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

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

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

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

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

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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Francesco Bianchini - jockey

19th century rider who contested Palio di Siena 55 times

The Palio di Siena has been taking place in the Tuscan
city of Siena since the early part of the 17th century

The jockey Francesco Bianchini, who holds the record for the most consecutive participations in the historic Palio di Siena horse race, was born on this day in 1808 in Siena.

Bianchini, who raced under the name of Campanino, rode in 44 editions of the famous event, in which horses and riders represent 10 of the city of Siena’s 17 contrade or districts, without missing one between his debut in 1827 and the second running of the twice-yearly race in 1847.

He rode in 55 editions in total before he retired for good in 1860, at the age of 51, chalking up a total of nine wins. In his career, he rode for all bar two of the 17 contrade.

Held in July and again in August every summer in the Mediaeval square at the centre of Siena, the Piazza del Campo, with occasionally an extra race to commemorate a special event or anniversary, the Palio can be a brutal affair.

The colours of the contrade, the 17 districts who
contest the Palio, are displayed around the square

The 10 participants in the bareback contest race each other on a temporary dirt track around the perimeter of the shell-shaped piazza. The race consists of three laps, which the horses cover at such a furious pace that the whole thing is over in about 90 seconds.

It is not uncommon for jockeys to fall off their mounts and for horses to cross the finishing line riderless. In fact, a riderless horse can still be declared the winner so long as the colours of their contrada are still attached to their bridle.

Bianchini, whose nickname Campanino came from the tiny golden bell he wore as an earring, won the Palio for the first time at the age of 19 in 1828 at his fourth attempt, riding for the contrada known as Leocorno (Unicorn).

He won both editions in 1830, first for the Civetta (Little Owl) contrada and then for Istrice (Crested Porcupine). He had more success in 1835 for Pantera (Panther) and in 1837 for Aquila (Eagle).

At his peak, he won the Palio three times in a row, in August 1840 for Civetta, July 1841 for Oca (Goose) and August 1841 for Lupa (She-Wolf).

Huge crowds pack into the Piazza del Campo to
witness the race and the pageant that precedes it

His final success came in 1843 for the Tartuca (Tortoise) contrada.

Away from the race, Bianchini was a volatile individual with a violent streak who was often in trouble. At the age of 11, he was put on trial for the murder of another boy but was acquitted, despite several witnesses testifying against him.

Throughout his time as a Palio rider, his rivalry with another fantino - jockey - Francesco Santini, known as gobbo saragiolo - the Saragiolo hunchback, after his home village - was not confined to the race.

After taking part in a race at the nearby town of Castelnuovo Berardenga, Bianchini started a brawl with a groomsman which resulted in the groomsman, who worked for the contrada represented by Santini, suffering fatal injuries after Bianchini threw him into a ditch and repeatedly kicked and punched him.

The court ruled that the groomsman’s death was caused by the injuries he suffered falling into the ditch rather than by any blows inflicted by Bianchini, who remarkably was sentenced to only three months in jail.

Although he had to pay a large sum in compensation to the family of the deceased, plus court costs, the incident did not interrupt his participation in the Palio.

The horses have to make gravity-defying
turns to negotiate the corners of the piazza

Bianchini and Santini notably clashed again in 1853. Representing Oca, Bianchini remounted after an early fall, took the lead and remained there until the third lap, only for Santini, who had made a bad start riding for Torre (Tower) but recovered, to pip Bianchini’s horse and win, openly mocking his rival after they crossed the line for having denied him the opportunity for a 10th victory.

Santini himself still holds the record, jointly with the 18th century rider Matteo Mancini, for most Palio wins, at 15.

Bianchini married into a Palio family when Faustina Brandini became his second wife in 1836 following the death of his first wife, Assunta Angiolini di Fogliano. His father-in-law, Luigi Brandini, was the rider Cicciolesso, while his cousins, Giovanni and Agostino rode under the names Pipistrello and Brandino Minore respectively. 

He and Faustina had a son, Leopoldo, who grew up to race as Piccolo Campanino.

