Showing posts with label Festivals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Festivals. Show all posts

15 August 2023

Ferragosto

A chance to enjoy quieter cities while Italians take a holiday

Ferragosto is a traditional festival that dates back to Roman times and has religious significance too
Ferragosto is a traditional festival that dates back
to Roman times and has religious significance too
Italy, San Marino and the Italian speaking region of Switzerland all celebrate Ferragosto on this day every year with a public holiday.

This day of celebration originated during Roman times, when Feriae Augusti, the festival of the Roman Emperor Augustus, took place on 1 August. It was a day of rest for working people to signal the culmination of weeks of hard work by labourers on the land.

The month of August itself is named after Augustus. Its original name was sextilis, as it was the sixth month in the Roman calendar. Just as Julius Caesar had previously renamed quintilis - the fifth month - Iulius after himself, it was only natural for Augustus, as Julius Caesar’s chosen heir, to follow suit.

Over the centuries, it became traditional for workers to wish their employers ‘Buon Ferragosto, and to receive a bonus of extra money from their bosses in return. During the Renaissance, this tradition actually became law throughout the Papal States.

The Catholic Church moved the date for Ferragosto to 15 August to coincide with the celebrations for the Feast of the Assumption, a day of worship to mark the ascendance of the Virgin Mary into Heaven.

Many Italians head for the nation's famous beaches when the Ferragosto holiday begins
Many Italians head for the nation's famous
beaches when the Ferragosto holiday begins
In the 20th century, Mussolini gave Italian workers the chance to visit cultural cities, or to go to the seaside between 14 and 16 August, with special ‘holiday trains’ offering people rail tickets at discounted prices.

Horses, donkeys and mules were also released from their work for this period in August and it therefore became traditional for their owners to decorate them with flowers to celebrate their holidays. As a result, horse races, such as the Palio dell’Assunta in Siena became established and the first of the two annual runnings of the famous Palio still takes place on 16 August.

The name Palio is thought to derive from the Latin word pallium, which refers to the piece of precious fabric that was given to the winners of horse races in Roman times. The 19th century opera, Pagliacci, by Ruggero Leoncavallo was named because the action in the story is meant to have taken place on the day of Ferragosto.

Nowadays, many businesses close for two weeks in the middle of August and their employees take a mandatory holiday during this period. Ferragosto gives Italians the chance to escape from the heat of the cities by taking a trip to the seaside, lakes or mountains. News bulletins are often dominated by reports of huge traffic jams on the autostrade as Italians leave the cities en masse.

The history of the Palio di Siena is closely linked with the traditions of Ferragosto
The history of the Palio di Siena is closely
linked with the traditions of Ferragosto
This also gives tourists the chance to enjoy the big cities when they are quieter than usual. Although banks, post offices and some businesses are closed for Ferragosto, the museums, palaces and cultural sites remain open for Italian people and tourists to visit.

In many parts of Italy, there are special church services, religious processions and fireworks displays to enjoy on 15 August. It is traditional for families to get together to celebrate Ferragosto and therefore restaurants are open and many even offer special festive menus.

Public transport operates on a reduced ‘festivi’ timetable, so it is a good idea to check the times of buses and trains as they may be different from usual.

Buon Ferragosto!

Ferragosto is a good time to visit attractions such as the Colosseum
Ferragosto is a good time to visit
attractions such as the Colosseum

Travel tip:

It is well worth visiting Rome at Ferragosto as the city will be quieter than usual, but the main cultural sites, such as the Pantheon, the Colosseum and Castel Sant’Angelo are all open. Most restaurants will remain open and many will be serving Pollo alla Romana, the traditional Roman Ferragosto dish of chicken cooked in a sauce of red and orange peppers and tomatoes.


Ferragosto on Lake Garda is famous for many spectacular fireworks displays
Ferragosto on Lake Garda is famous for many
spectacular fireworks displays
Travel tip:

Lake Garda in Lombardy is a lively place to visit for Ferragosto as there are often fireworks displays, live music and other events taking place at the side of the lake in many of the resorts.  The town of Garda is famous for its Palio delle Contrade, a rowing race staged in celebration of the fishing community that has been repeated annually for over 50 years. It takes place as dusk falls on the stretch of water between the port and the town hall, contested by the flat-based gondolas representing the nine contrade - neighbourhoods - of the town. Each boat is crewed by four oarsmen in full traditional costume, with the winners receiving a wooden statue of Our Lady Of Assumption.

Also on this day:

1702: The birth of landscape painter Francesco Zuccarelli 

1922: The birth of economic historian Carlo Cipolla

1944: The birth of fashion designer Gianfranco Ferré


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19 March 2023

Festa del Papà - Father’s Day

Italian celebration this year coincides with Mothering Sunday in UK

While today marks Mothering Sunday - or Mother’s Day - in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, the Italian tradition is that celebrations on this day in the religious calendar are for Father’s Day.

La Festa del Papà in Italy owes its history to La Festa di San Giuseppe - St Joseph’s Day - the annual celebration that has been held since the Middle Ages to recognise the role of Joseph, the husband of Mary, as the legal if not the biological father of Jesus Christ.

