experience it is on two wheels,
0:02:04 > 0:02:06not four.
0:02:06 > 0:02:07Let's try to not get robbed now.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14Naples' identity is born of centuries of foreign rule.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Greek, Roman, French and Spanish empires have all
0:02:16 > 0:02:21left their mark on a city that's often compared to Cairo and Bombay.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28- Ah, look at that! - GIORGIO LAUGHS
0:02:28 > 0:02:32That's called "Spaccanapoli" because it cuts Napoli in half.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38Visitors always used to say, "Come to Naples for the monuments,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40"for the architecture, for the paintings, for the buildings,
0:02:40 > 0:02:43"but above all you come for the people."
0:02:43 > 0:02:45For the people.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48You come for the sense of real life, street food, markets...
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Look at that - teeming with life.
0:02:51 > 0:02:52HORN TOOTS
0:02:54 > 0:02:59Why are 200 beautiful Neapolitan women going round the central
0:02:59 > 0:03:04obelisk of the Piazza Gesu in a circle? What's going on?
0:03:04 > 0:03:07By Felliniesque coincidence we have arrived in the middle of
0:03:07 > 0:03:10a casting session for the Naples Film Festival.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14Look, they're waiting for us! Yeah, we arrived! Yeah!
0:03:14 > 0:03:18WOMEN SHOUT OUT
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Neapolitans are famous for their sense of theatre
0:03:21 > 0:03:24and people have been coming here to enjoy the vibrant
0:03:24 > 0:03:27and raucous street life for centuries.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32In the 1700s, it became the sensational climax to
0:03:32 > 0:03:35the Grand Tour - the rite of passage undertaken by
0:03:35 > 0:03:38European aristocrats as part of a classical education.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43You would "see Naples and die" as the saying went.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48I'm taking Andrew to a place that allows us
0:03:48 > 0:03:51to glimpse that Naples - the one that dazzled 18th
0:03:51 > 0:03:56and 19th-century visitors, including Goethe and Byron.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Come, we get to go up here.
0:03:58 > 0:03:59What a place.
0:04:00 > 0:04:01GIORGIO LAUGHS
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Andrew, come and have a look at this. This is crazy.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11Nativity scenes - "presepe" - have been popular in Italy
0:04:11 > 0:04:13since the Middle Ages.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16But in 18th-century Naples, they evolved into
0:04:16 > 0:04:21a unique art form - one that still lives on today.
0:04:21 > 0:04:28It is a particularity of the presepe from Naples. And what is today
0:04:28 > 0:04:32everyday business, becomes part of the presepe.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36So the nativity scene mushrooms into all of this daily life -
0:04:36 > 0:04:39the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker -
0:04:39 > 0:04:44- but that's never separated from the presepe, from the nativity?- No.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46They live, you're sacred,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49because you're part of these sacred things that go around you.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53So, we've got these real people from the 18th century
0:04:53 > 0:04:58who sort of have entered the scene. I like this character.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02He's a character straight out of 18th or 17th-century painting from Naples.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04- A lot of them have these goitres... - Yeah, look at that.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08- ..these lumps in their throat. - Yeah, look, the woman has it as well. Look at that.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10They were people who lived on the land and then
0:05:10 > 0:05:13they all crowded into the city, and they were just fed on bread.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15They suddenly lose all their fresh vegetables.
0:05:20 > 0:05:25There is no presepe without Pulcinella eating the spaghetti,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27which kind of represents the poor people -
0:05:27 > 0:05:29the "Lazzaroni" -
0:05:29 > 0:05:32the people who eat pasta with their hands.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35You know, one of the Bourbon kings was actually spotted doing this,
0:05:35 > 0:05:37eating the spaghetti like that.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40It's kind of like saying, "It's shocking me."
0:05:40 > 0:05:43- "I am one with the people." - That's right.- That was his message.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46What I'm worried about is just maybe the tomato sauce.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49ANDREW LAUGHS
0:05:49 > 0:05:52I think this is lacking in realism, this sculpture, because surely
0:05:52 > 0:05:54- there should be... - A little bit of tomato sauce.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56There is a little bit there, but...
0:05:56 > 0:05:57ANDREW LAUGHS
0:05:59 > 0:06:02This exotic, southern city with its extremes of wealth
0:06:02 > 0:06:05and poverty fascinated 18th-century visitors
0:06:05 > 0:06:09because it seemed right on the edge of civilised Europe.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14- So, what did you order? - Una sorpresa!
0:06:16 > 0:06:20Oh, look, you are picking him up but you have to hold him down
0:06:20 > 0:06:23because otherwise he floats away. It's so light.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28THEY SPEAK ITALIAN
0:06:31 > 0:06:36I just noticed this rather beautiful picture on the box that the sweets came in.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40It's an image of Naples in the 18th century, which is a vivid reminder
0:06:40 > 0:06:44of just why Naples was one of the great tourist destinations for centuries.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49This beautiful half-moon shaped bay which has now become rather
0:06:49 > 0:06:54industrialised, but in those days it was paradise on Earth.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58There is Vesuvius smoking in the background, that's still there.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01When the English visitor came here to Naples, what
0:07:01 > 0:07:05they were utterly amazed by was the people, the number of them,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08their liveliness, the way that they would shout rather than talk,
0:07:08 > 0:07:12the way that they lived outside, not indoors, the way that they were so extrovert.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16They way they ate spaghetti with their hands - the Lazzaroni.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19Exactly, the Lazzaroni! On the one hand you can feel that
0:07:19 > 0:07:22people like Goethe or Byron, they are a little bit frightened,
0:07:22 > 0:07:28but they are also thrilled, they see these people, these southern
0:07:28 > 0:07:31people of having a kind of freedom, they are free from property.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33They don't own anything.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35They are free from cares in the idealised version,
0:07:35 > 0:07:37but also a bit dangerous.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44The city, visited by the Grand Tourists of the past
0:07:44 > 0:07:47was characterised by its extravagant Baroque art
0:07:47 > 0:07:51and architecture - full of dramatic effect and stark contrasts.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58There's one chapel that shows off the Neapolitan Baroque in all
0:07:58 > 0:08:00its sensual glory.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03The Cappella Sansevero.
0:08:03 > 0:08:04So here we are...
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Let's face the altar...
0:08:10 > 0:08:11Just take it in.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16This is one of the great Baroque chapels ever created here in Naples,
0:08:16 > 0:08:18ever created anywhere.
0:08:18 > 0:08:24And it's all conceived by one man, Raimondo di Sangro.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30And it's said, here in Naples, that that portrait of him,
0:08:30 > 0:08:35which is Dorian Gray style, decayed with time,
0:08:35 > 0:08:40has done so because God is not happy with him.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46At the heart of the chapel are two sense-stunning sculptures,
0:08:46 > 0:08:48both on the theme of the veiled body.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53And again, he's commissioned a representation of modesty.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56Now, his mother died when he was only one, so he never knew her
0:08:56 > 0:08:59- and never knew what she looked like.- Right.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03He wanted, I think, to preserve her memory for ever
0:09:03 > 0:09:09as a remote, celestial, perfectly innocent, perfectly formed being.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14What would you think if that was your mother?
