Thursday 12th November 2009 – Padula, Italy

There is a distinct lack of open campsites at this time of year and so we decided to stop again at our restaurant, Aia Antica, in Padula. This gave us a simple drive across the arch of the foot and up on the A13 motorway. This stretch of motorway is quite beautiful, rising to 1,000 metres, the views of mountains, valleys and hillside villages are lovely. At one point the motorway runs in tunnels directly below a castle.
We arrived just after 13:00 and found the restaurant open and it seems to be open lunchtimes and evenings all week. This is probably because of its proximity to the much-visited Carthusian monastery of St. Lawrence. We decided to go for lunch rather than the evening meal and were treated to another excellent feast.
On our last visit we only made it as far as the monastery, so this time we decided to climb up to the town resting on top of a hill. The walk up gave us lovely views of the monastery, the valley and the show-clad peaks of the mountains opposite. The town had been defended by a wall and we some of the gates were still in position even if the walls themselves had long disappeared under houses. The perfume of wood smoke filled the air as we wandered through the maze of steep, narrow alleyways that made up the old town. We saw a museum dedicated to Joe Petrosino who we later discovered was born in Padula and emigrated to America where he became an anti-Mafia policeman based in New York. A number of films and many books have been written about his life. He was murdered in Sicily by the Mafia when he travelled there in pursuit of one of the New York Mafia bosses.
On the way back down from the top of the hill we found the Anunnziata church and it became clear that this was a fortification at one of the city gates that had been converted into a church. The front elevation looked just like a town and there was evidence of a large, now filled-in, doorway part way up the wall on the side. In the square here stood a monument to Joe Petrosino.
It was now getting dark and we had to head back so that we could negotiate the country lane and unlit drive to Ai Antica whilst we could still see something.
Photos: One of the alleyways in Padula's Old Town; The Anunnziata church; A view of the Monastery of St. Lawrence with Aia Antica looking rather elegant in the field behind the church. Examining other photographs, it became obvious that Aia Antica used to be associated with the monastery as a drive runs from the monastery, through a gate and directly to Aia Antica.