In Catholic tradition, Saint Joseph is the embodiment of the ideal father, a strong, pious character perfectly suited to fulfil his role as protector of and provider for his family. 

For many years, the Festa di San Giuseppe - which always falls on March 19, regardless of whether it is a weekday or a weekend - remained a largely religious celebration. But, thanks to the growth of commercialism around family celebration days, it has taken a lead from Father’s Days around the world, and in particular the United States, and expanded into something bigger.

So nowadays, in common with Father’s Days around the world, La Festa del Papà is an occasion for children to show their appreciation and affection for their own fathers by making cards and giving treats and gifts.

Schools will often devote time in the week leading to March 19 by setting aside craft lesson time to making cards and gifts, with students encouraged to fill the card with their own verses.

And naturally, being Italy, gifts often take the form of food, with a number of different cakes and pastries becoming traditional on Father’s Day.

An example of Zeppole di San Giuseppe, one of Italy's traditional Father's Day treats
An example of Zeppole di San Giuseppe, one of
Italy's traditional Father's Day treats
This is thought to originate in a story in the Gospel of St Matthew in which Joseph and Mary were visited by an angel and warned to flee to Egypt so that their baby son would be kept out of the clutches of King Herod.

When they arrived, Joseph is said to have helped support the family by making and selling sweet pancakes.

The classic Italian Father’s Day pastries are Bignè di San Giuseppe, fried cream puffs filled with custard and dusted in icing sugar. Although Bignè di San Giuseppe are available throughout Italy all year round, they are made in particular quantities around Father’s Day.

In the south of Italy, the equivalent is the Zeppole di San Giuseppe, a similar concoction to Bignè, made with puff pastry, custard and icing sugar, topped with a glazed cherry.

A recipe for these zeppole appeared in Cucina teorico-pratica, a 19th century cookery guide compiled by Ippolito Cavalcanti, a food-loving aristocrat who went under the title Duke of Buonvicino, first published in 1837 and still being reprinted today. The book is considered something of a bible of Neapolitan cuisine.

In Sicily, meanwhile, the Sfincia di San Giuseppe is filled with sweet ricotta, candied fruit and chopped pistachio nuts, while shops in the north of Italy might have Ravioli di San Giuseppe - ravioli made with shortcrust pastry and filled with jam.

The Festa di San Giuseppe in Sicily is also celebrated in some households with the preparation of a soup called maccu di San Giuseppe, made with crushed fava beans, also known as broad beans.

Another part of the gift-giving element of the Festa del Papà is thought to come from Saint Joseph’s role as the patron saint of carpenters. Originally, wooden toys and trinkets were exchanged between all relatives on Festa di San Giuseppe, the practice evolving into one in which children gave wooden gifts to their father. 

An overhead view of Zaha Hadid's extraordinarily  futuristic Stazione Napoli-Afragola
An overhead view of Zaha Hadid's extraordinarily 
futuristic Stazione Napoli-Afragola 
Travel tip:

Ippolito Cavalcanti, the aristocratic gourmet who described Zeppole di San Giuseppe in his cookery guide Cucina teorico-pratica, was born in Afragola, a city today of almost 65,000 people but subsumed into the sprawl of greater Naples. Situated around 10km (6 miles) northeast from Piazza del Plebiscito, Afragola’s history is thought to date back to around 300BC when it was settled by a tribe called the Samnites, although remains dated as of Bronze Age vintage, thought to have been buried in an eruption of Vesuvius, were found in 2005.  Today’s Afragola, sadly, is an area of social problems, high unemployment and high crime rate, yet it is home to one of Italy’s most futuristic railway stations, the extraordinary Napoli-Afragola station designed by British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid and opened in 2017 for a new high speed line from northern to southern Italy.

Iginio Massari's Pasticceria Veneto is consistently recognised as one of Italy's best pastry shops
Iginio Massari's Pasticceria Veneto is consistently
recognised as one of Italy's best pastry shops
Travel tip:

The best pastry shop in all Italy - and there is plenty of competition - is generally reckoned to be the multiple award-winning Pasticceria Veneto in Via Salvo D'Acquisto in the northern city of Brescia. Opened in 1971 by the Brescia-born pastry chef Iginio Massari, Pasticceria Veneto has dominated the pasticcerie section of the annual Gambero Rosso awards since 2011, receiving the coveted Tre Torte mark from the food magazine every year.  The store, often described as a pastry laboratory rather than simply a bakery thanks to 80-year-old Massari’s constant innovation, has been stocking a number of treats in anticipation of Father’s Day. The chef’s own creation for the occasion is a caramelized millefeuille.


Also on this day:

1661: The birth of musician Francesco Gasparini

1816: The death of physician and businessman Filippo Mazzei

1914: The death of seismologist Guiseppe Mercalli

1923: The birth of cartoonist Benito Jacovitti

1943: The birth of technocrat PM Mario Monti


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5 February 2018

Saint Agatha of Sicily – Christian martyr

Huge crowds turn out for feast day in Catania


The flower-bedecked carriage of St Agatha at the February 5 celebration in Catania
The flower-bedecked carriage of St Agatha at the
February 5 celebration in Catania
One of the largest festivals in the Roman Catholic calendar takes place on this day every year to celebrate the life of the Christian martyr Saint Agatha of Sicily.