0:09:14 > 0:09:18As much as I love my mum...you know,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20I will never commission something like that,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23you know what I mean? This is a little bit hot to be your mum.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27He didn't see it that way, for him it was as an allegory of purity.
0:09:27 > 0:09:35- There were scandals.- To put it... Naples had a kind of nipple problem, basically.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41And, seriously, the nipple problem was taken very, very seriously.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43And he did get into trouble over this.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46This was seen as being sacrilegious.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49In its next commission, the same technique was applied
0:09:49 > 0:09:52to a subject so sacred it was beyond reproach.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54The veiled Christ.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57That is absolutely mesmerising.
0:09:57 > 0:09:58It's something that
0:09:58 > 0:10:01the ancient Greeks discovered, that if you clothe a sculpted
0:10:01 > 0:10:08body in a fabric, it actually brings out the naked body all the more,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11sometimes to make the eroticism more pronounced.
0:10:11 > 0:10:16But here, to make death all the more solemn and powerful
0:10:16 > 0:10:20- and moving.- It almost looks like the marble is transparent and you can
0:10:20 > 0:10:24- see through the marble underneath where the person is.- It's such
0:10:24 > 0:10:29a fine covering that you can still see the holes, where the nails were.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31- Also the little... - The little finger.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34You can actually see the little finger there.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39CHORAL MUSIC
0:10:40 > 0:10:44There is a great suffering in that body,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46- you feel it by looking at it, don't you?- Mm.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56Wow!
0:11:01 > 0:11:03It's worth it to come to Naples just to see this.
0:11:13 > 0:11:19In 1735, Naples became the capital of an independent kingdom.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23Its monarchy - an offshoot of the Spanish Bourbon Empire -
0:11:23 > 0:11:27set out to make Naples a Mecca of culture and gastronomy.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Today Naples is famous for pizza and pasta.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35But the Bourbons left us some incredibly rich and complex dishes.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39This is a different side of Naples, Andrew, I don't know
0:11:39 > 0:11:42if you are going to like it as much as the poor one.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48THEY SPEAK ITALIAN
0:11:50 > 0:11:53We've come to the magnificent apartment of
0:11:53 > 0:11:58Marquis Carlo de Gregorio Cattaneo di Sant'Elia, whose family has been
0:11:58 > 0:12:01part of the Neapolitan aristocracy for over 200 years.
0:12:03 > 0:12:04I'm going to cook them
0:12:04 > 0:12:08a classic dish from the golden age of the Bourbons.
0:12:08 > 0:12:14So, I'm going to cook you this dish that comes from the 1800 tradition
0:12:14 > 0:12:17when the Bourbons were fed up with the Southern Italian fare,
0:12:17 > 0:12:19they didn't like it, they thought it was like peasant food, it was
0:12:19 > 0:12:21not rich enough for them.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23It was not complicated enough.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26So, this is one of the greatest dishes, it's called "sartu",
0:12:26 > 0:12:29it means "over everything".
0:12:29 > 0:12:32OK, I got meatballs, I've got a tomato sauce - the meat is cooked
0:12:32 > 0:12:35with that - and then I got some chicken liver.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40So, the idea is to have an envelope of rice,
0:12:40 > 0:12:45all the stuffing goes in, close it and then we bake it.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49Out of all the ancient recipes that you could've chosen to revive
0:12:49 > 0:12:53or recreate, you had to choose one that involved risotto, didn't you?!
0:12:53 > 0:12:57- That is so Milanese.- No, I really love it because of the similarities
0:12:57 > 0:13:01between the words "sur tout" becomes "sartu",
0:13:01 > 0:13:04so to me, the Neapolitans, wherever they take or borrow something
0:13:04 > 0:13:07from the French, they can only make it better.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09You're going to love this, you know.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12I was reading that Queen Maria Carolina, Marie Antoinette's
0:13:12 > 0:13:15sister who married Ferdinand VII - the guy who used to
0:13:15 > 0:13:17eat spaghetti with his hands -
0:13:17 > 0:13:21that she was the one who said, "Oh, I don't like this food here."
0:13:21 > 0:13:23And she sent all of the court's chefs off to Paris.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26- And they arrived with all their airs and graces.- Les messieurs.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29And then the Neapolitan chefs, they decided to take that word
0:13:29 > 0:13:31and change it for themselves, or they mispronounced it.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34But the thing is that's fantastic, "You think you are a monsieur,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37"do you think? I'm not a monsieur, I'm a monsu."
0:13:37 > 0:13:39- Monsu.- Monsu.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46- The rice is over everything. - It's a lot of everything.- And there is a lot of everything.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48I was going to say to you, but you anticipate me.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52Four-and-a-half hours, so far, by the way.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58Should we go and meet the people, our guests?
0:13:58 > 0:14:00I think you deserve a drink.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06In 18th-century Naples, the Marchese family was at the centre of power.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09IN TRANSLATION FROM ITALIAN:
0:14:17 > 0:14:20This was the only time when Naples was independent.
0:14:22 > 0:14:23That's right.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40We have take this Bourbon recipe back to the right person, that could
0:14:40 > 0:14:42be the maximum judge for it.
0:14:50 > 0:14:51Wow!
0:14:55 > 0:14:58THEY SPEAK ITALIAN
0:14:58 > 0:15:03The Marquise's family had their own monsu as recently as the 1960s,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06and sartu was often served on special occasions.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09GIORGIO SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:15:23 > 0:15:28I really like it. I think... I'm proud of myself.
0:15:28 > 0:15:29Mmm...it's fantastic.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46You get ten only if you are a real monsu, so I'm not, I get nine.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48You get nine. Passed the test.
0:15:48 > 0:15:55'Oh, dear, only nine, I'd give it ten! It's delicious rich, meaty,
0:15:55 > 0:15:57'sausage-y, ricey, tomatoey.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03'To tell the truth, I don't really think either Giorgio or
0:16:03 > 0:16:04'I feel quite at home here.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08'Down to earth is more our style.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14'Let's drink a couple of last toasts and beat a quick retreat.'
0:16:16 > 0:16:19THEY SPEAK ITALIAN
0:16:32 > 0:16:35Before we leave Naples, I can't resist taking Giorgio to see
0:16:35 > 0:16:37one final masterpiece.
0:16:38 > 0:16:39A work of art that, to me,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43encapsulates the huge contrasts we've encountered here.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49I really want you to see what I think of as Caravaggio's
0:16:49 > 0:16:52greatest altarpiece, certainly his most ambitious painting.
