A martyr, a miracle and coregone

The martyr

The town of Bolsena is the sister city of Orvieto and just a short drive away. We decided to investigate this medieval fishing and vacationing village nestled on the shores of lake Bolsena for a couple of reasons. The first was to eat a special fish, called coregone, that is stocked in the lake (originally to keep the mosquito population in check). The second was to visit the Basilica of Saint Christina where it is said that an incredible miracle took place and where the young martyred saint is buried.

I’m not a religious person and have never attended church or devoted myself to any faith but I’m a sucker for a good story and you will often find that the Catholic Church (as do other religions) offers plenty of fantastic stories. Bolsena, it turns out, gave us two amazing tales, one of a miracle that holds serious weight in the area and another that tells the story of incredible devotion. There are several accounts of the martyrdom of Saint Christina. This is the version that was told to us.

Saint Christina was all of 12 years old when her father decided that she must die for destroying his pagan statues of gold and distributing the pieces among the poor. The story goes that she underwent horrible torture, being whipped, thrown into a dungeon, gouged by hooks and always survived. Her father eventually died of spite. His successor, intent on killing her, put her on a rack over burning coals and cut out her tongue, yet she continued to live. She was then weighed down with rocks and dumped in the lake but saved by an angel. Fortified with faith, she was then thrown into a furnace where she was left to burn for five days after which she emerged, unscathed but was then killed by numerous arrows to the heart, sometime during the third century.

The beautiful Basilica of Saint Christina is where she was laid to rest in an incredible secret tomb. The resting place was later rediscovered and amazing catacombs were created next to her tomb. Only noble people were buried here and the more noble, the closer you could be to Christina.
The day we visited the basilica we found ourselves to be the only people in the church. For a nominal fee we were let into the locked catacombs to see Christina’s tomb up close and to walk the deep and dark burial grounds. We have visited many cathedrals and basilicas during our travels but this particular visit had an intense vibe that went right through us in chills.

The silence and authenticity of our surroundings were engrossing and the smell of incense wafting down from the main chapel heightened our senses. Dating back to the third century, the catacombs’ hallways felt eerie, towering 11 meters over our head, the graves at the top being the oldest since they would dig deeper to accommodate new graves. Most were empty but a few remained sealed up with words still visible on their enclosures. Emerging from the depths, Nat and I agreed that the ambiance could be cut with a knife and closing the huge iron gates behind us lifted an intensity that neither of us had felt before.

As if the magnitude of the catacombs was not enough for this cathedral, one of Italy’s most famous miracles is said to have happened here, the Eucharist miracle. Just outside the gates to the catacombs is the perfectly preserved altar of the miracle. Its preservation is remarkable, being made up of pieces from the sixth century, the Roman, early Medieval and the Bronze Age. Even the basilicas most early painting is incredibly preserved (“Christ among two palms”, sixth century) and tucked in behind the altar.

The miracle

The miracle, as legend tells it, happened when a young priest, who’s faith in God was wavering, stopped to celebrate mass at this tiny altar in 1263. In response to his doubt the host turned to flesh and blood spilled onto the corporal (cloth on the altar) and the marble floor. The young priest rushed to the Pope (Urban 4th) in Orvieto with proof of the miracle and was eventually forgiven for the doubt he had, he then slipped away never to be heard of again.

The pieces of marble, known as the miracle stones, still stained with blood, have been removed from the altar and are preserved in a separate altar in the chapel of the holy stones. The stained corporal resides in a tabernacle in the Duomo of Orvieto in one of my favourite chapels, decorated in fantastic fresco and an amazing 13th century painting of the Madonna.

While admiring the numerous chapels and altars in this complex of conjoined basilicas an older man, in charge of the tiny gift store and unlocking the gates to Saint Christina’s tomb, joined us to personally explain and show us where the stones were cut from and the unfolding of the miracle. He spoke in clear hushed Italian with a deep and slow voice, making sure we understood his description of what we were seeing.
Another must before we left was to lay eyes on a magnificent painting of Saint Christina done in 1508 by Giovan Francesco d’Avanzarano. A truly incredible painting that, in my opinion, had similar qualities to the Mona Lisa in that Christina’s gaze and expression have been captured perfectly.

Whether you believe in miracles or whether you believe that the young priest may have had a bleeding nose during the mass, there is no denying the faith, belief and intense vibe held within these walls. Not to mention the incredible beauty in artwork and architecture that make up this fantastic Basilica.

The coregone

Leaving the Basilica, we headed down to the shoreline along a grand boulevard that led to the deserted beach. It was very cold and the wind was whistling, so we made a beeline directly to Trattoria da Guido, where we were told we could enjoy a freshly caught coregone and some local specialities.

Like the rest of the town, we were alone in the restaurant and were doted on by the mother and sister team that served and cooked for us.

To start we had an antipasti plate of simple local fish prepared in several ways including smoked eel, pickled coregone, coregone in salsa verde and carp crostini accompanied by a carafe of local white wine.

Then came the main courses of a whole fried coregone fish with fresh herbs for Nat and coregone stuffed ravioli in a rosé sauce for me. Coregone, a member of the white fish family is a beautifully mild and delicate fish. We sampled it in enough dishes during this meal alone to become big fans.

Our bellies full with a delicious meal and a couple of espressos to finish, we were off to explore the medieval part of the city on a long walk that took us to a steep set of stairs tunneled up the hillside. It was raining lightly and everyone was hidden away in their homes so we explored what seemed to be an abandoned city.

The winding streets and alleys afforded us plenty of photo opportunities with the wet stone and brick making contrasting colours. We agreed that in summer time with its long sandy beach and idyllic lake side setting, Bolsena would be a great place to spend more time. Unfortunately, being winter time, a few places were closed but some remained open, like the large aquarium housed in the main castle in the center of the old village, displaying the aquatic life found in lake Bolsena.

Cold and wet, we headed back to the car, stopping along the way to buy some sausage from a macelleria boasting the best sausage in the area, made from a very old family recipe. Definitely the smallest butcher shop I have been in, his claims were later proven when we had his delicious sausage for dinner.

In the end we were very glad we had made the trip to Bolsena to discover its stories of miracles and the delicious coregone fish and what turned out to be a dreary day, weather wise, was worth enduring to discover this lake side gem.