In Catania, which adopted her as the patron saint of the city, hundreds of thousands of people line the streets to watch the extraordinary sight of up to 5,000 citizens hauling a silver carriage said to weigh 20 tons (18,140kg), bearing a huge statue and containing the relics of the saint, who died in 251AD.

The procession follows a route from Piazza del Duomo that takes in several city landmarks and ends, after a long climb along the Via Antonino di Sangiuliano at Via Crociferi.

The procession begins in the afternoon and finishes deep into the night.  There is an enormous fireworks display that takes place when the procession reaches Piazza Cavour.  The final leg, the Race of the Cord, is the part that involves the seemingly endless lines of white-smocked citizens pulling cords attached to the carriage up the long hill of San Giuliano.

As well as being the patron saint of Catania, which may have been her birthplace and where citizens have long believed she has a calming influence on the volcanic activity of Mount Etna, as well as preventing earthquakes and epidemics of disease, Saint Agatha is the patron saint of breast cancer patients, wet nurses, bell-founders and bakers among others.

Thousands of citizens form a vast human chain to pull the carriage through the streets of Catania
Thousands of citizens form a vast human chain to pull
the carriage through the streets of Catania
These stem from the nature of her legend, in which she was subjected to unthinkable cruelty including the mutilation of her breasts.

It is said that Agatha was born in either Catania or Palermo in about 231AD to a wealthy and noble family. At a very early stage in her life she decided to dedicate herself to God and became a consecrated virgin.

However, she was a naturally beautiful girl and her vows of celibacy did not deter men from being attracted to her and making unwanted advances.

One such person was a Roman prefect named Quintianus, who had been sent by the emperor Decius to govern Sicily, with orders to persecute anyone found to be doing anything to advance the Christian faith.

When Quintianus encountered Agatha, he was transfixed by her beauty and offered to spare her from persecution in return for satisfying his physical desires.

When she refused, he sent her to work in a brothel but she refused to take any customers.  Word of this reached Quintianus, who locked her in prison and said she would be tortured unless she renounced her beliefs.

Sebastiano del Piombo's graphic depiction of the cruel torture of the defiant Agatha
Sebastiano del Piombo's graphic depiction of the cruel
torture of the defiant Agatha
She stuck steadfastly to her promise despite the most awful treatment, which culminated in the slicing off of her breasts. Sent back to prison, she was given no food or medical attention but is said to have been visited by the apostle, St Peter, who supposedly healed her wounds through prayer.

Nonetheless, she died in prison in 251AD, at the age of only 20 years.

As well as being the patron saint of groups such as those stricken with breast cancer and other health problems concerning the breasts, she is also the patron saint of bell-founders on account of her severed breasts resembling bells, and of bakers because of a special cake made for the celebrations.

The cakes – often called minni di virgini (virgins’ nipples) – are filled with sweet ricotta or patisserie cream, covered with marzipan and topped with glossy white or pink icing with a cherry nipple.

Her remains are housed in the Badia di Sant’Agata in Catania – the church opposite the city’s Duomo, which is also dedicated to Saint Agatha.  

The Minni di Virgini cakes that are baked as part of the celebrations
The Minni di Virgini cakes that are baked
as part of the celebrations
There are many other churches in Italy and across the world dedicated to Saint Agatha, including the church of Sant’Agata dei Gotti, in Via Mazzarino in Rome.

As well as being the patron saint of Catania, Agatha is also the patron saint of Sorihuela del Guadalimar in Spain, of Molise and San Marino, and Kalsa, a historical quarter of Palermo.

Saint Agatha is a patron saint of Malta, where in 1551 her intercession through a reported apparition to a Benedictine nun is said to have saved Malta from Turkish invasion.

In art, Saint Agatha was often depicted carrying her severed breasts on a platter, as with Bernardo Luini’s painting in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, and in a panel of the Polyptych of St Anthony, painted by Piero della Francesca, which is kept at the National Gallery of Umbria in Perugia.

The Badia di Sant'Agata
The Badia di Sant'Agata
Travel tip:

The Badia di Sant’Agata in Catania, which overlooks Via Vittorio Emanuele II, is one of the city’s principal examples of the Sicilian Baroque style.  Opposite the north elevation of the Duomo, it was designed by Giovanni Battista Vaccarini on the site of an ancient church and convent dedicated to the saint, which was destroyed in the earthquake of 1693.

Travel tip:

The procession on February 5 takes in Via Etnea, the principal shopping street of Catania, an almost dead straight thoroughfare that stretches from Piazza del Duomo to the Municipio (City Hall) over a distance of more than 2.5km (1.5 miles), passing through the Piazza della Università and by the Bellini Gardens.  It is lined with fashionable shops and department stores and is particularly popular on a Saturday, when it is thronged with huge crowds.







