The Sanctuary of Madonna della Corona

Posted on December 15, 2022 by babbityjean

In August 2022, Architectural Digest featured “17 Beautiful Places of Worship Built into Nature.”  Among them is an Italian chapel that appears suspended on a sheer cliffside high above the Adige River in the province of Verona.  It is a popular pilgrimage destination today for those who want to meditate or pray in peace, or to appreciate the stunning beauty of the place—the tall, vertical mountains above, the lush valley below, the meandering Adige, and the salmon-colored church with its bell tower reaching to the sky.

The sanctuary was initially built in 1530.  But there is evidence that the location was already frequented in the 11th and 12th centuries.  A hermitage there housed ascetics linked to the Monastery of San Zeno in Verona. 

The origins of the construction of the sanctuary of the Madonna della Corona date back to a local legend. The story tells of the miraculous discovery of a statue of the Pietà on the edge of the rocky ravine. The statue was originally kept on the island of Rhodes.  To escape the Turkish invasion of Suleiman II and the confiscation of the island’s treasures, an angel transferred the statue to this area of Monte Baldo.  When a group of local people saw a light there and heard an angelic choir coming from the rocky wall, they tried to reach the treacherous spot.  They had to lower themselves with ropes to see the mysterious statue.  They decided to erect a chapel on that very spot to house the beautiful Madonna. 

The story is most likely apocryphal as the sculpture is made from stone native to the area.  However, the legend became quite popular as more and more pilgrims visited the area.  As the sanctuary was difficult to reach, local workers built a path digging steps into the rock and erecting a bridge, the famous “Ponte del Tiglio,” to facilitate the pilgrimage.

Over the ensuing centuries, the main chapel saw a number of changes.  The statue of the Madonna still hangs above the main altar.  Thanks to the church’s relative inaccessibility, it was never totally destroyed and managed to survive into the 20th century.  In the 1970s an Italian architect tore down much of the aging structure and rebuilt it, retaining as many important artistic elements as possible.

Perched on a rock shelf at an altitude of 775 meters (about 2500 feet) above sea level, the Sanctuary of Madonna della Corona, was once accessed only by a climb of 1,614 steps along Pilgrim’s Path (also known as Hope’s Path) from the village of Brentino Belluno in the Lagarina Valley in the province of Verona.  Today the once treacherous path to the chapel has been modernized, and the sanctuary can also be reached from above by an asphalt road that starts near the village of Spiazzi.

Posted in Architecture, Arte, English, Foto, Italia, Storia, Verona | 1 Comment

Domino’s è in Italia?

Posted on December 8, 2022 by babbityjean

Come si dice chutzpah in italiano? Il mio dizionario suggerisce temerarietà, sfrontatezza, e faccia tosta. È vero che Domino’s è la più grande catena di pizzerie al mondo con oltre 17.000 negozi in 90 paesi. Ma pensare che l’azienda potesse conquistare gli italiani proprio nel paese che ha inventato la pizza sembrava una mossa d’affari kamikaze.

Domino’s nasce a Milano nel 2015 con 29 negozi nelle principali città e ne prevede l’apertura di altri 880. Secondo un resoconto, sperava di conquistare clienti con ingredienti “puramente italiani”, tra cui salsa di pomodoro “autentica”, prosciutto di Parma, gorgonzola, grana padana e mozzarella di bufala. Un altro account ha affermato che Domino’s ha pianificato di convertire il gusto degli italiani nella pizza attraverso creazioni come la pizza all’ananas, la pizza con cheeseburger e la pizza con pollo barbecue.

Qualunque sia il menu, Domino’s ha anche pianificato di distinguersi fornendo un servizio strutturato di consegna nazionale. Poi è arrivata la pandemia. Quando la ristorazione è stata chiusa, pizzerie e altri ristoranti in Italia hanno aumentato le consegne a domicilio, utilizzando servizi di terze parti come Deliveroo, Just Eat Takeaway e Glovo.