Nowadays, the two runnings of the Palio attract huge crowds of locals and visitors alike to Siena and have become a major part of the city's tourist trade. The races, which take place in the early evening, are preceded by a spectacular pageant. Such seats that are available for spectators are sold well in advance; most watch from the centre of the square, which fills to a capacity of around 50,000 before access is closed by the police.

Piazza del Campo is dominated by the red bricks
of the Palazzo Pubblico and Torre del Mangia

Travel tip:

Siena is one of Italy’s most beautiful cities. The Piazza del Campo is at its heart, built between 1287 and 1355 and consisting of nine sections of fan-like brick pavement said to symbolise the Madonna's cloak said to protect the city in dark times.  The Campo is dominated by the red Palazzo Pubblico and its tower, Torre del Mangia. The Palazzo Pubblico contains a museum housing some of the greatest of Sienese paintings, including Simone Martini's huge Maestà and Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Allegories of Good and Bad Government, once regarded as the most important cycle of secular paintings of the Middle Ages. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Siena was one of the major cities of Europe, almost as large as Paris.  Siena is said to have taken its name from Senius, having been founded by Senius and his brother Aschius, the sons of Remus and nephews of Romulus, the legendary founders of Rome. Thus Siena's emblem is the she-wolf who suckled Remus and Romulus.

Siena's magnificent Cattedrale di Santa
Maria Assunta with its marble exterior

Travel tip:

Siena’s duomo is the Cattedrale Metropolitana di Santa Maria Assunta. The cathedral was designed and completed between 1215 and 1263 on the site of an earlier structure. It has the form of a Latin cross with a dome and a bell tower. The dome was completed in 1264. The lantern at the top of the dome was added by the great Renaissance sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini.  The exterior and interior are constructed of white and greenish-black marble in alternating stripes, with the addition of red marble on the façade. Black and white have become the symbolic colours of Siena, after the black and white horses of Senius and Aschius.

Also on this day:

1858: The birth of the actress Eleonora Duse

1938: The birth of boxing champion Alessandro Mazzinghi

1941: The birth of bass-baritone singer Ruggero Raimondi

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Alessandro Safina – singer

Tenor who has blended opera and rock

Alessandro Safina has become a household name
in Italy after several successful albums

Alessandro Safina, a singer trained in opera who has expanded the so-called ‘crossover’ pop-opera genre to include rock influences, was born on this day in 1963 in Siena.

A household name in Italy, the tenor is less well known outside his own country but has recorded duets with international stars such as Sarah Brightman, South Korean soprano Sumi Jo, Rod Stewart, former Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde, Scottish actor and singer Ewan McGregor and the superstar Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.

Safina’s biggest album to date is Insieme a Te, which has sold more than 700,000 copies.

It was written in collaboration with the Italian pianist and composer Romano Musumarra, who helped realise Safina’s ambition of creating soulful rock-inspired music for the tenor voice.  He first performed songs from the album at the Olympia theatre in Paris in 1999.

Safina was born into an opera-loving family and earned money to pay for singing lessons by working in his father’s stationery business.  Set on becoming a professional singer from the age of nine, he began attending a music academy at 12 and was accepted for a place at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory in Florence at 17.

In 1989, he won a competition – the Concorso Lirico Internazionale in Mantova, Italy – and made his opera debut the following year, appearing alongside soprano Katia Ricciarelli as Rodolfo in Puccini's La bohème.

Safina made his operatic debut in 1990 singing
alongside the soprano Katia Ricciarelli

Professionally, Safina’s singing remained focussed on the classic tenor operatic roles for much of the 1990s. Privately, his musical tastes were much less confined. He was late to discover rock music, but once he had he became a fan of such bands as U2, Genesis, Depeche Mode and even punk outfit The Clash.

His collaboration with Musumarra led to his debut album, simply called Alessandro Safina, in 2001, from which the single Luna became a hit. After he had performed the song live in The Netherlands, it reached number one in the Dutch singles charts and remained there for 14 weeks.