1 April 2017

April Fools' Day - Italian style

What lies behind the tradition of Pesce d'Aprile?


The April 1 tradition in Italy is to stick a cut-out fish on someone's back
The April 1 tradition in Italy is to stick
a cut-out fish on someone's back
Playing practical jokes on April 1 is a tradition in Italy in the same way as many other countries, although in Italy the day is called Pesce d’Aprile – April’s Fish – rather than April Fools’ Day.

It is said to have became popular in Italy between 1860 and 1880, especially in Genoa, where families in the wealthier social circles embraced the idea, already popular in France, of marking the day by playing tricks on one another.

The most simple trick involves sticking a cut-out picture of a fish on the back of an unsuspecting ‘victim’ and watching how long it takes for him or her to discover he had been pranked but over the years there have been many much more elaborate tricks played.

Often these have involved spoof announcements or false stories in the newspapers or on TV or radio shows, aimed at embarrassing large numbers of gullible readers, viewers or listeners.

One of the first such large-scale hoaxes took place in 1878, when the newspaper Gazzetta d’Italia announced the cremation of an Indian Maharaja was to take place in Florence, attracting a large crowd to Parco delle Cascine where a pyre had been built in preparation for a traditional Hindu funeral.  At the moment the hearse was due to arrive, groups of youngsters dressed as fishermen emerged from bushes and ran around the crowd shouting ‘Pesce d’Aprile’.

A Milan newspaper ran a hoax story about horses needing tail lights
A Milan newspaper ran a hoax story
about horses needing tail lights
Another involved a spoof story that horses had to be equipped with tail lights, run by the Milan newspaper Le Notte in 1961, which prompted many Milanese to take their animals to garages for the lights to be fitted, only to be told by amused mechanics that they had been fooled.

And in 1993, posters appeared on the streets of Milan and Turin announcing a new road tax to be paid according to the bodyweight of citizens. Again a newspaper was behind the joke.

The oldest recorded mass deception is said to have taken place in Bologna in the 13th century when the academic Buoncompagno claimed to have invented a flying machine which he promised to demonstrate on April 1 by making a flight across the city.  Most of the city’s population gathered to witness this phenomenon, but of course it never took place.

The origins of the tradition have been the subject of numerous theories.  Some link it to the Roman festival of Hilaria, which celebrated the coming of spring and ran until roughly April 1. Games and amusements took place, including masquerades, when people would don disguises meant to trick friends into believing they were someone else.

Others suggest it relates to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, which moved a traditional New Year celebration of exchanging gifts from April 1 to January 1. In those days, of course, communications were somewhat slower and less reliable than today and many people continued to give presents on April 1. The story goes that those in the know would denounce those ignorant of the change as ‘April fools’ and make their point by handing over not a gift but an empty box.

The Roman general Mark Antony was said to have been the victim of Cleopatra's prank
The Roman general Mark Antony was said
to have been the victim of Cleopatra's prank
Likewise, there are many possible explanations for how the Italians (and the French) link the day to fish.

Some say it is linked to the astrological sign Pisces, the time period for which ends on March 20, others that the origin is in a prank played by Cleopatra on her Roman lover, Mark Antony, on an April 1 fishing trip.

The story goes that, so as to create the impression that he was an expert fisherman, Mark Antony instructed his slaves to dive beneath their boat and attach fish to the end of his line, making it appear he had landed a large catch.  But Cleopatra rumbled his deception. She challenged him to return to the same spot the following day to prove it was no fluke, but only after first instructing the slaves to attach a dead fish to his line, much to Mark Antony’s puzzlement and her amusement.

Another explanation is that the fish connection goes back to the Blessed Bernard of San Genesio, Patriarch of Aquileia in the 14th century, who saved the life of Pope Clement VI after he choked on a herring bone on April 1.

In southern Italy, the word for dried cod fish – baccalà – is sometimes used in slang to describe a fool or an idiot, and supposedly used to be aimed in particular at fishermen who took to the sea in early April and returned to harbour empty-handed, not realising that it was too soon in the season for the fish to have arrived in the shallow waters offshore.


Small boats amount to three quarters of Italy's fishing fleet
Small boats amount to three quarters of Italy's fishing fleet
Travel tip:

Italians consume more fish per capita than most Europeans, which means that, though in decline, the fishing industry remains an important part of the country's economy. The size of the total catch landed in Italian waters has dropped by more than 40 per cent in the last decade yet still added up to 191,700 tonnes in 2015. Of the national fleet of more than 12,000 fishing vessels, almost three quarters are small boats used to fish the waters close to the shore. Fishing takes place almost everywhere along Italy's 9,136km (5,677 miles) of coastline. The boats in the picture are on the island of Stromboli, off the north coast of Sicily in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Travel tip:

The Parco delle Cascine (Cascine Park) is a monumental and historical park in the city of Florence, covering an area of 160 hectares (395 acres) in a long and narrow strip along the north bank of the Arno river, extending from the centre of Florence in a westerly direction until the point where the Mugnone river flows into the Arno. It was built originally as a farming and hunting estate for the city's ruling Medici family in the 16th century. 


