Tag Archives: Italy

Be careful where you start a fire

Posted on September 18, 2009 | 2 comments

Piazza della Signoria in Florence with Savonarola marker showing. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Piazza della Signoria in Florence with Savonarola marker showing. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Yesterday morning I visited the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. I think many people walk through this Piazza to get to the Uffizi Gallery and never notice the plaque about Savonarola. Sometimes groups of people were standing on the plaque. When it was clear, one man walked up and said to his companions “Who’s that?” The group walked on without an answer.

Daniel M. Madden says,

In the lovely Piazza della Signoria, the political forum of Florence in all ages, Savonarola arranged a huge bonfire in 1497 so that penitents won over by his words could do away with their wigs, perfumes, lotions, powers and other accouterments of an easy way of life. He himself was burned to death in the same piazza a year later as a heretic. The spot where he died is marked with a plaque. It is not far from the copy of Michelangelo’s statue of “David.” (A Religious Guide to Europe)

One may say anything he wishes as long as he does not step on the toes of those in authority. Jesus faced this problem when He dealt with the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem.

“If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” (John 11:48 ESV)

Here is a closeup of the plaque marking the spot where Savonarola died.

Plaque marking spot where Savonarola died. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Plaque marking spot where Savonarola died. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

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Posted in Bible Study, Church History, Culture, New Testament

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Venice and Mark

Posted on September 16, 2009 | Leave a comment

This view shows one corner of the Doge’s palace and the columns with the lion representing Mark the Evangelist. (Some of us would simply say Mark, the writer of the gospel that bears his name.) The buildings visible in the distance are across the Grand Canal.

Note the pigeons resting on the lamp post. There are now fewer pigeons in the Square than in the past because the city has quit feeding then.

Doges Palace and view from St. Mark's Square. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Doges Palace and view from St. Mark's Square. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

St. Mark’s Cathedral and Square is one of the best known tourist attractions in the world. The building is of the Byzantine style, but the liturgy is Roman Catholic. Madden explains how a Byzantine building happens to be in Italy.

The Byzantine style of St. Mark’s Cathedral bespeaks the maritime past of the Venetian republic, and its long range interests in the eastern Mediterranean, the Mare Nostrum of the Romans (A Religious Guide to Europe, 298).

Clock Tower and the Domes of St. Mark's. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Clock Tower and the Domes of St. Mark's. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

It is alleged by some that the body (or relics) of St. Mark the Evangelist were brought to Venice in the 9th century B.C. by Venetian merchants.

Today we traveled from Venice to Florence. It rained most of that time. By the time we reached Florence we had some clearing. At the moment it is bright outside.

Everyone in the group is doing well.

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Avoiding the Merchants of Venice

Posted on September 15, 2009 | Leave a comment

We had a full day in Venice. Our hotel is located on the mainland at Mestre, but we were in Venice about 12 hours. I hope to have a few photos to share later, but doubt I will get them uploaded tonight.

Everyone in the group spent the full day stepping from one island to another. I expect that everyone will sleep well tonight.

Just a few words from William Shakespeare:

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. (The Merchant of Venice, 1. 3)

The quality of mercy is not strained,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s,
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. (The Merchant of Venice, 4. 1)

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Innsbruck to Venice via Verona

Posted on September 14, 2009 | Leave a comment

Today we traveled from Innsbruck to Venice. This involved driving over the Brenner Pass and through the Dolomite region of the Italian Alps. It rain off and on most of the day, but that did not seem to deter the enjoyment of the experience for the tour members.

We had some time in Verona, Italy, for a visit of the city. Everyone wants to see the balcony associated with Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It was impossible to get a good photo because of the large number of tour groups composed of college age young people. Here is a little peak.

Romeo & Juliet Window in Verona. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Romeo & Juliet Window in Verona. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

I was more fascinated by the strong Roman fortifications that are still visible around the city. The Colosseum, which was built in the first century B.C. or the first century A.D., is the third largest in the world and is among the best preserved from the ancient world.

The Colosseum is located in the center of the town and is still used for various musical performances.

Roman Colosseum in Verona, Italy. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Roman Colosseum in Verona, Italy. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

We look forward to visiting Venice tomorrow. The city is situated more than two miles from the mainland on 118 islands connected by many stone bridges and interlaced by more than 150 canals.

So far as I can detect all of the members of our group are in good health and good spirit.

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On the road in Switzerland, Austria and Italy

Posted on September 10, 2009 | 2 comments

This afternoon we are ticketed to leave Atlanta for an overnight flight to Zurich, Switzerland. After some brief sightseeing in Zurich we will head for Lucerne for overnight.

Most of our tours are in the Bible Lands (Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, et al.), but we have directed other tours since 1967. On this current tour in Switzerland, Austria, and Italy, in addition to the general learning that travel affords, we will give some emphasis to church history, and Paul’s time in Rome.

Ferrell and Elizabeth in Florence, Italy, 2001.

Ferrell and Elizabeth in Florence, Italy, 2001.

This time I am using a Nikon D90. It is amazing how much younger the camera makes us look. This will be a great selling point for many.

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January 3rd in (my) History

Posted on January 3, 2008 | Leave a comment

I am sure that many significant things have happened on January 3rd, but the one most important to me was my birth on this day. One day I was looking for some photos of the old cotton mills from Huntsville, Alabama, and ran across a site that also had a vintage post card of the City Hospital. This is the way I remember the hospital when I was a kid.

Huntsville, AL, city hospital on an old postcard.

My parents lived in the New Hope area when I was born. About three years later we moved to Harvest, a rural community with a population of about 200. I attended a four-room school for the first 8 years of schooling. There were 2 grades in each room with one teacher. When I was about 10 years of age I was back in the hospital overnight to have a tonsillectomy.

Little could I have imagined in those formative years that I would be able to travel around the world (1995), and to many diverse and exotic places. I don’t even remember when I first learned about China or Egypt or Russia. There was no State of Israel back then, only a Zionist dream. My first remembrance of hearing about Japan was on December 7, 1941, the day of the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor.

I wish my Mother, now 94, could still remember this day in our history.

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