A Walk through Troia and through Time (Italy 13-of-17)

Yesterday, we drove 40 minutes from our hotel in Lucera (Grand Hotel Vigna Nocelli) to the hometown of Jim’s grandparents, Troia, in Puglia, which is located on the eastern side of the mountains, and Naples is on the west coast of Italy.

Jim had done quite a bit of research over the past few years, so he knew that his surname, DeDad, had been shortened from the original, DiDedda. He warned me before we went to Troia, that it was very small, and that we might not spend much time there, other than to see where his grandparents were born, and also to see if any activities were going on, because our visit would be taking place during the Cathedral of Beata Maria Vergine Assunta in Cielo’s celebration of its six patron saints, Eleuterio, Ponziano, Anastasio, Secondidino, Urban, and Anza. The cathedral was built in the 13th century and contains stones from Roman structures that even older.

We were pleasantly surprised to find the most charming town set at the top of a small mountain. The ride up the mountain was a bit intimidating, with plenty of curves and switchbacks. Troia’s origins date back to the 10th-century, BC. The city has changed hands many times since, sometimes laying abandoned for centuries. Today, approximately 7,000 people live there.

We walked from one end of the town to the other and found a street that was named after a DiDedda, but we couldn’t find the two streets that Jim’s grandparents were born on. We saw a woman walking around putting things in mailboxes, so we assumed she was a mail carrier, but she might have just been delivering flyers. In any case, we figured she’d know if the two streets existed anymore, so Jim showed the copies of his grandparents’ birth certificates to her, and she was able to point him in the right direction. Soon, we were standing in front of the two homes.

While we were in Troia, we found a poster that listed the full schedule for the three-day, patron-saint celebration. At noon, a band was scheduled to play in the piazza near the Cathedral, so we listened to them for a little while.

When we got hungry, we bought some lupines (lupini beans) from a street vendor and found a place to sit down and eat them. They were good, but the ones Jim makes are better. If you’re not familiar with lupines, I’ll give you a short description. They are dried beans about the size of a Lima bean that you boil and then soak in salted water for a week or so, To eat them,  you bite off the end of the bean’s skin and pop the soft inner bean into your mouth. Jim’s family usually enoys them during the Christmas holidays, along with cauliflower patties, but that’s a story for another day.

We enjoyed our time in Troia so much we decided to come back at eight o’clock that evening to watch the procession through the town honoring the patron saints. An account of that event will be included in the next post. Ciao for now.

Comments on “A Walk through Troia and through Time (13-of-17)”

1. Dave and Cathy July 19, 2011 at 10:08 pm Really cool you 2 –pretty inspiring!
   • Ann Silverthorn July 20, 2011 at 5:39 pm Thanks Dave!
2. Marcy July 19, 2011 at 10:23 pm I love this little town. Not sure I ever told you that my daughters both went to Austria and Germany with the band and played in little towns like this one (they played in gazebos). So cool for Jim to see a plaque and street named for a DiDedda. Looking forward to reading more. Take care. At least no more car issues.
   • Ann Silverthorn July 20, 2011 at 5:44 pm What a wonderful experience for your girls! I don’t think you ever told me about their trips, but you did tell me about yours!
3. Bunny July 20, 2011 at 5:28 pm Enjoying your journal of your adventures. See you next week.
   • Ann Silverthorn July 20, 2011 at 5:45 pm Thanks Bunny. Thanks for holding down the fort so well!
4. Ellen July 21, 2011 at 1:40 am Wow, what a beautiful little gem of a town… your pictures, again, are wonderful and really capture the essence of the place. Continue your fun!!!
5. Andrea July 21, 2011 at 6:51 pm These pictures gave me chills.
6. Barbara June 4, 2012 at 5:54 pm My grandmother is also from Troia; her maiden name was Pilli, and she was born in 1903. We went to Troia in May 2012; had a wonderful meal at D’Avalos Ristorante with the owners–no menu; only local food!
   • Ann Silverthorn July 15, 2012 at 9:24 pm Hi Barbara. I assume you speak Italian? We were not good students, so were at a disadvantage most of the time. I’d love to go back, though. Such a beautiful country and such nice people.