Days 9, 10, 11, 12 - Chieri at Easter

Not a lot to say about the boys, other than to say all reports from home stay families are positive. Let's talk about Chieri instead.

Chieri is a beautiful town that has managed to maintain much of its medieval and Renaissance character. Inhabited since around 2000 BC, the place now known as Chieri has had a long history. Conquered by the Romans early in their march to imperial domination and named Carraeum Potentia, ancient Chieri became an important Roman fort town. With the fall of the Empire and the rise of independent city states in Northern Italy, Chieri became a vibrant town.

It is unclear when Chieri received its current name, but there is a legend that says that after he besieged and destroyed the town in the 1100s Emperor Fredrick Barbarossa mockingly said to the defeated population, "Ma chi eri?" (Roughly, "Who were you again?". The legend goes on to say that the people took on the name Chieri (chi eri?) in defiance as they rebuilt. Most historians agree this is simply myth and that "Chieri" is a derivative of the Roman "Carraeum Potentia, but it's a cool story and play on words nonetheless.

Whatever the origins of the name, aside from a couple of devastating bouts of plague, Chieri thrived over the next 800 years or so. It's recent history has been a little rocky with the collapse of the textile industry that had dominated the town since the Industrial Revolution due to competition from Asia and India, but the town appears to have weathered that and is quite a cosmopolitan and thriving little place.

In today's Chieri the St Joseph's boys are settling into their families. With no activities planned with them, we decided to walk through Chieri taking in the sites and hoping to run into some of the boys.

As I walk through Chieri I hear in my head an old 80s song - Dream Academy's Life in a Northern Town.

The centre of Chieri is Piazza Cavour, a central piazza surrounded by two churches, a bank, government offices and a couple of funky shops. This is the standard meeting place for people in Chieri, and that is our designated meeting point for the boys. When they meet up with their Italian friends, that is most likely the place.

Piazza Cavour, Chieri

Piazza Cavour by night, looking from the west

Moving on from Piazza Cavour, we come to one of the oldest parts of the town, Via Palazzo Di Citta, the main street of Chieri. Probably the safest area we will pass through on the Italy Trip (including Ferntree Gully), Via Palazzo Della Citta is pedestrian-only for most of the day (the locals call it the pedonale, the pedestrian area) and has people going about their business at all hours. It is a pretty street, with restaurants and cafes, bookshops and many boutiques and services. It also is the site of San Fillipo, the church where Don Bosco commenced his priestly studies in 1861. Also impressive are the many crooked lanes and alleys coming off it.

The pedonale by day.

Further along the pedonale, with Triumphant Arch in the background

The church of San Filippo, where Don Bosco studied to be a priest, also on the pedonale

The pedonale by night

The pedonale by night, further along

We wandered around Chieri, taking in the sights and saw little of the boys, but the home stay parents reported all was well with them. We returned by night (hence the photos above). After grabbing some dinner, we went to Chieri's cathedral to participate in the Easter vigil Mass.

Easter Vigil Mass, Chieri

The Mass went for over two hours and finished quite late, and at its conclusion, we were pretty sure that we were the only Aussies in the Church. Some of the boys went to earlier masses and others said they would be going on Sunday.

Happy Easter to all back in Australia.