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Backroads Europe Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
5 Episodes 2015 - 2015
Episode 1
Via Publicae in Portugal
It was the most important north-south route in Portugal. Via Publicae: a Roman municipal road from Braga (Bracara Augusta) to Lisbon (Olisipo). Along the way, Romans brought the first industries to the region: iron works, stone masonry, ceramic manufacture as well as the technique of preserving fish with salt. Trade blossomed, markets opened and cities thrived. Once the road networks were established, attention was turned to building up the ports such as Porto, formerly Portus Cale. On the banks of the River Douro, writer and director Jeremy J.P. Fekete meets the last boat builder building traditional "rabelos", port wine boats. For hundreds of years, these boats were the sole method used to transport the famous sweet wine. Today, the boats of the wineries that line the quay of the Vila Nova de Gaia remind us of those times. Further south, on the sea coast, lies Aveiro where a 3,000 year-old fishing method, "Arte Xàvega", is still practiced. Oxen are used to drag fishing nets through the water. Inland, near Conimbriga, we find the largest Roman dig in Portugal. Archaeologist and custodian Virgílio Hipólito Correia gives us an insight into the art of mosaic. Conimbriga had been a settlement since pre-history. In 139 B.C., Roman troops conquered it and established the Roman Province of Lusitania there. During Emperor Augustus' reign, the city was expanded to give the settlers the infrastructure essential for every day life. From a Roman point of view that meant a forum, an amphitheater and thermal baths. Not far from here lies Coimbra, one of Europe's oldest university cities and from 1139 to 1260, capital of Portugal. Coimbra stands upon the ruins of the Roman city of Aeminium. The traditional student festival "Queima das Fitas" would be nothing without Fado. Coimbra - like Lisbon - is a regional center for the Portuguese blues. Coimbra Fado has a slightly different style to Lisbon Fado, as only men are allowed to sing it. The students, like the young men in the group "In Illo Tempore" sing Student Fado. For centuries, the work of craftsmen has shown that the beautiful paved streets of Portugal deserve more than to be trodden on. The stone-setting technique, a legacy of the Romans, was first used in Lisbon in around 1500 A.D., from there the craft of the "calceteiros" spread throughout Portugal, further afield to Brazil and even China. "Calçada portuguesa" - also known as Portuguese mosaic.
Episode 2
Via Cassia in Italien
It is a reconstruction of an old Etruscan road: Via Cassia. Its path crossed the regions of Latium and Tuscia, connecting Rome (Roma) via Sienna (Colonia Saena Iulia) to Florence (Colonia Florentia). The first Roman roads were primitive, made of trodden earth and pebbles. Etruscans, by contrast, had paved roads as early as 400 B.C.. As with so many of their former master's achievements, Romans adopted the art of road building and brought it to perfection. Rome, once capital of the Roman Empire, is full of Roman traces. And cats. Felidae tracks lead all the way back to ancient Rome. As Emperor Augustus expanded the Roman Empire, more and more furry four-legged felines found their way to Rome. They were used to keep corn-stores free of rats and mice, replacing ferrets for that purpose. The more vain "street tigers" have made their home among the ancient columns of "Largo Argentina", that date back to the 3rd and 4th century. There they enjoy the attentions of tourists keen to take their photograph. Amongst the cats and Roman ruins, film maker Jeremy J.P. Fekete meets ex-opera singer Silvia Viviani. Today she's known as a "gattara" because her heart belongs to the cats. Further north of Rome lies Blera. Once an important Etruscan city, during the 3rd century B.C. the territory became part of the Roman Empire. Romans built Via Clodia here, an extension of Via Cassia, through which Blera was connected to Rome and other important places in the Empire. Not far away, "butteri" - the last of the Italian cowboys - still ride over the hills and plains of central Italy. Only a few dozen of them remain to pursue a 500 year-old tradition. They sit firmly in the saddle, experienced herders of Maremmana cattle, yet their occupation is on the verge of dying out. A little way away from Via Cassia - Montegabbiano. It is said that Saint Francis of Assissi lived here in 1218, that he built a hut out of "scarsa" (a moorland plant that gave the city of Scarzuola its name), and founded a convent. Today Scarzuola is a rather unusual place. It was rebuilt by Milanese architect Tomaso Buzzi, who bought the convent complex in 1957, to become the "ideal city". On his death in 1980, Buzzi left the stone structure incomplete with instructions to let nature take its course. Buzzi's nephew Marco Solari has taken the helm and continues to build. At the end of the journey lies Florence. Named after the Roman flower goddess Flora, it was founded by Julius Caesar as a colony for Roman war veterans. There followed a forum, theatre and thermal baths. The colony became a city, but it wasn't until Rome's bloom had faded that Florence truly blossomed.