This success sparked numerous engagements over the coming years, including a duet singing Elton John’s Your Song with Ewan McGregor for the score of Moulin Rouge, an appearance in front of Queen Elizabeth at the 73^rd Royal Variety Performance in London (singing Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Music of the Night) and another rendition of Your Song, this time with Elton John, for the Sport Relief fund-raising campaign.

He made his acting debut in the role of the painter Mario Cavaradossi in a film based on Puccini’s Tosca and sang a duet with Rod Stewart on the latter’s album, As Time Goes By.

His links with South Korea began after he performed at the opening ceremony of the 2002 football World Cup.

Safina’s second album, Insieme a Te, consolidated his position as a star of the crossover genre, featuring his duet with Chrissie Hynde as well as Lloyd Webber’s classic Music of the Night.

In more recent years, Safina has recorded a duet with the British soprano Sarah Brightman for her album, Symphony, performed "O Sole Mio" with Andrea Bocelli.  He recorded his fifth album, Dedicated, in 2014.

The Palio di Siena delivers spectacular thrills 

Travel tip:

The city of Siena is famous for its twice-yearly horse race, Il Palio, which brings massive crowds both to watch the spectacular action as the horses, ridden bareback by colourfully adorned jockeys from 10 of the city’s contrade (wards), career around a track that follows the perimeter of Piazza del Campo.  Generally speaking, the race takes place on July 2, when it is contested as the Palio di Provenzano, in honour of the Madonna of Provenzano, and on August 16, when it is named the Palio dell'Assunta, in honour of the Assumption of Mary.

The Piazza del Campo is shaped like a scallop shell

Travel tip:

The Piazza del Campo is the heart of Siena’s medieval centre, one of the largest and most beautiful squares in Italy, shaped a little like a scallop shell, with a gentle slope towards the imposing Palazzo Pubblico.  From the square, some 11 narrow streets and alleyways radiate outwards into the city, which has a sense of charm and mystery that visitors find beguiling.

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The Maestà of Duccio

Masterpiece influenced the course of Italian art history

Duccio's altarpiece in the Duomo di Siena, the Maestà

A magnificent altarpiece by the artist Duccio di Buoninsegna was unveiled in the cathedral in Siena on this day in 1311.

Duccio’s Maestà was to set Italian painting on a new course, leading away from Byzantine art towards using more realistic representations of people in pictures.

The altarpiece was commissioned by the city of Siena from the artist and was composed of many individual paintings.

The front panels made up a large picture of an enthroned Madonna and Child with saints and angels.

At the base of the panels was an inscription, which translated into English means: ‘Holy Mother of God, be thou the cause of peace for Siena and life to Duccio because he painted thee thus.’

Duccio's Madonna col bambino, which is housed
 in the Metropolitan Museum in New York

When the painting was installed in the cathedral on June 9, 1311, one witness to the event wrote: ‘…on that day when it was brought into the cathedral, all workshops remained closed and the bishop commanded a great host of devoted priests and monks to file past in solemn procession.

‘This was accompanied by all the high officers of the commune and by all the people; all honourable citizens of Siena surrounded said panel with candles held in their hands, and women and children followed humbly behind.

‘They accompanied the panel amidst the glorious pealing of bells after a solemn procession on the Piazza del Campo into the very cathedral; and all this out of reverence for the costly panel… the poor received many alms, and we prayed to the holy mother of God, our patron saint, that she might in her infinite mercy preserve this our city of Siena from every misfortune, traitor or enemy.’

The altarpiece remained in place until 1711, when it was dismantled in order to distribute the pieces between two altars. The five-metre high construction was sawn up and some of the paintings were damaged in the process. Some pieces went astray and are unaccounted for, while some pieces are now in museums.

The Cathedral of St Mary of the Assumption in Siena

Travel tip:

Siena’s Duomo, the Cathedral of St Mary of the Assumption, was designed and completed between 1215 and 1263 on the site of an earlier structure. It has a beautiful façade built in Tuscan Romanesque style using polychrome marble. In the attached Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Duccio’s Maestà can be seen in a first floor room.