More reading:

How Italy celebrates Christmas

Capodanno - the Italian New Year


Also on this day:

1946: The birth of football manager Arrigo Sacchi



(Picture credit: fishing boats by NorbertNagel via Wikimedia Commons)

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21 November 2016

Festival of Madonna della Salute

Venetians celebrate their deliverance from the plague


The church of Santa Maria della Salute stands at the entrance to the Grand Canal
The church of Santa Maria della Salute
stands at the entrance to the Grand Canal
Venice has held a festival on this day every year since 1681 to give thanks to Santa Maria della Salute for delivering the city from the plague.

A terrible epidemic hit Venice in 1630 during the war against Austria and in just 15 months 46,000 people died from the disease.

The epidemic was so bad that all the gondolas were painted black as a sign of mourning and they have remained like that ever since.

The Doge had called for people to pray to the Madonna to release the city from the grip of the plague and had vowed to dedicate a church to her if their prayers were answered.

When the plague ceased, in order to thank the Virgin Mary, the Senate commissioned Baldassare Longhena to design Santa Maria della Salute, a splendid baroque church on Punta della Dogana, a narrow finger of land between the Grand Canal and the Giudecca Canal.

Venice's gondolas were painted black to mourn the victims of the plague and have remained black ever since
Venice's gondolas were painted black to mourn the victims
of the plague and have remained black ever since
Construction of the magnificent church began in 1631 and took 50 years to complete.

On the occasion of the inauguration in 1681, a bridge of galleys and ships was formed across the Grand Canal to allow a mass procession of the faithful to the Church.

It was decided that the Senate would visit the church each year on November 21, the date of the feast of the presentation of the Virgin in the Catholic calendar.

For the Festa of Madonna della Salute, the city’s officials parade from San Marco to Santa Maria della Salute for a service over a temporary pontoon bridge formed across the Grand Canal. The solemn procession crosses it to reach the Church, where in the presence of the icon of the Virgin, thousands of votive candles are lit.

The pontoon bridge across the Grand Canal constructed each year to mark the Festa of Madonna della Salute
The pontoon bridge across the Grand Canal constructed
each year to mark the Festival of Madonna della Salute
The candles are sold to the local people by stalls surrounding the Campo della Salute, along with balloons, cakes, sweets and hot food to contribute to the festive fun.

Several thousand Venetians will make the pilgrimage across the temporary bridge today to light a candle to thank the Virgin Mary and pray to her for continued good health.

On the day of the festa it is also traditional for Venetians to eat a special soup known as Castradina, which is made from cabbage, dried spiced mutton and rosemary.

Travel tip:

The great baroque church of Santa Maria della Salute standing at the entrance to the Grand Canal is supported by more than a million timber piles. It is one of the most imposing architectural landmarks in Venice and has inspired painters such as Canaletto, Turner and Guardi. The interior consists of a large octagonal space below a cupola with eight side chapels. There are paintings by Titian and Tintoretto and a group of statues depicting the Virgin and Child expelling the plague by the Flemish sculptor, Josse de Corte.


The Grand Canal, looking towards Santa Maria della Salute
The Grand Canal, looking towards Santa Maria della Salute
Travel tip:

The Grand Canal - Canal Grande - sweeps through the heart of Venice, following the course of an ancient river bed. Since the founding days of the Venetian empire it has served as the city’s main thoroughfare. It was once used by great galleys and trading vessels but nowadays is teeming with vaporetti, water taxis, private boats and gondolas. The palaces bordering the winding waterway bear the names of the old Venetian aristocratic families and represent the finest architecture designed for the republic over its many centuries of history. The ambassador to Charles VIII of France visited Venice in 1495 and called the Grand Canal ‘the most beautiful street in the world.’

More reading:




Also on this day:





(Picture credits: Santa Maria della Salute main picture by Higinoa; pontoon bridge by Unofeld781 via Wikimedia Commons)



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4 October 2016

Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lamps light up Assisi in memory of saint


St Francis by Cimabue
St Francis by
Cimabue
The city of Assisi in Umbria is today celebrating the Feast Day - la festa - of their famous Saint, Francis - Francesco -  who is one of the most venerated religious figures in history.

It is the most important festival in the Franciscan calendar as it commemorates Saint Francis’s transition from this life to the afterlife.

For two days Assisi is illuminated by lamps burning consecrated oil. Special services are held in the Basilica Papale di San Francesco and the Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli.

The feast day is also celebrated in other churches all over the world and children are encouraged to bring their pets to be blessed in memory of Saint Francis’s love for animals.

Saint Francis was born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone in about 1181 in Assisi but he was informally known as Francesco by his family.

A theory is that his father, Pietro di Bernardone, a prosperous silk merchant, decided to call his new son Francesco - the Frenchman - because he had been on business in France at the time of the birth.  His wife, Pica de Bourlemont, was a noblewoman from Provence, although it was she who chose the name Giovanni.

The house in Assisi where St Francis grew up
The house in Assisi where St Francis grew up
Francesco lived the typical life of a wealthy young man, first as a rebellious teenager with a love for partying, later as adventurer, dreaming of becoming a knight and going to war.

