Via Pietro Mascagni

This is a detail from yesterday's photo of the Sacro Cuore di Maria Church. I like the way the buildings across from the church are each a different color. And how about that forest of TV antennas!

Sacro Cuore di Maria Church

This church is better known as "San Filippo Neri" which is the name of its "oratory." In the Catholic tradition an oratory is a place of prayer, but technically it means a structure other than a parish church, set aside by ecclesiastical authority for prayer and the celebration of Mass.

Oratories seem to have originated from the chapels erected over the tombs of the early martyrs where the faithful gathered to pray, and also from the necessity of having a place of worship for the people in country districts when churches proper were restricted to cathedral cities.

The term is used here in Molfetta to mean the activities organised by a church for the children of the parish. These include sports, crafts, organised games, drama, summer camp...whatever the church volunteers are interested in or capable of doing with the kids.

Puffo Sky

What a strange color of blue...this sky almost looks like the sea, like ripples in a blue pond, like layers of blue cream...like a Puffo!

Ex-Cooperativa Fomalhaut

This is the building we used to live in before we moved out to the countryside about 2 and half years ago. It was a pleasant place to live. I had nice neighbours, always ready to lend me an egg or a cup of flour, there were other kids for my boys to play with and two nice large grassy areas where they could play.

It was built about 35 years ago when this southern side of Molfetta was "out in the middle of nowhere." A friend who grew up in this building tells of the long walk into town to go to school. Now there's an elementary school right across the street, my boys walked to and from school by themselves when we lived there.

The name is interesting: "Ex-Cooperativa Fomalhaut." A cooperativa is a building built by a group of people who put their money together (I'm sure there's also some government financing involved), buy a piece of land, and build an apartment block. They have to work out all the details of style, materials, costs, etc. together. It is now an "ex" cooperativa, I imagine everyone got tired of having to cooperate!

The name "Fomalhaut" is an unusual choice, as it is not an Italian word. In fact, Fomalhaut is the name of the 18th brightest star visible from earth. It derives from an Arab word "Fom al-Hut" meaning "the mouth of the fish." No one was ever able to explain to me how that particular name was chosen...not even the original members of the cooperativa!

Take a Break

A gaggle of gulls take a break on the breakwater off the south side of Molfetta's historic center.

Wallflower

This is a decoration that can be found on some walls of older buildings. Apparently it allows for air flow between the outer wall and an inner wall, but I don't know much more than that.

Pontifical Regional Seminary

The Pontifical Regional Seminary is part of the seminary I showed you in a past post, but is located on the other side of town. I believe the main difference between the two sites is that administrative affairs are handled in this building, while the other one houses the theological school. The local bishop has his offices in this building, located right in the center of town, across from the Villa Comunale (or City Park).

It's hard to get a decent photo of this building. It is surrounded by so much visual clutter, telephone poles and wires, garbage cans, parked cars, you name it! It's also very large and you can't back up very far from it to take a picture because you'll end up running into a building or find your view blocked by the trees in the park.

I have not been able to get out of the house to take new pictures, as I am busy translating all day, so I'm raiding old photos from my files. Shouldn't make that much difference, old buildings like this don't change much with time!