Going to Schifanoia is not a synonym of the vulgar ending up in a mess, meaning ending badly, going to end badly, but is simply going to visit a place in the province of Terni with a somewhat singular name. Schifanoia, precisely.
Places with unusual and bizarre names can be found throughout Italy, ranging from Paperino to Belsedere in Tuscany, from Donnadolce to Purgatorio in Sicily, from Altolà in the province of Modena to Golasecca in the Varese area. In Umbria we have Bastardo, Casa del Diavolo, Strozzacapponi (which should twin with the Abruzzo Strozzacavallo in the location of the Strozzavolpe Castle near Poggibonsi), but what makes the names of villages and towns in the green heart of Italy ambiguous is the accent of some places. So let’s pay close attention to correctly pronouncing Pisciano (Gubbio), Chiavano (Cascia), Ramazzano–Le Pulci (Perugia), Budino (Foligno). In the province of Terni there is Schifanoia, a hamlet of the municipality of Narni, and it is there that I went to visit something interesting.
Sonnets and biographies
I discovered Schifanoia by reading some sonnets by the poet Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli (1791-1863). In the sonnet Er Tempo de Francesi he writes, somewhat irreverently: «A little longer than Naples lasted with that other world scummunicated, Rome came to become Frascati, Schifanoia, or Castel Formicolone. And ssedute, and ddemanio and ccoscrizzione […]».
Schifanoia is also mentioned in Le biografie dei capitani venturieri dell’Umbria by the historian, politician and patriot from Perugia Ariodante Fabretti (1816-1894). «And on the said day Camillo Vitelli, Mr. Pavolo Orsino and the sons of Guido and Ridolfo dei Baglioni were sent with horses and infantry to Schifanoia of Berardino dei Ranieri, who arrived there and dried it, unloaded it and burned it […], and then they hanged Batistaccio de Sancta Agata from a tower of Schifanoia».
Schifanoia
Schifanoia is located about 8 km from Terni at an altitude of 261 m. above sea level. It is a small town and is sparsely populated, its inhabitants are called Schifannoiani. A village linked, at least until the mid-nineteenth century, to sheep farming and agriculture and it is precisely for the transhumance of flocks coming from Lazio that its name originates, where schiffa is the lookout and noja is the pasture. Furthermore, the term schifato, in central Italy, indicated a coin that was the price of a fida or affidatura, that is, a fee for grazing. In essence, Schifanoia was a place of collection for the transit of sheep farming. The monuments and places of interest are: Church of S. Giovanni Battista (13th century), Church of S. Michele Arcangelo (11th century). In the immediate surrounding area it is possible to find traces of an ancient past such as fossil molluscs that emerge from the yellow sands.
The church of S. Giovanni Battista located in the historic center, has a simple facade where it is possible to notice a small niche with the statue of the Madonna. Inside there are frescoes dating from 1300 to 1500. Near the town, along the Cammino dei Protomartiri, stands the church of San Michele Arcangelo, one of the most interesting Romanesque buildings in the area. It has been a symbolic place of Christianity and hermitage for many centuries. Built on the ruins of another church from the 8th century, it has a rather irregular plan with two buildings that meet to form an obtuse angle. The external entrance door is surmounted by the classic round rose window, a decorative circular window. The interior consists of the abbey hall, a meeting place for the monastic community, a connecting corridor and the church itself. The internal rooms are painted with frescoes.
The Pliocene
The term Pliocene comes from the Greek (pleion and kainos) and indicates a newer fauna among marine molluscs. The Pliocene in the geological time scale began about 5,300 million years ago and ended about 2,600 million years ago. Well, in Schifanoia and its surroundings it is still possible to find traces of this ancient past, also experienced by our ancestor Australopithecus.
In the Scientific-Industrial Journal of the main discoveries and inventions of 1880 there is a short chapter dedicated to the Pliocene fossils of the yellow sands found in the vicinity of Schifanoia. The numerous fossils found in this area show without any doubt how favorable that period was to life.
It is said that in Schifanoia a tooth of a placoid fish was found among the blue marl (sedimentary rock) by a farmer named Cecinella, probably used in prehistoric times as a weapon. The author Giuseppe Terrenzi then describes it as follows: «In the Narni area the Pliocene is observed in the vicinity of Vigne, Schifanoia, Borgheria, Qualdo Quadamello, Poggio, San Vito, Montoro, Camartana, Marinata, Capitone […] the yellow sands are abundant, thus forming the most interesting part of the Pliocene deposits. […..] On the western side for the first time the yellow sands appear near the casino of Signor Roy near the Sanguinario bridge, a kilometer and a half from Vigne. Here, although the said sand appears powerful, the fossil findings are not as frequent as in other places. But three kilometers from Vigne, under Schifanoia, near Sant’ Egidio the yellow sands appear in all their power, and everywhere they appear very rich in fossils. This is perhaps the most important point of the upper Pliocene of Narni, since the quantity of fossils found there is very large».
Probably many people know more about Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara, where the lords met to have fun and avoid boredom, than about the Umbrian town which, beyond the sign that welcomes the visitor, offers interesting historical, architectural and geological ideas.
Domenico Arcangeli
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