The opportunity to do so came in 1202, when a war broke out between Assisi and Perugia. Francesco signed up for the cavalry but after witnessing the horrors of the battlefield was captured and imprisoned, held captive for almost a year until his father agreed to pay a ransom.

It was during this time that he appeared to undergo a spiritual conversion, returning to Assisi as a different man. He became a friar, founding the men’s Order of Friars Minor and the women’s Order of Saint Clare.

He had once joined the poor people begging at St Peter’s in Rome, an experience that made him vow to live in poverty.

He also dedicated himself to restoring ruined churches in the countryside around Assisi, among them the Porziuncola, the small church where the Franciscan movement was started.

This panorama of Assisi shows how the Basilica di San Francesco is built on two levels
This panorama of Assisi shows how the Basilica di San
Francesco is built on two levels
After hearing Francesco preach, Clare, a young noblewoman from Assisi, was deeply moved and wanted to join his order. Francesco received her at the Porziuncola and established the Order of Poor Ladies, later called Poor Clares.

In 1224, while fasting in preparation for Michaelmas on a mountain known as La Verna in Tuscany, he is said to have received the stigmata after seeing an apparition of angels. He is the first person on record to have been seen to bear marks matching the wounds of Christ.

Suffering from the effects of the stigmata and other health problems for which he sought treatment to no avail, Francesco returned to Assisi.  He died in a hut he had made for himself near the Porziuncola during the evening of October 3, 1226.

He was canonised by Pope Gregory IX in 1228 and, along with Saint Catherine of Siena, was designated a patron saint of Italy.

The Basilica as seen from Piazza Inferiore
The Basilica as seen from Piazza Inferiore
Travel tip:

The Papal Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi - Basilica di San Francesco d'Assisi - the mother church of the Franciscan Order, is in Piazza Inferiore di San Francesco in Assisi. Built into the side of a hill, it consists of two churches, a lower Basilica and an upper Basilica, and a crypt that contains the remains of St Francis. The Basilica is one of the most important places of Christian pilgrimage in Italy and has been designated a Unesco World Heritage site since 2000.


Travel tip:

The Basilica of St Clare - Basilica di Santa Chiara - is in Piazza Santa Chiara in Assisi. It was built in the 13th century in Gothic style to contain the remains of St Clare. These were transferred to a shrine in the basilica in the 19th century. The church is open daily from 06.30 to 12.00 and from 14.00 to 19.00. Outside the church there is a terrace with lovely views of the surrounding Umbrian countryside.

(Photo of Assisi skyline by Roberto Ferrari CC BY-SA 2.0)
(Photo of St Francis's house by Tetrakys CC BY-SA 3.0)

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19 September 2016

Festival of San Gennaro

Worldwide celebrations for patron saint of Naples


An artistic depiction of the beheading of San Gennaro in 305
An artistic depiction of the beheading of
San Gennaro in 305
Local worshippers, civic dignitaries and visitors meet together in the Duomo in Naples every year on this day to remember the martyrdom of the patron saint of the city, San Gennaro.

Each year a service is held to enable the congregation to witness the dried blood of the saint, which is kept in a glass phial, miraculously turn to liquid.

The practice of gathering blood to be kept as a relic was common at the time of the decapitation of San Gennaro in 305.

The ritual of praying for the miracle of liquefaction of the blood on the anniversary of his death dates back to the 13th century.

Gennaro is said to have been the Bishop of Benevento and was martyred during the Great Persecution led by the Roman Emperor Diocletian for trying to protect other Christians.

His decapitation is believed to have taken place in Pozzuoli but his remains were transferred to Naples in the 15th century to be housed in the Duomo.

Pope Francis kisses the vial containing San Gennaro's blood at a ceremony at the Naples Duomo in 2015
Pope Francis kisses the phial containing San Gennaro's blood
at a ceremony at the Naples Duomo in 2015
The festival of the saint’s martyrdom is celebrated each year by Neapolitan communities all over the world and the recurrence of the miracle in Naples is televised and reported in newspapers.

On 19 September in 1926, immigrants from Naples congregated along Mulberry Street in the Little Italy section of Manhattan in New York City to celebrate the Festa di San Gennaro there for the first time.

Over the years the festival has expanded into an 11-day street fair celebrating Italian food and drink.

The Festival of San Gennaro is celebrated every year on Mulberry Street in New York's Little Italy
The Festival of San Gennaro is celebrated every year
on Mulberry Street in New York's Little Italy
In 2014 a Little Italy bakery constructed the world’s largest ever cannolo, a giant version of the popular Italian pastry that contains a sweet, creamy filling, to mark the occasion.

There is a major shrine to San Gennaro in the Church of the Most Precious Blood in Manhattan.

Festivals are also held in the Bronx, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Nevada and Seattle.

On the few occasions the miracle hasn’t happened in the Duomo in Naples, Neapolitans have dreaded a catastrophe occurring. In 1980, one occasion when the blood did not turn to liquid, a massive earthquake later struck the region.