0:16:53 > 0:16:58He came here the summer of 1606. He has just murdered a man, there is
0:16:58 > 0:17:01a price on his head, so Caravaggio is in deep trouble.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04But his arrival here coincides with the establishment
0:17:04 > 0:17:08of Pio Monte della Misericordia, it's set up by seven noblemen to
0:17:08 > 0:17:11alleviate the plight of the poor here in Naples.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16And they say to Caravaggio, "Paint us a picture for our altarpiece."
0:17:16 > 0:17:19- And it's called "The Seven Acts of Mercy"...- Of Mercy.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25Caravaggio's commission was to paint a message of hope for the poor.
0:17:26 > 0:17:31He set it in one of Naples' crowded streets in the night.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33I think, because he has been asked to crowd
0:17:33 > 0:17:38all seven acts of mercy into a single, very vertical composition,
0:17:38 > 0:17:42the result is a fantastic distillation of what it must
0:17:42 > 0:17:47have been like for him arriving in Naples.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50And he is walking through these streets crowded with the poor,
0:17:50 > 0:17:55crowded with lazzari. He's carefully included every
0:17:55 > 0:17:59period of human history, so you've got ancient Roman history,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03Simon and Pero - father and daughter.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06He was confined to jail, he was starving
0:18:06 > 0:18:10to death, and she saved his life by feeding him from her own breast.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13She wasn't allowed to take him food.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16- She is pure.- She is pure Napoli.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20- She is Napoli, isn't she? - She is Napoli, even now.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25You've got modern day, the... holding up the torch,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29you've got modern life again in St Martin, the rich young man
0:18:29 > 0:18:32like the rich young man who founded this place,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35giving away his wealth in the form of his cloak.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40- Vestire gli ignudi.- Vestire gli ignudi. Clothing the naked,
0:18:40 > 0:18:46then you've got Jesus Christ himself as a pilgrim, coming to be housed.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51So all human life is here, all periods of human history are here.
0:18:53 > 0:18:58And yet my impression is that just as there is so little light in this
0:18:58 > 0:19:04terrible pool of darkness, how hard it is for people to be saved.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08The old man has to struggle. He has missed some of the milk,
0:19:08 > 0:19:09it's caught in his beard.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12The corpse is on its way to the tomb,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15but is that dead man or woman really going to be saved?
0:19:16 > 0:19:20To me, it's as if Caravaggio almost felt that salvation was something
0:19:20 > 0:19:23he could not touch or see any more.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27And I think that angel is almost like pressing down on these people.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Is he lifting them up? Or is he pressing them down
0:19:30 > 0:19:33into the pit of poverty?
0:19:33 > 0:19:35Why is that hand of the angel like that?
0:19:35 > 0:19:37That hand is the hand of mercy.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45Naples wouldn't be merciful to Caravaggio.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48Three years later, after injuring a man in Malta,
0:19:48 > 0:19:51he returned to the city and was ambushed outside a tavern.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56While the three accomplices held Caravaggio down, the man
0:19:56 > 0:20:01from Malta got his knife out and cut Caravaggio's face off,
0:20:01 > 0:20:03it's said.
0:20:06 > 0:20:11So, see Naples and die - that was certainly true for Caravaggio.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25At least we've seen Naples -
0:20:25 > 0:20:28wonderful, life-affirming city that it is - and survived.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35Now we're continuing our journey south into the region of Campania.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42Our route takes us along one of the greatest coastal roads of the world.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46It is spectacular, isn't it?
0:20:46 > 0:20:49This road really is carved into...
0:20:49 > 0:20:52it's almost like the time has carved through,
0:20:52 > 0:20:53we've come through with people.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56This road was created in the 1830s.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Andrew, one mistake and you're out.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01You're not letting me do the guida sportiva?
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Guida sportiva, be careful cos it's wet. If we turn around
0:21:04 > 0:21:07and end up down there, man, we're going to be really...
0:21:07 > 0:21:10- Dead!- ..going to be really dead, so watch it.
0:21:12 > 0:21:13Today, Amalfi -
0:21:13 > 0:21:16the little town that gives its name to this peninsula -
0:21:16 > 0:21:18is a bustling tourist resort.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25A thousand years ago, it was a mighty maritime republic
0:21:25 > 0:21:27rivalling Genoa and Pisa.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29Such a tiny little...
0:21:29 > 0:21:31That is pretty amazing, Andrew.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37What a huge cathedral for such a tiny place.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41- It is, isn't it?- Except, of course, Amalfi wasn't a tiny place.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44An Arab visitor came here in the 9th century
0:21:44 > 0:21:47and commented on Amalfi being far grander,
0:21:47 > 0:21:50far more opulent, far more populous
0:21:50 > 0:21:52- than little Naples around the corner.- No way!- Yeah!
0:21:52 > 0:21:54- Amalfi was...- I didn't know that.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Amalfi had population of 70,000 at its height,
0:21:57 > 0:22:00comparable to the populations of Rome, Paris or London.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03This cathedral, I mean, look at the size of it.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06You've got this beautiful tower with Romanesque arches
0:22:06 > 0:22:09and at the top are these Arab-style towers
0:22:09 > 0:22:11decorated with Arab maiolica
0:22:11 > 0:22:13and that's a key to
0:22:13 > 0:22:17Amalfi's cultural and economical centre of gravity.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19They looked east, east and south.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21BELL TOLLS
0:22:21 > 0:22:24This wasn't just a city, this was a republic.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29And when they sacked Constantinople with the Venetians,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32the Amalfitani stole the relics of St Andrew.
0:22:32 > 0:22:33It was quite a common thing to do,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36called a "sacre furta" - "holy theft".
0:22:36 > 0:22:38If you didn't have a saint associated with your town,
0:22:38 > 0:22:43which they didn't, steal his relics and make them yours.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50In 1343, the coastline was devastated by a tsumani
0:22:50 > 0:22:53which destroyed Amalfi's harbour.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55The maritime republic never recovered.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05Before we head further south, I'm taking Andrew on a small detour.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08We can't leave the Amalfi coast without visiting a restaurant
0:23:08 > 0:23:11that draws in connoisseurs of fine dining
0:23:11 > 0:23:12from all over the world.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16I want you to meet these guys
0:23:16 > 0:23:18called Don Alfonso.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21These are the guys we want to cook a plate of pasta with.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24- He is the don of pasta. - You know...- The main man.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27If there is somebody that can teach you something about pasta
0:23:27 > 0:23:31or can teach even me something about pasta, that's the guys.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39This Michelin-starred chef gets the inspiration for his recipes
0:23:39 > 0:23:44from his beautiful kitchen garden overlooking the island of Capri.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46- Dove siete?- Qua!
0:23:46 > 0:23:51GIORGIO LAUGHS AND CHATS IN ITALIAN
0:23:53 > 0:23:55Ti ho portato Andrew guarda.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58- Very pleased. - Very pleased to meet you.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01Look, no wonder these tomatoes are good,
0:24:01 > 0:24:03they are looking at Capri all day.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05It's like being on holiday!
