You enter a square as if you enter a dream.
We can find friends, lovers, strangers, ideas, words, love.
Sometimes we talk, sometimes we remain silent.
It’s nice to imagine Piazza Navona when there weren’t all those tourists. Piazza Navona in ancient Rome was a stadium commissioned by Emperor Domitian, which could accommodate 30,000 spectators. The name of the square was originally “in Agone”, from the Greek agones, “games”, since the stadium was used exclusively for athletics competitions. (*Piazza in Agone → Piazza Naone → Piazza Navona)
The square gives a feeling of safety.
A square is a point of reference in our life. It is a bookmark. It reminds us of a certain period, a certain day, a certain moment.
God is in the squares. So much so that everywhere we find a Cathedral square. The Saints live in the squares. We share the same bench with them every day.
One day I entered Piazza del Sole which is located in a town in Southern Italy. In Puglia. In Salento. In Grecìa Salentina. The town is called Calimera and from the name alone you feel welcome. Καλημέρα in Greek is a way of greeting, of saying good morning! It was a summer day and it was terribly hot. At the corner of this square lived the Sun that warmed souls and thoughts.
The sun rises in Calimera and you have the feeling that every street is irradiated by its own ray. And that every ray touches the skin of passers-by.
I know that in Palermo there is a square commonly called Piazza della Vergona, for the nudity of the statues that make up the fountain. But sometimes the shameless attitude of well-dressed people seems more naked.
In Thessaloniki I always end up in Aristotle's Square. Maybe because it's the most beautiful. Maybe because it overlooks the sea, or maybe because Aristotle still influences our thinking.
Μαρία
Olio d'Oliva E.V. 500 cl.
Strong Haiku
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