The imposing entrance to the Duomo on Via Duomo, off Via Tribunali in Naples
The imposing entrance to the Duomo on Via Duomo, off
Via Tribunali in Naples
Travel tip:

The Duomo in Naples, in Via Duomo, off Via Tribunali, was built over the ruins of two earlier Christian churches for Charles I of Anjou at the end of the 13th century. One of the main attractions inside is the Royal Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro, which contains many precious works of art. The Duomo is also sometimes referred to as Cattedrale di San Gennaro. It is open to the public from 8.30 to 1.30 and 2.30 to 8pm Monday to Saturday and 8.30 to 1.30 and 4.30 to 7.30pm on Sundays.

Travel tip:

It is not known whether Gennaro was born in Benevento or Naples, but he is believed to have become a priest in Benevento when he was just 15 years old. In ancient times Benevento was one of the most important cities in southern Italy and there are many Roman remains to be seen there, including a triumphal arch erected in honour of Trajan and an amphitheatre.

More reading:


The martyred Roman soldier who became Sant'Alessandro of Bergamo

Why Italians look to Saint Anthony of Padua when things - or people - go missing



(Photo of Mulberry Street in New York by Nightscream CC BY-SA 2.5)

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4 September 2016

Saint Rosalia

Little Saint ended the plague in Palermo


Saint Rosalia, as envisaged by Anthony Van Dyck in a 1625 representation
Saint Rosalia, as envisaged by Anthony
Van Dyck in a 1625 representation
The Feast Day of Saint Rosalia is being celebrated today in Sicily, throughout the rest of Italy, in America, Venezuela and in many other countries.

Saint Rosalia, also known as La Santuzza, or the Little Saint, is the patron saint of Palermo as well as three towns in Venezuela.

Centuries after Rosalia’s death, the people of Palermo believed she ended the plague when what they thought were her remains were carried in a procession through the city.

Rosalia was born in Palermo in about 1130 into a noble Norman family that claimed to descend from Charlemagne.

She became devoutly religious and eventually went to live as a hermit in a cave on Mount Pellegrino in Sicily.

There is a story that she was led by two angels to live in the cave and that she wrote on the wall that she had chosen to live there out of her love for Jesus. She is believed to have died in 1166 when she would have been about 36.

In 1624 when Palermo was afflicted by the plague, Rosalia appeared first to a sick woman and then to a hunter to tell them where her remains were to be found. She told the hunter to bring her bones to Palermo to be carried in a procession through the city.

A statue of Santa Rosalia in Monterey, California
A statue of Santa Rosalia in
Monterey, California
The hunter found her bones in the place she had described to him and after they had been carried round Palermo three times the plague mercifully ended.

Saint Rosalia was chosen to be the patron saint of Palermo and a sanctuary was built in the cave where her remains were discovered.

Every year on September 4 it is traditional for people to walk barefoot from Palermo up to Mount Pellegrino.

In the United States a feast is held on September 4 in Brooklyn in New York and there is a statue of Saint Rosalia in Monterey, California, where her feast is celebrated every year by Italian fishermen.


Travel tip:

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean, just off the toe of Italy’s boot. The ancient ruins, diverse architecture and wonderful cuisine enjoyed by visitors are all testament to the island’s colourful history. Watching over the island is Mount Etna, a volcano that is still active.


The Santuario di Santa Rosalia sits on top of Mount Pellegrino
The Santuario di Santa Rosalia sits
on top of Mount Pellegrino
Travel tip:

Palermo, the capital of Sicily, is a vibrant city with a wealth of beautiful architecture, plenty of shops and markets to browse in, and a large opera house, the Teatro Massimo, which is the biggest in Italy. The Santuario di Santa Rosalia stands at the top of Mount Pellegrino, which overlooks the city.

(Photo of Santa Rosalia statue by Nheyob CC BY-SA 4.0)
(Photo of Santuario di Santa Rosalia by Giuseppe ME CC BY-SA 4.0)

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26 August 2016

Sant’Alessandro of Bergamo

Annual festival keeps alive the memory of city’s saint


Sant'Alessandro, as portrayed by artist Bernardino Luini in 1525
Sant'Alessandro, as portrayed by
artist Bernardino Luini in 1525
The patron saint of Bergamo, Sant’Alessandro, was martyred on this day in 303 by the Romans for refusing to renounce his Christian faith.

It is believed Alessandro was a devout citizen who had continued to preach in Bergamo, despite having several narrow escapes from would-be Roman executioners, but he was eventually caught and suffered public decapitation.

In Christian legend, Alessandro was a centurion of the Theban Legion, a legion of the Roman army that converted en masse to Christianity, whose existence prompted a crusade against Christianity launched by the Romans in around AD 298.

Alessandro was reputedly held in prison in Milan on two occasions but escaped to Bergamo, where he defiantly refused to go into hiding and instead openly preached, converting many Bergamaschi to his faith.

Of course, he was ultimately taken into custody again by the Romans and beheaded on August 26, 303, on the spot now occupied by the church of Sant' Alessandro in Colonna in Bergamo’s Città Bassa (lower town).