0:24:05 > 0:24:08We send the tomato plants on holiday in front of Capri
0:24:08 > 0:24:09and then we eat them!
0:24:09 > 0:24:11HE LAUGHS
0:24:11 > 0:24:13The whole philosophy of this is,
0:24:13 > 0:24:15when the chefs come to work for him,
0:24:15 > 0:24:20the chefs have to work in the land before they get into the kitchen.
0:24:20 > 0:24:21That's right.
0:24:21 > 0:24:27So it has really reinforced this incredible tight feeling
0:24:27 > 0:24:31that is between the food that grows and what we transform into food.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33Cosa cuciniamo cosa facciamo da mangiare?
0:24:33 > 0:24:37Facciamo il Vesuvio di rigatoni usando questi pomodori.
0:24:37 > 0:24:38Vesuvius of rigatoni?
0:24:38 > 0:24:40That's right, with these tomatoes
0:24:40 > 0:24:44- And this eggplant.- This aubergine. - From the garden, from the farm.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47The restaurant is a family business
0:24:47 > 0:24:51and Don Alfonso has now passed the baton to the next generation.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55- The older son.- Sono Andrea.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58That's Ernesto, his older son.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05Andrew, this is the temple. This is a temple!
0:25:05 > 0:25:06- We are in the place. - This is the altar.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09This is the altar, where, you know...
0:25:09 > 0:25:10- Allora.- Allora.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12ERNESTO SPEAKS IN ITALIAN
0:25:12 > 0:25:14The pasta has been cooked.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Two minutes only.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19I've never seen a pasta dish made anything like this.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21This is not a pasta dish,
0:25:21 > 0:25:26this is a volcano, man, of pasta! Questo e un vulcano!
0:25:26 > 0:25:30We've talked a lot about this great tradition of the monsu in Naples.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Si. They are the modern monsu,
0:25:33 > 0:25:38they are the ones who have taken the idea of serving a fantastic meal
0:25:38 > 0:25:43to a level that was never even talked about before.
0:25:43 > 0:25:48Every five-star hotel now has an Italian restaurant in it
0:25:48 > 0:25:53so it is this complete dedication to the land, to the ingredients,
0:25:53 > 0:25:55to the natural flavours,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58that has really given us this big step forwards.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02- So, Andrew, look, we're going to get it out.- It smells good.
0:26:02 > 0:26:03It smells fantastic, not good.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06- A little bit of Parmesan on top. - Perfect.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13- I love this.- My God, the smell is just, like, unbelievable.
0:26:13 > 0:26:14Now this the mozzarella sauce.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17It's like a mozzarella sauce, like a mozzarella milk.
0:26:17 > 0:26:18And basil sauce.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20Colour of the Italian flags.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25- That's fantastic!- Come on, taste it.
0:26:25 > 0:26:26Me first.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30You've got to get a polpettina.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34THEY LAUGH
0:26:34 > 0:26:36Mmm!
0:26:36 > 0:26:37Did you get a polpettina?
0:26:37 > 0:26:39Mmm!
0:26:39 > 0:26:40Is that delicious?
0:26:41 > 0:26:44- This is a dish that I feel... - It's really delicious.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48I really feel that it shows all the goodness of this land.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52- Ernesto, buonissimo.- Grazie.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55HE SPEAKS IN ITALIAN
0:26:55 > 0:26:59I'm so jealous that I haven't invented a dish like that myself.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07Just down the coast, there's a site
0:27:07 > 0:27:11whose foreign origins predate those of the Amalfi Republic
0:27:11 > 0:27:13by over a thousand years.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15I really wanted you to see Paestum
0:27:15 > 0:27:18because so many people come to this part of the world
0:27:18 > 0:27:20and they go and visit Pompeii and Herculaneum.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23But for me, Paestum is much older
0:27:23 > 0:27:26and I think it's even more spectacular.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28Look, here we are, here we are,
0:27:28 > 0:27:32look, it's the oldest set of fortifications this extensive
0:27:32 > 0:27:36anywhere, anywhere. I mean, look at that! That's ancient Greek.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45For the ancients, Southern Italy was known as "Magna Graecia" -
0:27:45 > 0:27:46"Greater Greece".
0:27:48 > 0:27:52The city of Poseidonia was founded around 600 BC.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56300 years later, it became part of the expanding Roman Empire
0:27:56 > 0:27:58and its name was changed to Paestum.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04I really love this place. Isn't it fantastic?
0:28:04 > 0:28:07I mean, just the force of it -
0:28:07 > 0:28:10it's like, "Grrr!" Ancient Greece, ancient Greece
0:28:10 > 0:28:12and what is so unusual here
0:28:12 > 0:28:16is that they managed somehow to leave it as it was,
0:28:16 > 0:28:18you know, in the 18th century. You would come across it,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21nothing's spoilt it, there's no shops.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25These buildings are 2,600, 2,500 years old.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27This was built before the Parthenon.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30Before the Parthenon. This is ancient, ancient, ancient,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33but you can also, I think, feel the strength of the early Greeks.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35A great statement, isn't it?
0:28:35 > 0:28:38They expelled young men from the city states
0:28:38 > 0:28:41and said, "Go and found a settlement. You can't come back
0:28:41 > 0:28:43"for ten years. If you come back, we'll kill you."
0:28:43 > 0:28:45So this is what they did.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50I'm really impressed by the scale and beauty of these temples.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54For the ancient Greeks, these temples, dedicated to Hera
0:28:54 > 0:28:56and Poseidon, were places of worship.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02But to 18th-century visitors it was the structures themselves that
0:29:02 > 0:29:04became objects of veneration.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06Imagine that you've just come from Naples,
0:29:06 > 0:29:09you've seen all of that Baroque architecture,
0:29:09 > 0:29:14you've experienced the general debauchery of the city
0:29:14 > 0:29:17and suddenly you're confronted by the majestic simplicity
0:29:17 > 0:29:20of the ancient Greeks. And people who came here
0:29:20 > 0:29:21were just bowled over by it.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27Goethe said this was like a strike of lightning hitting his mind.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30Winckelmann, the most influential architectural theorist of
0:29:30 > 0:29:34the time said, "This is the pure water of antiquity."
0:29:34 > 0:29:37And of course they didn't know Greek art,
0:29:37 > 0:29:40they didn't know Greek architecture, not really,
0:29:40 > 0:29:42because Greece was controlled by the Ottoman Empire,
0:29:42 > 0:29:44so it was off limits.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47Paestum was this... it was this bolt from the blue.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51It's really outstanding.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56It's not just the architecture here that's inspiring.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01In 1968, the excavation of a tomb led to a discovery that
0:30:01 > 0:30:05transformed our knowledge of Greek painting.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08As far as I know, these are the oldest surviving wall
0:30:08 > 0:30:11paintings from ancient Greek culture, therefore
0:30:11 > 0:30:14they are the oldest surviving wall paintings in all of Western art.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18It's been dated around 480BC.
