Montichiari: A priest and Castello Bonoris

This Sunday we decided to go to mass in Montichiari which is a 15 minute drive from Rivoltella. The drive is nice since it goes through the country where the view is of nice old farm houses and the smell is predictably that of cow then pig poop. Yes, there is a difference. And we just decided that cold weather poop is much easier to smell than hot weather poop. Both open up the lungs but the fresh air seems to help. My fiance told me that years ago asthma attacks were managed by going into the barn to smell the poop. It really helps!

Anyway, we enjoy the drive to Montichiari for the fields of flowers and old farm houses. The town of Montichiari springs up suddenly from the hills like an unexpected mirage. There is a huge beautiful castle there, an enormous cathedral and the town is relatively small. Comparable to Puyallup or Annapolis. Not much of a town but a rather huge church and castle. We arrived early, saw police guarding the streets and a band set up to play. 

Band ready to play for the farewell of the priest.

Farewells are a big occasion!

Parking was also pretty hard to find. This isn't the typical Montichiari that I knew. When we squeezed in the Cathedral we saw it was packed: every seat taken and every inch of floor with someone standing. I was impressed. Apparently the main priest was leaving. He must have been pretty influential as the mayor was there and a band was outside of the cathedral waiting to play for him. 

Delicate roses at the entrance of the church.

It was really sweet to see how important the priest was to everyone there. At the end of mass the band played, started marching and the priest with the politicians followed, then the people. They slowly made their way around the bend of the city and out of sight. 

The town of Montichirari following the band celebrating the priest.

 

Since we were already there we decided to walk up the hill to check out the castle called Castello Bonoris which was built in the 11th century. 

I particularly like this castle because it is designed and built differently than the others. Rather than being made of large rocks or marble it is made of small stones all positioned in a way that creates a pattern similar to a mosaic.

Small stones adorning the walls of the castle.

It isn't a monstrous castle with tunnels, bridges and many imposing towers with the cold chill of a fortress. Rather it is a castle big enough for someone who wanted to be able to keep an eye on his home at all times, enjoy the garden and see what was going on in the town bellow which I think is smart.

The front entrance of the castle.

If I were a queen, I would definitely want my castle at the top of a hill, built decoratively as well as for use, and with property small enough for me to survey in case my kids were trying to sneak out at night, my cat escaped and I needed to find him or if someone was trying to break in. And in the days when home surveillance cameras were non-existent: having great eye-sight and a human size property would be the way to do it. There are advantages to smaller castles. I can't see anyone being tortured, imprisoned or unhappy in the Bonoris castle. 

Beautiful Bonoris Castle

Many of the other castles have the ghastly personality of unhappiness. The kitchen areas feel sad and angry like many cooks suffered long hot summers making food for picky pompous eaters, the hallways are dark and musty where aristocratic toddlers could never play but  had to go by the hand of a badly treated nanny missing teeth, and the towers are beautiful for sure a fair share of people toppled out of them to their death. That is nothing compared to the huge hole opening many wells...Giant wells remind me of  Gilman's short novel "The Giant Wisteria" where a preacher drowns the bastard child of his daughter to save his reputation in town. I'm sure many unwanted people "fell" in conveniently large mouths of wells.

The Castello Bonoris is like a designer bag without the showy emblem; only the owner knows she has really good stuff on her arm and to everyone else? It doesn't matter. Castello Bonoris is slightly snobby, small and useful with no wisteria or giant wells. I like it.