Thursday 21 August 2014

On seeing Alghero from the sea

There could be nothing more welcoming than the site of Alghero from the sea.

Even now you can get a sense of just how reassuring it would have been to a ship out from Genoa or Catalonia.

I have gazed at its southern side for most of the holiday.  Beyond the harbour are the walls and behind these are the tall buildings which like the defences stare out to sea.  But what strike you most are the church steeples.  Dominating the skyline is the tall tower of the Cathedral and a little to the left is the cupola of the Chiesa di S. Michele which has a wonderfully patterned roof of different coloured tiles. 

Looking at them I am reminded of the impact which our own Cathedrals must have had on travellers heading towards medieval Canterbury, York of Durham.

Long before they saw the city walls they would have caught a glimpse of the towers and spires of the great cathedrals and no doubt felt relieved that their journey was at an end.  And I suppose for the traveller in medieval England or his Catalan counterpart spires signified safety,

I have no idea how dangerous the countryside around Alghero might have been back when it was a trading port first for Genoa and then Catalonia.  But I do know that I would have been pretty pleased to arrive inside the walls of medieval York. There might have been many people on the road but those roads were little more than dirt tracks.  In winter they were a sea of mud where horses and the wheels of carts might sink in the oozy gunge while in summer when they had dried out they presented a fresh hazard from the deep ruts.

And of course the priority was to reach the city before the gates closed and our traveller faced a night alone in the open.

Of course such considerations are no longer the case, but as you wander through the narrow streets I can see how our Catalan sailors as much as the merchant travelling the open countryside might regard the church spires of Alghero as the first hint of comfort and the safety to come.

Pictures; from the collection of Andrew Simpson

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