0:30:18 > 0:30:23- These pieces formed an enclosed tomb...- Right.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27..painted inside to be like a room or be like a world,
0:30:27 > 0:30:31so that the deceased could have with him for ever,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34the things or the people he wanted.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37Over here, we've got the scene of the ancient Greek symposium.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40This is a homoerotic world - no women.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43If you're going to be in love, you'll be in love with a man,
0:30:43 > 0:30:46- so there are two men embracing. - Those guys look so muscly,
0:30:46 > 0:30:49they really look like body-builders.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51That's the ancient Greek six-pack right there, isn't it?
0:30:51 > 0:30:53But the most striking thing,
0:30:53 > 0:31:00and the largest image, is the one that was created for the roof.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02- The ceiling.- Yes, the ceiling.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04This is what he would have
0:31:04 > 0:31:07imagined himself looking up at for all eternity.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10This extraordinary image of a diver in mid-air
0:31:10 > 0:31:13and he's heading down towards the sea.
0:31:15 > 0:31:20And he is this sort of diagram of energy coming down to enter
0:31:20 > 0:31:23the great nothingness of the sea.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26And this plant is coming up. And it seems to me like, if he is diving
0:31:26 > 0:31:31down, the plant is diving up, and somehow he is becoming the plant.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33Everything is becoming everything else, that life is
0:31:33 > 0:31:35a form of becoming in death,
0:31:35 > 0:31:39and that when you're gone, yes, you're gone,
0:31:39 > 0:31:42but you're not completely gone, you end up coming up in another way.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46But I don't know. I don't know. I just think it is a wonderful image.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52Oh, Andrew, if you don't know, nobody knows then.
0:31:52 > 0:31:56Well, I'm sure someone will work it out in the end!
0:32:00 > 0:32:03Paestum was the last stop on the Grand Tour.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08Even today, few tourists venture further south
0:32:08 > 0:32:10unless it's to go to Sicily.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13So, they miss out on the Mezzogiorno's wildest
0:32:13 > 0:32:16and most mysterious region.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20- Now we're going to get into the Mezzogiorno.- Calabria.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22Calabria.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27It had a reputation in the 18th century, it was known as a place
0:32:27 > 0:32:31where civilised people just don't go -
0:32:31 > 0:32:33ruled by brigands.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37I think it's probably changed a bit since then.
0:32:42 > 0:32:47The Calabrian landscape is defined by its spectacular mountain ranges.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50In the 1860s, much of this wilderness
0:32:50 > 0:32:52was controlled by brigands,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55southerners who resisted the unification of Italy,
0:32:55 > 0:32:58because they saw it as a northern idea.
0:33:00 > 0:33:04We've arrived in the Valli Cupe, in the Sila Mountains.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07THEY GREET EACH OTHER IN ITALIAN
0:33:07 > 0:33:10Carmine has offered to be our guide.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15Why are we going into this rather beautiful Fiat Panda?
0:33:15 > 0:33:19Because the car is too low, that one, to go anywhere and
0:33:19 > 0:33:22because Carmine is a super driver.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24You're going to have an experience now, Andrew.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27- This is like...- This is an experience for you.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34Carmine knows this piece of the Calabrian
0:33:34 > 0:33:36wilderness like the back of his hand.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43He told us that Thomas Aquinas' mother once lived in these ruins,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46just before making an intriguing adjustment to his car.
0:33:46 > 0:33:51Now he's putting the 4x4s, now he's going to go fast.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55Hang on for your dear life, my dear friends.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57THEY LAUGH
0:33:57 > 0:33:59IN ITALIAN
0:33:59 > 0:34:01OK. OK.
0:34:01 > 0:34:07THEY SPEAK ITALIAN
0:34:09 > 0:34:12Is this basically a Calabrian driving lesson?
0:34:12 > 0:34:14This is a Calabrian life lesson.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19- HE TOOTS THE HORN - This is super, I love this.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26- It's OK?- Perfect! - GO! GO! Go, Carmine!
0:34:40 > 0:34:42You're a doctor of botanics?
0:34:56 > 0:34:59He published two books about herbs and things like that,
0:34:59 > 0:35:01that's how we get to know him.
0:35:01 > 0:35:07This amazing smell of different herbs, I can smell oregano,
0:35:07 > 0:35:09I can smell mint, yeah?
0:35:14 > 0:35:16Lentisco, yes.
0:35:19 > 0:35:20It's like a pepper, yes?
0:35:22 > 0:35:24Lentisco is like a wild pepper and it's really,
0:35:24 > 0:35:27really good to serve with meat.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30As we are going across, we are obviously crushing some stuff.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39Carmine isn't just a botanist, he is also a local historian,
0:35:39 > 0:35:42and in the heart of the valley, he points out
0:35:42 > 0:35:46the ancient hideout of the bandits who used to terrorise the area.
0:36:07 > 0:36:12OK, so the briganti used to steal things. So then they would
0:36:12 > 0:36:16take their bounty back here, so they will discuss how to share it so
0:36:16 > 0:36:20this area here is still called "Parlare" which means "talk".
0:36:20 > 0:36:24You can still hear the briganti.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27They call those woods the talking woods, cos you can
0:36:27 > 0:36:30- still hear them.- That's right, they're arguing about...
0:36:32 > 0:36:35Carmine also wants to show us the bandits' hidden trail,
0:36:35 > 0:36:37a track so rugged, even he can't drive down it.
0:36:44 > 0:36:48Wow, Andrew! That is incredible! Look at this...
0:36:48 > 0:36:53- No way! No!- There is
0:36:53 > 0:36:54something of the Wild West about it!
0:36:57 > 0:37:00- So menacing, isn't it? - It is kind of menacing.
0:37:09 > 0:37:14- HE REPLIES IN ITALIAN - It's 7km long!
0:37:14 > 0:37:19- 7km long! It sliced the mountain through.- Si.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26This has been discovered about 10 years ago.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37So it was like a secret passageway for the briganti to
0:37:37 > 0:37:40move around, so obviously normal people wouldn't use it because
0:37:40 > 0:37:42if you met the briganti, then you are finished,
0:37:42 > 0:37:44nobody would come by here.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49When we are talking about this place being wild, this is it!
0:37:49 > 0:37:52This is what Calabria is all about. Wild men.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03So, when you're a child in Calabria do you play like brigands
0:38:03 > 0:38:06and peasants instead of cowboys and Indians.
0:38:08 > 0:38:09Can you translate for me?
0:38:09 > 0:38:13The brigands of old still exist in Calabria.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15They're called 'Ndrangheta -
0:38:15 > 0:38:19a fearsome local Mafia - and they've tarnished the region to such
0:38:19 > 0:38:22an extent that many tourists are scared to come here.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27But Carmine wants to change that. He wants to alert the world to
0:38:27 > 0:38:33Calabria's rich, cultural heritage and vast areas of unspoiled nature.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37Next stop, his favourite tree in the forest - the Good Giant.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44Wow! That is fantastic!