Episode 3
Via Aquitania in Frankreich
Their network is woven like a spider's web over an immense empire: the Roman roads. Nearly 85 000 kilometers of paved roads once traversed the Roman Empire, linking Europe to Asia Minor and the Near East. For several centuries, they served as commercial roads, military routes and communication networks - for the circulation of the traders, soldiers, civil servants and messengers of the Empire. After the fall of the Empire, the paths outlived their builders, but their usage changed. For centuries, cities and villages, civilizations and cultures thus continued to develop along these routes. Today, this immense network of roads continues to traverse all of Europe. It bears witness to the wealth of ancient crafts and the diversity of traditions. Despite the domination of the Roman Empire 2 000 years ago, European countries have conserved all of their singularity. Where do we find traces of this "golden age" today? How were Roman foundations of culture and tradition reworked and developed through to the 21st century and in which regions did this occur? We set out to look for these influences on the ancient Roman roads of Europe, in villages and big cities, through encounters with artisans and the discovery of unusual social rites - by looking beyond intangible studies and dusty archaeological sites. Along the Via Aquitania: it traverses the regions Languedoc, Midi-Pyrénées and Aquitaine, connecting Narbonne to Bordeaux, via Toulouse.
Episode 4
Via Julia in Deutschland
The name Julia is a modern moniker that has only existed since the 19th century. Via Julia: an ancient Roman road between Günzburg (Guntia) and Salzburg (Iuvavum), today it is lined with crucifixes and cemeteries. As part of the route from Lutetia (Paris) to Constantinople (Istanbul), it was the main road between Raetia Province and Noricum. At the west end of Via Julia, before the gates of Günzburg, is the largest Roman burial ground yet found north of the Alps. With over 1,840 graves uncovered, it is the second largest known so far in Germany. The inventory of 1,430 graves confirms the significance and wealth of antique Guntia. Not far away the burial culture of the modern age is preserved. But where the ashes of the deceased were once buried in beautiful glass urns, sculptors and undertakers now struggle against the decline of old Christian burial traditions. Further along Via Julia lies Augsburg - between the rivers Lech and Wertach, which flow from the Alps. In 1 A.D., a military camp grew to become "Augusta Vindelicum", the capital of the newly established Roman Province of Raetia. The Roman Emperor Augustus is considered to be the founder of Augsburg - a bronze statue of him stands atop the pillar of the Augustusbrunnen Fountain in the heart of the city. Augsburg-born stucco plasterer Werner Schwendner leads us into the world of sculpture, from Roman gods to statues of the Virgin Mary. Because even in Roman times, plaster was used for interior decoration. A thin layer of plaster could preserve fruit and plaster was even used in wine making. On the tracks of the Romans writer and director Jeremy J.P. Fekete meets the "perchten" in Kirchseeon. They are a rustic and traditional troupe whose ancient incantations and blessings were brought over from Austria. With colorful carved wooden masks, rites and dances, every year they reawaken nature and ring in the solstice. In Bavarian "Bajuwaren" country, visible monuments from Roman times are as thinly scattered as the milestones. These "miliaria" reveal the conquest of several imperial dynasties. Another window into Roman times is offered by Residenzplatz in Salzburg, once the site of metalworkers and jewelery makers. These days a jewel of recent history is treasured by the women of the city: the golden bonnet. This almost forgotten traditional attire and adornment is preserved with passion - because the quest for beauty is timeless.
Episode 5
Via Romana in der Schweiz
Their network is woven like a spider's web over an immense empire: the Roman roads. Nearly 85 000 kilometers of paved roads once traversed the Roman Empire, linking Europe to Asia Minor and the Near East. For several centuries, they served as commercial roads, military routes and communication networks - for the circulation of the traders, soldiers, civil servants and messengers of the Empire. After the fall of the Empire, the paths outlived their builders, but their usage changed. For centuries, cities and villages, civilizations and cultures thus continued to develop along these routes. Today, this immense network of roads continues to traverse all of Europe. It bears witness to the wealth of ancient crafts and the diversity of traditions. Despite the domination of the Roman Empire 2 000 years ago, European countries have conserved all of their singularity. Where do we find traces of this "golden age" today? How were Roman foundations of culture and tradition reworked and developed through to the 21st century and in which regions did this occur? We set out to look for these influences on the ancient Roman roads of Europe, in villages and big cities, through encounters with artisans and the discovery of unusual social rites - by looking beyond intangible studies and dusty archaeological sites. Along the VIA ROMANA, from Lake Geneva to the Rhine: it traverses the cantons of Vaud, Jura and Berne, by connecting Geneva and Basel, via Avenches.