If it ain't Baroque...

By Andrew Smith

            In the United States, almost everything is disposable.  For a few years I lived in Las Vegas, and anything that was more than 20 years old was considered out dated and ready for implosion.  In Italy, however, good luck finding buildings that are less than 100 years old.

An evening stroll down the ancient streets of Cagli.

            Revering the past is something the Italians are very good at. However, unlike Americans, they don’t put them behind bars and glass and charge you $15 to view the architecture.  Instead, they just go on living in their museums, not trying to improve on the masters who designed them, many dating back to the Renaissance and Baroque eras.  They update from time to time, and have installed limited internet connectivity, but for the most part they live where they have lived for centuries. 

In Cagli, some of the buildings the students are staying in date back to the 1500’s.  They haven’t been bulldozed to put in condominiums or gutted for the newest department store.  Caffe’s have been serving drinks on the piazza for generations, and they see no need to change.  A big screen TV in Caffe’ D’Italia to watch soccer shows they stay up with the times for their customers, but the ancient cobblestones are fine for the customers feet and the tiny streets have plenty of room for their single file cars.  Why try to update things that work just fine?

The need for bigger and better is not necessarily in the Italian DNA.  The culture doesn’t have the activity orientation of efficiency and practicality that seems to consume the US.  Without the same competitive nature as Americans, Italians don’t need to obtain and then better whatever their neighbors achieve.  The result is a livable beauty that blends the old and the new, as Italians remain side by side with their past.