0:38:47 > 0:38:49I've never seen a chestnut...
0:38:49 > 0:38:52You know, I've only ever seen oak trees this big, never a chestnut tree!
0:38:52 > 0:38:53Wow!
0:38:55 > 0:38:56600 years old!
0:38:56 > 0:38:59600 years old, this is like a monument,
0:38:59 > 0:39:00this is not a tree!
0:39:09 > 0:39:12So this tree on its own, produces 400 kilos
0:39:12 > 0:39:16of chestnuts a year and that's why they call it the Good Giant.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19Obviously the chestnut comes in a very low season, it's
0:39:19 > 0:39:23the last gift, it's the one that is going to get you through the winter.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26Not only would they eat the chestnuts
0:39:26 > 0:39:29roasted like that, they would dry them
0:39:29 > 0:39:32in the pastillaro, which is this purpose-built house. And then
0:39:32 > 0:39:35it would be turned into flour. They bake bread.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37- They make chestnut bread?- They make pasta.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39I've never heard of chestnut bread.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42When you're starving, I'm telling you, you find out things
0:39:42 > 0:39:45that you could never imagine. And these people were starving.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49There was nothing else to eat, there was produce of the land,
0:39:49 > 0:39:54plentiful in certain seasons, but a really hard, long winter.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58If you had chestnuts, you had life. You can survive the winter.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01If you didn't have the chestnuts, that's it, you would die.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05- That's the way it was. - So, that's why the veneration of the
0:40:05 > 0:40:09- chestnut tree?- That's why. It's the big boss looking down on us.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14Before we leave Carmine's corner of Calabria, he wants to give us
0:40:14 > 0:40:17a taste of his hospitality. He has invited us
0:40:17 > 0:40:19to an evening feast at his family home.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26And luckily we've got a couple of hours for our stomachs to get
0:40:26 > 0:40:28over the 4x4 experience.
0:40:31 > 0:40:36- I keep banging my head on the roof! - Really? That's good.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38Maybe you mature a little bit!
0:40:47 > 0:40:49Carmine is such a mild-mannered gentleman scholar!
0:40:49 > 0:40:54Behind the wheel he's quite transformed!
0:41:06 > 0:41:10Calabrian cuisine is as varied and as generous as the land.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12I'm curious to see what Carmine
0:41:12 > 0:41:14and his family will be serving up tonight.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20I'm expecting a lot of meat, they don't eat much fish here,
0:41:20 > 0:41:22even though they live so close to the sea.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27I wouldn't be surprised to see quite a lot of Greek influence,
0:41:27 > 0:41:28but let's see.
0:41:29 > 0:41:31THEY KNOCK ON THE DOOR
0:41:31 > 0:41:33CARMINE GREETS THEM IN ITALIAN
0:41:35 > 0:41:36What have we got here?
0:41:36 > 0:41:39THEY SPEAK ITALIAN
0:41:39 > 0:41:42So, it is between a pizza and a pitta bread,
0:41:42 > 0:41:46because the Greeks were here. They ruled this place.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49This is so typical of the cuisine of Calabria.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53And there is this mixture of vegetables and pork.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57The pork lasted the winter and vegetables will last the summer.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02From humble ingredients comes an extraordinary bounty
0:42:02 > 0:42:04and a rich cuisine.
0:42:04 > 0:42:08I love this method. She's rolling it around a stick.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10This is the only way to allow the pasta to have
0:42:10 > 0:42:13the space in the middle so it cooks evenly.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16The sauce will run through and the cooking will be even
0:42:16 > 0:42:19because the boiling water comes through the thing.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21When you are talking about ergonomics
0:42:21 > 0:42:24and you think about Italians being so good at designing cars
0:42:24 > 0:42:28and designing beautiful stuff,
0:42:28 > 0:42:30this is where it all started.
0:42:33 > 0:42:34Andrew, come and have a look at this.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38We have to come down here to get the pinata.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42- Wow, this shows the Greek influence in their food.- Cooking in
0:42:42 > 0:42:46- an amphora?- So chickpeas, salt, water, in an amphora that is put
0:42:46 > 0:42:50next to the fire, for at least four hours. I want you to taste it before
0:42:50 > 0:42:52they go up. He's going to take them out now.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58- Mmm.- Good?- Really tender.
0:43:00 > 0:43:04It's the custom for every guest to contribute something and my
0:43:04 > 0:43:09dish is simple fried potatoes and wild mushrooms from Carmine's woods.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11- Just saute them like that. - Carmine is a biologist,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14- so the mushrooms are safe? - I hope so!
0:43:18 > 0:43:19It seems to me that
0:43:19 > 0:43:24- you are always most at home in this kind of situation.- You see, Andrew,
0:43:24 > 0:43:28I feel affinity with this food. There is the produce of the land
0:43:28 > 0:43:31and the produce of the experience of the people over the years.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34This is nothing scientific, this is not pretentious.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37This is transforming something
0:43:37 > 0:43:40into something edible, with the best that they can do.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42That's it.
0:43:49 > 0:43:51A Calabrian feast is like a banquet of different dishes
0:43:51 > 0:43:55and flavours. And to enjoy it you'd better have a healthy appetite.
0:44:00 > 0:44:02Make sure there is enough to go round.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07It comes at you from all angles. It's like Carmine's driving!
0:44:07 > 0:44:09Boof! Baff! Baff! Boof!
0:44:09 > 0:44:13Then there is some chilli sauce on the side,
0:44:13 > 0:44:17and there's pasta and cheese, it's all happening at the same time.
0:44:17 > 0:44:21If you look for truthfulness, come to Calabria!
0:44:21 > 0:44:25Aaawww! That is the chestnut bread!
0:44:25 > 0:44:27APPLAUSE
0:44:33 > 0:44:36If this was the bread that they have to eat
0:44:36 > 0:44:39because there was nothing else to eat, they were quite lucky!
0:44:43 > 0:44:45THEY CHEER AND LAUGH
0:44:50 > 0:44:53THEY CLAP AND SING
0:45:06 > 0:45:08CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:45:15 > 0:45:19After the fall of Rome, Calabria was ruled by the Byzantine Empire
0:45:19 > 0:45:20for the best part of 600 years.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27We're looking at this beautiful landscape, very dry,
0:45:27 > 0:45:31very mountainous.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34It reminds me of parts of Greece, particularly
0:45:34 > 0:45:40this part of Calabria is a little piece of the greater Greek world.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44In Italy, they spoke Greek here till the 1600s, that was its
0:45:44 > 0:45:46principal language.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50And I think the reason we're coming here is
0:45:50 > 0:45:53I wanted to show you this place that, to me,
0:45:53 > 0:45:59really is like a little piece of Byzantine Greece,
0:45:59 > 0:46:01here in Calabria.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06In the 7th century, the valley of Stilo became a refuge
0:46:06 > 0:46:10for Greek monks who fled the East to escape religious persecution.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15They call this bit of Calabria "Mount Athos in Italy", but here
0:46:15 > 0:46:18you've got one of the few remaining relics
0:46:18 > 0:46:20of Byzantine Greek Christianity.