Travel tip:

The shell-shaped Piazza del Campo in Siena, where the Palio di Siena takes place twice each year, was established in the 13th century as an open marketplace. It is now regarded as one of the finest medieval squares in Europe. The red brick paving, fanning out from the centre in nine sections, was put down in 1349.

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Palio di Siena

First of two annual races is contested today

The Palio is run at a furious pace around the perimeter
of the Piazza del Campo in Siena

The first of the two annual contests for the historic Palio di Siena takes place in Piazza del Campo in the Tuscan city this evening.

The passionately competitive horse race, first run in 1656, is staged on July 2 and August 16 each year. The first race is in honour of Siena's Madonna of Provenzano, the second forms part of the celebrations marking the Feast of the Assumption.

A colourful pageant, the Corteo Storico, precedes the race, which sees the square filled with spectators from many parts of the world.

The Palio features 10 horses, each representing one of Siena's 17 contrade, or wards, ridden bareback by riders wearing the colours of the contrada they represent.   They race for three circuits of a dirt track laid around the perimeter of the Piazza del Campo.

It is an event with no holds barred.  Riders are allowed to use the whip to encourage their own mounts but also to hamper their rivals and falls are frequent.  The winner is the horse that crosses the finishing line first, even if its rider is no longer on board.

Horses are trained specifically with the Palio in mind and 10 judged to be of approximately equal quality are chosen four days before the race by the heads - capitani - of each contrada.  A lottery then takes place to determine which contrada each will represent.

The rules are complex.  The first nine horses are called into the starting area, known as the Mossa, in the order in which they are drawn and the race begins only when the rider of the 10th horse chooses what he judges to be the right moment tactically to join them.

Packed crowds line the narrow circuit

Winning is down to the skill of the rider, but with as much emphasis placed on preventing other contenders from finishing first as on actually crossing the line in front it can sometimes be a confusing event.  In the celebrations that follow, supporters of the winning contrada will naturally be seen enjoying their own success, but others might be equally joyful because their traditional rival has lost.

The 17 contrade are: Eagle, Snail, Wave, Panther, Forest, Tortoise, Owl, Unicorn, Shell, Tower, Ram, Caterpillar, Dragon, Giraffe, Porcupine, She-Wolf and Goose.

The race is limited to 10 for safety reasons (although accidents are still commonplace along the narrow or steeply banked parts of the circuit).  Seven of the runners are those who did not participate in the immediately preceding race, with the other three chosen in a draw.

The winner receives a decorated Drappellone - a large drape - which is paraded around the track and then goes on display in the contrada's museum.  The most successful contrada in the history of the race has been Oca - the Goose - with 63 wins, followed by Chiocciola - the Snail - with 51, and Tartuca - the Tortoise - with 46.

The race begins at some point after 7pm but spectators are advised to arrive in the Piazza by 4pm.  Police close the entrances to the square once they consider it to be full and the Corteo Storica parade arrives at 5pm.

Spectators can watch free of charge from the public space in the centre of the Piazza but because of the large numbers that inevitably want to attend the crowd will become tightly packed and the local tourist office advises against bringing small children.  There are also no public toilets and bottles of water and sun hats are considered to be essential.

Balcony positions and some private boxes can be obtained but they attract premium prices and tend to be booked up months in advance.

The beautiful Piazza del Campo in Siena is one of the
finest squares in Italy

Travel tip:

The shell-shaped Piazza del Campo, established in the 13th century as an open marketplace on a sloping site between the three communities that eventually merged to form Siena, is regarded as one of Europe's finest medieval squares, looked over by the Palazzo Pubblico and the Torre del Mangia.  The red brick paving, fanning out from the centre in nine sections, was put down in 1349.

Travel tip:

Plans for an enormous basilica, which would have been the largest in the world, in Siena had to be abandoned because of lack of funds due to war and the plague but the smaller Duomo (cathedral) built in its place is nonetheless considered a masterpiece of Italian Romanesque-Gothic architecture.  It contains a 13th century pulpit designed by Nicola Pisani.

(Photos of the Palio by Roberto Vicario CC BY-SA 3.0)


(Photo of Piazza del Campo By Ricardo André Frantz CC BY-SA 3.0)

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