A motorcycle nearly swiped me as I drudged alone up the steep narrow street surrounded by 10 foot high walls. It was hot and I carried my bottle of tap water that was put to more palatable use pouring over my head than down my spout. A small village was up ahead and several elderly women and men were seated out front of a two story stone building. I recognized one of the women who helped Rebecca and I find the right bus stop into the city center of Florence. My hand wave was received by a simple nod of the chin and a reflective look. Who are you? I kept going.
Exploring the grounds and hiking trails at 15th Century Florentine Villa Fattoria di Maiano, at which we stayed, the road ended and I continued on a dirt path with Cypress trees and rock outcroppings towering over me. Signs warned of wild boar and other creatures of the woods. I soon found myself in the old quarry of Cave di Maiano where sandstone called "pietra fiesolana" was carved from the mountain for much of the architectural detailing in 15th century Florentine buildings, so much in fact that a ban had to be put on its use. My curiosity for coming to this spot was not roused by the sandstone so much as the quarry’s other claim to fame: it is allegedly the place where Leonardo da Vinci’s first attempted flight ended in a crash landing.
In 1500 Leonardo had returned to Florence after a 16 year absence much accomplished at the age of 48. The events of 1476 still haunted him. He had been charged and later acquitted of sodomizing a young Florentine man. When he left Florence for Milan he had bitter disappointments in his life and because of his lack of letters was not considered equal to other artists of his time.
Passing through the quarry I was now on a path through a meadow. In the distance a castle raised high off the mountain. The sweat made my mosquito bites itch and I pressed on not really knowing where I was going. The wind blew and trees swayed in eerie rhythm to my labored breathing. I looked for creatures that might suddenly appear and I instinctively picked up a rock for protection.
Lorenzo di Medici had his own troubles following Leonardo’s sodomy charges. In 1478 an attempt was made on Lorenzo’s life during a high mass in the Duomo cathedral. The conspiracy involved the Archbishop of Pisa, Pope Sixtus IV and Lorenzo’s Florentine archrivals Salviati and Francesco de' Pazzi. Lorenzo’s brother Giuliano died in the incident and in the ensuing bloody aftermath the Pope’s supporters were rounded up and executed by a vigilante Florentine mob. Angered by the turn of events, the Pope enlisted the King of Naples, Ferdinand I to attack Florence. In an act of astute political savvy, the militarily weak Florentine sailed to Naples surrendering to Ferdinand. During his 3 month imprisonment Lorenzo was able to convince Ferdinand of the Pope’s treachery and to let him go back to Florence averting a disaster.
I came to a juncture in the path. A sign showed that one direction led to the castle and the other a mountain ridge top and although it would be a tough climb I chose the latter. The heavily forested path did not look well travelled and at times I had to guess at where the path really was but I steadily made my way up, over and around boulders and fallen tree branches. I was determined that when I reached the top I would be rewarded with a magnificent view of Florence, the River Arno and the surrounding countryside. The entire area was part of the Fattoria di Maiano estate which I found on the recommendation of another Agriturismo villa owner in Umbria. As I was planning the trip to Italy I became internet friends with Sabina of Colle San Paolo in Panicale. Sabina said it was a good place for the kids after a full day of tourism because it had a great swimming pool. As it turned out that was the saving grace in the heat. Unfortunately unlike Sabina’s villa, Fattoria di Maiano had no screens on the windows or air conditioning. Mosquitoes, a particularly nasty variety called “Tigris” tormented our party without relief when the windows were opened and the heat overwhelmed us when the windows were closed. The place however reeked of history. Both movies “Room with a View” and “Tea with Mussolini” were filmed on the estate. Queen Victoria and Margaret both spent holidays here. The place was owned by two famous families at separate times, the Sforza’s and the Pazzi’s. In the 19th century the property was restored to grandeur by Sir John Temple Leader who planted the cypress trees which are now so prominent throughout the area. Today it is operated by Countess Lucrezia Miari Fulcis dei Principi Corsini and is a hotel, banquet hall and active organic olive oil farm.
I had not known it at the time but the mountain I was on was Monte Ceceri or Swan Mountain. The ancient lore was that a huge bird had once long ago lifted itself from the mountain top and disappeared into the sky. At the top there was a clearing and in the center was a scorched ring of rocks used many times for campfires. The view was partially blocked by huge trees but I was nevertheless treated to the spectacular expanse of Florence in solitude and stunning silence. It was from this place that Leonardo had launched his “great bird.” It was from this place that he had for many hours studied the flight of birds and meticulously recorded his notes on soaring.
In the spring of 1506 it was a time for Leonardo of great significance. He was in a furious rivalry with Michelangelo, each trying to outdo the other and artists from all over Europe came to witness and take part in this challenge. Raphael was a pupil under Leonardo. Leonardo had begun painting the Mona Lisa which took him 14 years complete. His father at 80 years old had passed away. He was finally considered the Master that he was but Leonardo never thought he would become famous for his art. It was after all his occupation. His passion was engineering and he always desired immortality from his great inventions. Unfortunately many of the ideas he had were just too far ahead of their time and in Leonardo’s mind embittered failures. Of all the inventions he made none had more interest for Leonardo than the possibility of human flight. Curiously he never wrote about the flight that was to take place that spring day but the story goes that he had strapped his pupil Zoroastro da Peretola into the “great bird” and it had crashed below into the Cave di Maiano. Leonardo never wrote again about flying in his journals. Something had ended here for him. No one will ever know but perhaps it was because another disappointment had once again overcome him.
As I descended the mountain I was a bit startled by a rustling in the brush along the path in front of me. I stopped momentarily to listen and observe. A fox emerged from the underbrush onto the path and stopped to look at me then quietly disappeared back into the forest on the other side. I was overcome with the loneliness of this place craving human contact and picked up another rock for protection as I quickly paced myself back to the Villa.