0:46:23 > 0:46:2510th century, I mean, really early,
0:46:25 > 0:46:28difficult to find these churches nowadays. I visited
0:46:28 > 0:46:32a beautiful one in Macedonia, I've never seen one in Italy.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34Isn't it beautiful?
0:46:34 > 0:46:36Unfortunately the fresco that would've once been
0:46:36 > 0:46:39in the dome has gone.
0:46:39 > 0:46:43I love these angels, very eastern faces don't you think?
0:46:43 > 0:46:47They look Greek, but you still see those faces in cafes
0:46:47 > 0:46:52and on the streets. You still see them. And over here,
0:46:52 > 0:46:55they've dated this column, apparently this is 4th-century BC.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59So this column they've taken from a Greek temple, and they've
0:46:59 > 0:47:03re-used it and you almost get the different slices of history.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06Because down here, you've got
0:47:06 > 0:47:09- a Roman capital.- So, that should be on top?- It should be
0:47:09 > 0:47:11on top. You've got Roman, Greek,
0:47:11 > 0:47:14and here is an Arabic inscription which says "there is
0:47:14 > 0:47:19"only one true God" and that dates from when the Arabs had a great
0:47:19 > 0:47:24deal of power here and they probably used this building as an oratory.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28It's almost like an X marks the spot,
0:47:28 > 0:47:32one of the very few surviving remains of this astonishing
0:47:32 > 0:47:37upsurge of eastern Christianity, here in this corner of Calabria.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49It's astonishing how this church has witnessed the passage of
0:47:49 > 0:47:54so many different religions. To me it's another beautiful
0:47:54 > 0:47:57and revealing chapter of the history of Calabria.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07Oh, please, Andrew!
0:48:07 > 0:48:14- Look at this! Norman cathedral, Arab details.- Back in time, we are.
0:48:15 > 0:48:19Coming to dinner. I'm going to cook you something for tonight.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22I'm hungry. Again.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26It's going to be your... It's going to be fantastic, you will see.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28Two days I am working at it.
0:48:30 > 0:48:32- I love these little alleys.- Do you?
0:48:32 > 0:48:36There, undo that. This is what you're going to eat tonight.
0:48:37 > 0:48:42What is it?! It's like a kind of prehistoric creature.
0:48:42 > 0:48:46Funny enough, we are in a piece of land that has got
0:48:46 > 0:48:51the Tyrrhenian Sea on one side, the Ionian in the other side.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54What the people eat on the land is this.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56- What is it?- Stockfish.
0:48:56 > 0:49:01It's married with potato, Tropea onions -
0:49:01 > 0:49:04the most famous red onions in the
0:49:04 > 0:49:08world, this one. Bit of parsley, tomato sauce which is local as well.
0:49:08 > 0:49:16The fish gets kind of salt for 48 hours. So here is what it becomes.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19- So, that is this? - This is rehydrated, you see?
0:49:19 > 0:49:21So, we have got some olive oil, which is
0:49:21 > 0:49:24obviously local olive oil, which is fantastic.
0:49:24 > 0:49:29We get the onions to go in the pan, and this goes on the fire, OK?
0:49:29 > 0:49:31So, let's go.
0:49:31 > 0:49:35We're going to break it in like that, with it. A little bit.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38And then the other, we're going to add it after.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40The onions have grown in the very sandy terrain,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43because apparently where Tropea was, there was like a volcano
0:49:43 > 0:49:47and then the sand from Africa has been brought in by the wind
0:49:47 > 0:49:51and filled up the volcano. So you have a very special, sandy terrain,
0:49:51 > 0:49:54and so the onions are sweet.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58We don't put any salt, because the fish is already salty enough.
0:49:58 > 0:49:59Some water from the Aspromonte,
0:49:59 > 0:50:02this is the water that comes from this mountain.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05So it is beautiful. Get the fish now.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08Get the fish. You idiot!
0:50:08 > 0:50:11- THEY LAUGH - You're incredible, I love it. OK.
0:50:14 > 0:50:18- We are going to put the potato on top of it.- You don't put any salt?
0:50:18 > 0:50:21- No salt at all. - So that really is straightforward.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24Should we go and contemplate the beauties of the landscape?
0:50:24 > 0:50:29Now we can. Is it boiling? I want to hear it going like that.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33Raaargh!
0:50:33 > 0:50:35After enjoying a passeggiata,
0:50:35 > 0:50:38I think it's time to check on the stoccafisso.
0:50:38 > 0:50:42- The smell of food wafting up. - Our food should be ready in a
0:50:42 > 0:50:46- minute.- Do you think it's ready yet?- I think so.- Let's go
0:50:46 > 0:50:48- and have a meal.- Let's go and have something.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54Look at this, one little square after another little square.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56Such a pretty place, isn't it?
0:51:03 > 0:51:08- Wow.- Stoccafisso. - Bubbling away.- Just add the parsley
0:51:08 > 0:51:12- at the end of the cooking. - That looks perfect.
0:51:12 > 0:51:16So, what do we start with? A bit of fish and...
0:51:16 > 0:51:20- You start as you want.- OK.- I'm responsible for what's in the pan.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23You are responsible to put it in your mouth. It could've done
0:51:23 > 0:51:24with a little salt...
0:51:24 > 0:51:27- It's true.- It could've done with a tiny bit of salt.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30I've been really careful because I was really scared about the salt.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34It's really, really lovely and it's simple.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37That's lovely. I have to say that personally,
0:51:37 > 0:51:40this is my kind of food. I prefer this.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43- That's why we travel together. - Chin-chin.
0:51:43 > 0:51:45- To Calabria.- To Calabria.
0:51:49 > 0:51:51Our final destination, on the toe of Italy,
0:51:51 > 0:51:54is the city of Reggio Calabria.
0:51:54 > 0:51:58Reggio has been repeatedly destroyed by earthquakes and the way
0:51:58 > 0:52:02it's been rebuilt hasn't always represented Italy at its finest.
0:52:06 > 0:52:11- It's not the best architecture, is it?- No, it's just gone wild.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14Reggio might not be as picturesque as Naples,
0:52:14 > 0:52:18but it is home to two of the greatest works of art in the world.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21So you wouldn't imagine it from the setting - Regional Government
0:52:21 > 0:52:24- Building for Reggio Calabria - but inside...- A bit scary, isn't it?
