Gaia da Camino (1270-1311), a prominent female character in the enchanting village of Portobuffolè (TV), a poetess and one of the first in Italy to write in Provençal, had already made a name for herself throughout Italy during her lifetime, but her posthumous fame increased after she was even quoted by the Supreme Poet: Gherardo da Camino, Gaia’s father, was captain-general of Belluno and Feltre and lord of Treviso, a very powerful man esteemed by Dante, who was a guest of his in Treviso for two years and about whom he wrote in the Convivio.
Dante mentions both Gherardo and Gaia in Canto XVI of Purgatory, in which he puts these words into Marco Lombardo’s mouth, referring to Gherardo III: “per altro sopranome io nol conosco, / s’io nol togliessi da sua figlia Gaia. / Dio sia con voi, chè non vengo vosco più”. Gaia was given the river port of Settimo by her husband, she was a beautiful and capable woman, intelligent and sensitive. She was slandered and muddied with the rumour that she had loved different men, but the real aspect of her personality that perhaps many did not like was her female emancipation and political enterprise, at a time of serious crisis in Treviso, after the death of Gherardo in 1306, when she had to face crises of succession and settlement and a difficult inheritance.
In the rooms of her house, one breathes her personality, also thanks to the many references to a public role she held in Portobuffolè, evidently in the style of a princess. A princess in the guise of a graceful, elegant, gentle regent.
And indeed, the importance of women in Portobuffolè seems to be tangible and formalised by a sort of superior seal, capable perhaps of recalling all the virtues of Gaia: on the façade at noon of the house at the foot of the municipal tower, there are the remains of a fresco dominated by four female figures: Fame, Charity, Justice, Peace. The four cardinal points on which the city’s well-being and prosperity seem to be built.
Where can you see Gaia da Camino’s house with your own eyes? Let yourself be carried away by the perfectly balanced fragrance of delicacy, elegance and resourcefulness that hovers over the town of Portobuffolè and, when you arrive at Via Businello 5, stop and look up at the three heights of the façade, that splendid fourteenth-century house-tower that Gaia transformed into a brilliant little palace, home to the exquisite frescoes that adorn most of the rooms, depicting the arts, letters, theology, philosophy and astronomy, as well as the sumptuous military armour.
To contact the Museo Casa di Gaia da Camino, tel. +39 0422 850075
Translated by Dr Giada Gubert
Intern at the Chamber of Commerce of Treviso – Belluno |Dolomites