Festive lights in the Via Sant'Alessandro in Bergamo
Festive lights in the Via Sant'Alessandro in Bergamo
Today is the Festa di Sant'Alessan- 
dro. In fact, his memory is celebrated with a series of religious, cultural and gastronomic events that take place in his name over several days throughout Bergamo, which is decorated with festive lights.

In 2010, for the first time, there was a re-enactment of Alessandro’s execution in full costume at the place where it is believed to have been carried out, in Via Sant’Alessandro. 

The Chiesa di Sant'Alessandro in Colonna lit up for the Festa along with the Roman column
The Chiesa di Sant'Alessandro in Colonna lit
up for the Festa along with the Roman column
Travel tip:

A Roman column in front of Chiesa di Sant’Alessandro in Colonna in Via Sant’Alessandro is believed to mark the exact spot where Bergamo’s patron saint was executed by the Romans. The column was constructed in the 17th century from Roman fragments and there are various theories about where the pieces came from. The church of Sant’Alessandro in Colonna was rebuilt in the 18th century on the site of an earlier church. Its ornate campanile was completed at the beginning of the 20th century. The church houses a work depicting the martyrdom of Sant’Alessandro by Enea Salmeggia and one showing the transporting of Sant’Alessandro’s corpse by Gian Paolo Cavagna. It also contains paintings by Lorenzo Lotto and Romanino.


Travel tip:

Porta Sant’Alessandro, which leads from the Città Alta (upper town) to Borgo Canale and San Vigilio, was built in the 16th century in memory of the saint. It was named after a fourth century cathedral that had originally been dedicated to Sant’Alessandro  but was later demolished. The gate became a checkpoint manned by customs officers, who would tax farmers from outside the city bringing in vegetables, eggs, chickens and wine to sell to residents of the Città Alta. The Duomo in the Città Alta, originally dedicated to St Vincent, was renamed in honour of Sant'Alessandro in the 17th century.



8 March 2016

La Festa della Donna – Women’s Day

Bright fragrant mimosa signals respect 


Mimosa flowers are the traditional gift to mark La Festa della Donna
Mimosa flowers are the traditional
gift to mark La Festa della Donna
La Festa della Donna - Women’s Day - is celebrated in Italy on this day every year and is an occasion for men to show their appreciation for the women in their lives.

All over Italy today men will be seen carrying bunches of prettily wrapped mimosa to give to women who are special to them.

The flowers might be for their wives, girlfriends, mothers, friends or even employees and are meant as a sign of respect for womanhood.

The custom of men giving mimosa to their ladies began in the 1940s after the date 8 March was chosen as the Festa della Donna (Festival of the Woman) in Italy.

The date, which coincides with International Women's Day, has a political significance for campaigners for women's rights in Italy, marking the anniversary of a strike by female textile workers in New York in 1857 and the so-called 'bread and peace' strike by women in Russia in 1917, but has more recently become a celebration similar to Mothering Sunday or St Valentine's Day.

Yellow mimosa was chosen as the flower to give because it is in bloom at the beginning of March, it is relatively inexpensive,and the scent of it in the atmosphere is a sign that primavera (spring) is just round the corner.

Continuing with the theme of mimosa, you might see on restaurant menus at this time of the year variations of dishes such as risotto mimosa, or pasta mimosa (made with finely scrambled eggs). Many restaurants will have a special menu just for today to celebrate the occasion.

And some cake shops will have Torta Mimosa in their windows, a concoction made with sugar, orange juice, whipped cream and orange liqueur.

Buona Festa!


Ristorante La Ciotola in Bergamo has a special  menu to celebrate La Festa della Donna
Ristorante La Ciotola in Bergamo has a special
menu to celebrate La Festa della Donna
Travel tip:

In Bergamo in Lombardy a special menu to celebrate La Festa della Donna has been devised by Ristorante Pizzeria La Ciotola in the lower town. The restaurant in Via Papa Giovanni XXIII invites people wishing to celebrate the occasion to share 'a peaceful and relaxing evening with friends’ and enjoy some Bergamo specialities, such as casoncelli alla bergamasca and polenta taragna.

Hotels in Bergamo by Booking.com



The Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo, built in the 1780s, was  renamed in 1897 to mark the centenery of the composer's birth
The Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo, built in the 1780s, was
renamed in 1897 to mark the centenery of the composer's birth

Travel tip:

After enjoying a special meal to celebrate La Festa della Donna in Bergamo, why not enjoy a walk along Via Sentierone in the lower town, past Teatro Donizetti, to the monument to Bergamo’s celebrated composer. It was erected in 1897 in Piazza Cavour, off the Sentierone, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Donizetti’s birth. An imposing structure in white marble, it depicts the composer sitting on a bench gazing at the figure of a female playing the lyre. Set in the middle of a pond and surrounded by plants and trees, the monument is inscribed simply ‘A Gaetano Donizetti’. You could almost imagine the prolific composer of operas is looking longingly past the mythical musician in the direction of the nearby theatre, which was renamed Teatro Donizetti in 1897.