0:52:24 > 0:52:27The Riace Bronzes are a pair of truly exceptional
0:52:27 > 0:52:30ancient Greek sculptures, currently undergoing restoration
0:52:30 > 0:52:33by Nuncio Schepis, a wonderfully warm conservator,
0:52:33 > 0:52:36who has welcomed us into his den.
0:52:36 > 0:52:40- Welcome.- Just have a look, Giorgio, at the Bronzi di Riace.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42I cannot believe I'm so close to it.
0:52:42 > 0:52:46They're two warriors, they were found by a scuba diver,
0:52:46 > 0:52:51who was diving just off the coast and he saw a hand sticking up
0:52:51 > 0:52:54from the sand and his first thought was,
0:52:54 > 0:52:56there was a dead body down there.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59- Of course.- So he dived down, touched the hand and realised it
0:52:59 > 0:53:03was bronze and this was sticking out like that! They're
0:53:03 > 0:53:09the greatest surviving sculptures of true ancient Greece. And in such an
0:53:09 > 0:53:13- amazing state of preservation. Look a this.- The six-pack.- The heroic
0:53:13 > 0:53:17marshal - military six-pack. He was once holding a weapon. We don't know
0:53:17 > 0:53:24the origin of the sculpture, but I like to think, they were perhaps
0:53:24 > 0:53:30one of this famous group of eight bronze heroes,
0:53:30 > 0:53:34created as a great monument to the Greek victory
0:53:34 > 0:53:35at the Battle of Marathon.
0:53:35 > 0:53:37Interesting that they should've been found
0:53:37 > 0:53:41here in Reggio Calabria, because during the period
0:53:41 > 0:53:46when the Romans took over Magna Grecia, of course Romans loved
0:53:46 > 0:53:51Greek art and to have managed to get their hands on these,
0:53:51 > 0:53:54that would have been fantastic. So I wonder if the boat that lost
0:53:54 > 0:53:58these sculptures off the coast here was actually on its way to Rome?
0:54:00 > 0:54:02What makes these sculptures
0:54:02 > 0:54:06so remarkable was the technology pioneered to create them.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09The so-called "lost wax" method.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11So this shows you how they created the sculpture,
0:54:11 > 0:54:15it's hollow inside. Bronze was immensely expensive material,
0:54:15 > 0:54:17so what they did was they made
0:54:17 > 0:54:20the model of the foot and of the leg, they would create
0:54:20 > 0:54:25that from clay, they would then paint wax inside,
0:54:25 > 0:54:28fill it with earth, pack it with earth from the outside
0:54:28 > 0:54:31and then pour the bronze. The wax would melt
0:54:31 > 0:54:35and you are left with the form that you've modelled, but now
0:54:35 > 0:54:38- it's made of bronze.- Yeah. - But so many bronze sculptures
0:54:38 > 0:54:42are gone. Bronze sculptures got melted down, turned into cannons.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45Into weapons. So much was lost. That's one of the miracles
0:54:45 > 0:54:49of this discovery is, you know, just the fact that it's still here!
0:54:50 > 0:54:56If you really look at the detail, under this missing hair, you can see
0:54:56 > 0:55:01- the ear.- They even bothered to create the ear,
0:55:01 > 0:55:05- that was going to be covered by the hair.- I can't believe this fact
0:55:05 > 0:55:09that he has the ears, underneath of his hair.
0:55:09 > 0:55:13- Did you notice the tooth?- The teeth, I noticed the teeth are made of silver.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15- They are covered in silver.- Those are the only teeth
0:55:15 > 0:55:20- of any bronze sculpture from ancient Greece, right?- Right.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23- Right.- You can actually see they've got eyelashes.- Eyelashes.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27- Rare.- Yes, little eyelashes made of points.- Actually they use
0:55:27 > 0:55:33the lamina. They attach each little piece, they make each hair.
0:55:33 > 0:55:37- Each eyelash?- Each eyelash.- It's like the past is looking at us.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40At you. You feel like you look at them and they look at you.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44- It's like they want to protect you. - Like guardians.- Yeah.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47- So, what do you think? Are you pleased to see them?- I'm so pleased
0:55:47 > 0:55:49that we've come here. Thank you for that.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52It's really fantastic. Like what Nuncio says,
0:55:52 > 0:55:56they have a personality. It's a person there, it's not just
0:55:56 > 0:56:01a statue, it is something that is alive. You can see the blood running
0:56:01 > 0:56:06- through their veins.- Good finale to the trip?- I think it's
0:56:06 > 0:56:10- the best finale we could ever have. - Yeah, for me this is the top.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24Our journey that began in Genoa,
0:56:24 > 0:56:27over a thousand kilometres to the north, is at an end.
0:56:28 > 0:56:33- We have reached the tip. - Sicily.- Beloved Sicily is there.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36- Look at that. - Very close to the foot.- Yes.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40But there is one thing, there is one thing that you cannot miss here.
0:56:40 > 0:56:46It's called 'Nduja. 50% pork, 50% chilli.
0:56:46 > 0:56:49The antibiotics property of the chilli are used to cook,
0:56:49 > 0:56:53to cure the actual pork, so that means there is no salt in it.
0:56:56 > 0:56:58Ching! Close your eyes.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00Close your eyes.
0:57:00 > 0:57:07- And that is Calabria coming to you. It's hot.- Oh. It's hot.
0:57:11 > 0:57:18- They're extremely warm people, and generous and, you know...- Mad.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21I think it is a bit like Sicily, the story here.
0:57:21 > 0:57:23The Calabrians are beginning to realise what they have
0:57:23 > 0:57:26got in terms of art and architecture and antiquities and cuisine.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29- And they're beginning to... - And nature.- Exactly.
0:57:29 > 0:57:30They're beginning to put that together.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32Do you remember where we started?
0:57:32 > 0:57:35We started in Genoa and travelling around Liguria, the pesto
0:57:35 > 0:57:40and it's all green, and the people are rather reserved and quiet.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43- Very English.- And as we've gone on and on and on further south.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46The Tuscans. Remember Livorno?
0:57:46 > 0:57:49It becomes louder and louder and louder and hotter and hotter
0:57:49 > 0:57:52- and hotter.- Hotter, we're getting close to Africa here.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54I think on this journey, I've been more conscious than ever
0:57:54 > 0:57:58of the vast differences between the different regions of Italy.
0:57:58 > 0:58:01The difference between the people is so enormous,
0:58:01 > 0:58:03and you need to understand that.
0:58:03 > 0:58:05A Milanese is an Italian like a Neapolitan,
0:58:05 > 0:58:11- but they are two different animals, you know? Completely.- Cheers.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13Andrew, we reach the bottom,
0:58:13 > 0:58:18- but now what is left to do is to go up to the Adriatic side.- More?!
0:58:18 > 0:58:22- You want to go around the Adriatic?! - Yes! All the way up to Venice!
0:58:22 > 0:58:25- That's more than 1,000 miles. - That's OK.