Discover Cascia With Incantato Tours

The Italian town of Cascia, located in the Umbria region, has a history deeply linked to Rita, the Augustinian Saint who was born here in 1381 and today is known as one to grant wishes. 
Founded during Roman times, Cascia and the area around it was a releavant site during the Roman Age. It experienced its major splendor, however, during the Middle Ages. The city's most striking medieval architectural sites that are well worth a visit include the Gothic church of St. Francis with its remarkable rose-window, as well as the Church of St. Anthony, which dates back to the 15th century. 
It was because Saint Rita of Cascia, however, that the town became famous and a well-known destination for pilgrims from around the world. Despite her desire to entere an Augustine convent, she was married at the age of 13. After 18 years of a violent and difficult marriage despite which she led an exemplary life, her husband died. In 1407 Rita then entered the Santa Maria Maddalena Monastery, where she remained until her death on May 22nd, 1457, at the age of 76. 
The sanctuary dedicated to St. Rita is situated in a pre-existing 16th century church and has great religious importance. After her canonization in 1900, a large shrine was built and became an important place of pilgrimage. Some episodes of the life of St. Rita are sculpted on the main portal and her remains lay near the left gate, protected and still perfectly preserved. 

Poems from Rieti

4/10/12

By Olivia Lyons-Potter

Right now, visual artists are attending a workshop on painting, dancers are reviewing last minute blocking, theatre performers are practicing lines, and choristers are going over music for the show tonight.  Yesterday, the choir performed for the first time at a mass, and we can only hope that today’s show goes as smoothly.  There is a large amount of anticipation for the show, but also a bittersweet feeling as we spend our last day in Rieti and prepare to go to Rome early tomorrow morning.

Before the Show

By Nisha Malhotra

4/10/12

Colors swirl, scattering light

Wings spreading, trying to take flight

Burning desire, burning hate

Galaxies pass, twisting fate

Stars collide, and planets tilt

Flowers bloom, and flowers wilt

Let it be, whisper the leaves

The wind weaves its way through the trees

Take life’s journey smooth and slow

Plenty of places and spaces to go

The sun will set and the moon will rise

Under blackened, star-lit skies

All these universes in the blink of an eye

I breathe in deep, spread my wings, and FLY

MSS student report from Italy: "Experiencing the Land"

Buildings in Italy are dispersed throughout the countryside like how a lazy farmer scatters seeds: mixed together and thrown to the wind. Our four-hour bus ride to Florence gave us plenty of time to observe this pattern, or lack there of, but at the same time this arrangement has a sort of organic order like everything else in Italy. More of this order, which can only truly be found in a civilisation as old as Italy is seen in the landscape. The sharp contrast between the rolling Appennines Mountains and their vallies is beautiful and their smooth peaks trap the clouds, keeping them low to the earth casting an ethereal mood on the land. The trees also all seem to grow to the same height and in neat rows-but manage to look natural and almost as if they have never come in contact with humans.
Entering the modern walls of the city, the trend of shutters--both the traditional and modern styles continued. The bustling city is home to great art, diverse peoples, and bold pigeons. Engaged in a walking tour of the city, we learned about traditional city planning and how it has been modernised or preserved through the centuries. Our tour took us to see Michelangelo's "David," a sculpture more breathtaking than I could have imagined. Our guide described Michelangelo's belief that sculpture was the only true art form: in sculpture, the work is already trapped inside the marble, and the artist has the vision to release it from it's confines, while in painting, the artist adds to a canvas until they are personally satisfied. Outside the museum we saw street artists portraying famous sculptures bringing the art into the current century. Turning the corner we were floored to see the magnitude of the Florence Cathedral. Requiring three architects for the main cathedral and an additional architect for the grande dome, the building is ornate and mystifying. Painted with greens, reds, browns, and white the building is anything but ordinary. Another interesting fact we learned about the cathedral of Santa Croce is that it is the resting place of many famous artists including Michelangelo and Machiovelli. We then split, the visual artists visiting Uffizi and the rest of the group exploring the shopping options of the city ending in a fine leather store where we were given a demonstration on leather gilding with Italian 18 karat gold concluding the tour.
My favourite aspect of the city though was the graffiti. Here in Italy, we have seen a variety of grafitti: tagging, calls for social change, declarations of love, and street art. Unlike in the States, the graffiti is let be on city walls, sidewalks, and streets and adds great character to the cities and towns. Long sentences are written neatly across the road in Italian and English and world-renowned street artist's work marks street corners and traffic signs. My favorite wall in the city though, was the one outside The Academia, where the "David" resides, that was marked with names of visitors from all over the world in many different languages and one drawing of a sloth. I really enjoy Italian graffiti, because it is a clear depiction of the voice of the Italian people--their love, their loyalties, and their anger and gives us a more intimate glimpse of Italian culture.
Ciao!
Tori xx

MSS student report: "Amazing day in Florence"

Isabella Daher reports from the Mayfield Senior Tour: "Today, we spent an amazing afternoon in the beautiful Tuscan city, Florence. We started our day with a lovely breakfast and got on the bus. A few minutes after arriving, I met up with my uncle. This was exciting since I haven't seen him in 3 years. After we met, I was fortunate enough to spend most of the day with him. We ate lunch and our group took a tour of the Accademia Museum. We were all so captivated by the beauty of the statue of David, some us were brought to tears. After our tour, we walked around the gorgeous city, most of us stopping every few minutes for pictures. We were all amazed at the size and shape of the Duomo. We continued walking through the town, passing the Ponte Vecchio. After that, we all split up into our groups. My group had a great time shopping and buying souvenirs for our friends and family back home. We eventually made our way back to Ponte Vecchio and each had our own gelato. We got back together with the rest of the group and got on the bus."

MSS on the way to Florence - time to nap!

MSS student reports from the tour: "Experiencing Italy is sorpredente"

MSS student Tori summarizes the flight and first impressions of the 2012 Mayfield Senior School Incantato Tour to Italy: "Flying over, I kept waiting for it to hit me that I was going to a new country on a completely different continent. Experiencing Italy is sorprendente--one of the most amazing things I've had the pleasure of enjoying. Thus far we've split our time between Rieti and Contigliano and are on our way to Florence, which we've been advised to pronounce as Flor-ren-ce. Touring and ambling about the sleepy city of Riete, we get a truly intimate introduction to Italian culture. The people are friendly and it's interesting to recognise our similarities and separate cultural peculiarities. Another great thing about the city is it's rich history and being able to observe how the people, landscape, and city itself have adapted over the centuries. Yes, centuries. Right outside our hotel is the ruins of a Roman bridge and most of the buildings are centuries old, adorned with art from the ages and there is even a medieval road running under the whole complex which can be viewed through grates in the many courtyards. It was also nice to see the Italians respect for their history and the many precautions taken to restore and maintain the ancient beauty. All the buildings have iron bars set on the outer walls that are weighed down with chains to maintain structures even as the earth shifts. Out of everything though, I would say my favourite thing to do is attempt to assimilate to the Italian way of life by learning phrases, dressing European, and interacting with locals-- especially if it means I get to make friends with our italian speaking waitress."

MSS student report from Italy: "It is so beautiful here!"

Jasmine sums up the first impressions from the 2012 Arts Immersion journey for the students from Mayfield Senior School's Conservatory: "Hey everybody, It's so beautiful here! The weather is nice, not too chilly. The food is glorious. The cities are AMAZING! So much fun, miss everyone, have a good break everyone! :)"