We stayed for a week in the village of Soriano nel Cimino not far from Viterbo in the Lazio region of Italy. This was a charming medieval town built on the side of Monte Cimino. Life in Soriano was synchronized by three interlocked time systems, that of commerce, the church, and politics. Village businesses were open from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, closed from 1:00 to 4:00, and then open again from 4:00 to 7:30 PM. They were closed on Thursday afternoon and on Sundays. Church bells announced services at 7:30 every morning, announced the midday, and vespers in the evening. When the Communists were in power in the town council (as they were during our visit) a whistle blew at 8:00 AM, noon(ish), and 5:00 PM, except on Sunday. The whistle was very loud, so that it could be heard in the surrounding farms and fields. The noon whistle awaited the end of the church bells before it sounded.
I grew up in a town with a noon whistle, so the sound of it brought back a wave of nostalgia. Indeed, now that I think about it, our town had constrained commercial hours (though not as constrained as Soriano) and lots of church bells.
When the town was open there was a palpable energy to the commercial district. People went from shop to shop with purpose. Cars hunted for parking spaces. You could feel the bustle. This energy, of course, is contagious, and makes one feel that these are successful businesses and puts one in a mood to buy.
I felt that if the same amount of commercial activity were spread over the normal American commercial day, the town would feel sleepy. There would be no energy. One would feel this was a dying business district.
I found I rather liked village time. We fell in sync with it rather easily. There is a very communal feeling to it. People of my village are starting work now. People are going to services now. I must remember to get my provisions because tomorrow is Sunday and nobody will be working.
The modern world has become increasingly Las-Vegas-ed. Public clocks are hard to find. Everything is open all the time. There is no distinction among the hours. People work flexible hours (which often means all hours) Even watches are becoming rarer as people use the clocks on more private devices: PDA's and cell phones.
It is good there are still places where people keep village hours.
- J
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