Domino’s ha affermato che i suoi problemi erano il risultato di un “livello di concorrenza notevolmente aumentato nel mercato delle consegne di cibo con catene organizzate e ristoranti “mamma e papà” che consegnavano cibo per sopravvivere”. Tuttavia, anche quando le restrizioni pandemiche sono state allentate e i consumatori sono tornati a sedere ai ristoranti, Domino’s non ce l’ha fatta proprio a sopravvivere. A sette anni dal debutto in Italia, il colosso americano della pizza chiude formalmente i suoi negozi nel luglio 2022.

Alcune catene americane hanno avuto più successo in Italia. Starbuck’s ha aperto a Milano nel 2018. Anche se Starbuck’s è stato originariamente ispirato dalla cultura italiana del caffè, infiltrarsi nel paese che ha portato l’espresso nel mondo sembrava di sicuro un po’ folle. Il metodo di tostatura di Starbuck è diverso da quello del caffè italiano, ad esempio, le quantità sono enormi (insieme ai prezzi) e la cultura dei locali per il caffè è diversa da quella dei bar italiani. Tuttavia, la Torrefazione Riserva di Milano è tanto un museo e un mercato (con cornetti e panini e altri prodotti genuini italiani) quanto una caffetteria. Nella città internazionale della moda, questa sembra funzionare, forse con più clienti stranieri che italiani. Chissà dove li porteranno i piani di espansione di Starbuck’s?

Nel frattempo, l’impronta di Domino’s nella patria della pizza sta scomparendo. I social media abbondavano di commenti come “Divertente pensare che Domino pensasse di poter conquistare l’Italia”, “Follia”, “Cercare di aprire Domino’s Pizza in Italia è come cercare di vendere la neve al Polo Nord”.

Posted in Abitudini, Cucina italiana, Differenze culturali, Foto, il Caffé, Italia, Italiano, Milano | Leave a comment

Domino’s in Italy?

Posted on December 8, 2022 by babbityjean

How do you say chutzpah in Italian?  My dictionary suggests temerarietà, sfrontatezza, and faccia tosta.  It’s true that Domino’s is the largest pizza chain in the world with more than 17,000 stores in 90 countries.  But to think that the company could win over Italians in the very country that invented pizza seemed like a kamikaze business move.

Domino’s began in Milan in 2015 with 29 branches in the major cities and with plans to open 880 more stores.  According to one account, it hoped to win customers with “purely Italian” ingredients, including “authentic” tomato sauce, Prosciutto di Parma, Gorgonzola, Grana Padana and Mozzarella di Bufala.  Another account said that Domino’s planned to convert Italians’ taste in pizza through creations like pineapple pizza, cheeseburger pizza and BBQ chicken pizza. 

Whatever the menu, Domino’s also planned to distinguish itself by providing a structured national delivery service.  Then the pandemic hit.  When in-person dining was shut down, pizzerias and other restaurants in Italy scaled up home delivery, using third-party services such as Deliveroo, Just Eat Takeaway and Glovo.

Domino’s said its troubles were the result of a “significantly increased level of competition in the food delivery market with both organized chains and ‘mom and pop’ restaurants delivering food to survive.”  However, even when pandemic restrictions were eased and consumers returned to sit-down restaurants, Domino’s still couldn’t survive.  Seven years after its debut in Italy, the American pizza giant formally shut its stores in July 2022.

Some American chains have been more successful in Italy.  Starbuck’s opened in Milan in 2018.  Even though Starbuck’s was originally inspired by Italy’s coffee culture, infiltrating the country that brought espresso to the world seemed a bit crazy.  Starbuck’s roasting method is different from Lavazza’s, for example, the serving sizes are gigantic (along with the prices), and the store culture is different from the bar scene in Italy.  However, its Reserve Roastery in Milan is as much a museum and market (with cornetti and panini and other genuine Italian products) as it is a coffee store.  In the international city of fashion, this one seems to be working, possibly with more foreign customers than Italians.  Who knows where Starbuck’s expansion plans will take them?

In the meantime, Domino’s footprint in the home of pizza is disappearing.  Social media abounded with comments like, “Hilarious to think that Domino’s thought they could conquer Italy,” “Madness,” “Trying to open Domino’s Pizza in Italy is like trying to sell snow in the North Pole.” 

Posted in Abitudini, Cucina italiana, Differenze culturali, English, Foto, il Caffé, Italia, Milano | 1 Comment