Daniele Comboni – Saint

Missionary who worked miracles after his death

Daniele Comboni

The Feast Day - festa - of Saint Daniel Comboni - San Daniele - is held on this day every year in Italy.

Saint Daniel, who was a Roman Catholic missionary to Africa, died on this day at the age of 50 in 1881 in Khartoum in the Sudan. He was canonised in 2003 by Pope John Paul II in recognition of two miracle cures claimed to have been brought about by his intercession.

Comboni was born in 1831 at Limone sul Garda in the province of Brescia in Lombardy in northern Italy.

His parents were poor and he was the only one of their eight children to live to become an adult.

Comboni was sent away to school in Verona and after completing his studies prepared to become a priest.

He met and was profoundly influenced by missionaries who had come back from Central Africa and three years after his ordination set off with five other priests to continue their work.

After they reached Khartoum some of his fellow missionaries became ill and died because of the climate, sickness and poverty they encountered, but Comboni remained determined to continue with his mission.

On his return to Italy, while praying for guidance at the tomb of Saint Peter in Rome, Comboni came up with the idea of a missionary project to save Africa.

A statue of Daniele Comboni in Verona, where
he was educated before training to be a priest

He wanted the Church and society to be more concerned about Africa and so he launched appeals throughout Europe for aid for Africa.

He established missionary institutes for men and for women, becoming the first person to bring women into missionary work in central Africa.

In 1877 he was named Vicar Apostolic of Central Africa and ordained a bishop. In 1880 he travelled to Africa again to speak out against the slave trade, but the following year, after falling ill with disease, he died. His last words were believed to have been: ‘I am dying, but my work will not die.’

His work was continued by the Comboni missionaries, whose numbers grew to nearly 2000 members spread all over the world.

More than 100 years later it was believed that an Afro-Brazilian girl and a Muslim mother from the Sudan were both cured of illness by a miracle worked through Comboni’s intercession.

This led to Comboni being canonised by Pope John Paul II in St Peter’s in Rome in 2003.

The stairway to the church of San
Rocco in Limone sul Garda

Travel tip:

Limone sul Garda where Comboni was born is one of the most popular resorts on Lake Garda and the only tourist attraction on the north west side of the lake. It can be reached from Riva del Garda along a narrow road that travels through tunnels inside the cliffs. In the centre of the town is the 15th century church of San Rocco, built by residents of Limone who had survived the plague. It is accessed by a picturesque stairway decorated with flowers and plants and is one of the most photographed sights in Limone.

Travel tip:

Lake Garda is Italy’s largest lake, with soft hills at the southern end and steep rugged cliffs at the northern end where Limone is situated. The beauty of Lake Garda has been praised by Catullus, Dante and Goethe over the centuries and nowadays it is a popular holiday destination in Italy visited by tourists from all over the world.

(Photo of Comboni statue by Giacomo Augusto 2 CC BY-SA 3.0)
(Photo of San Rocco stairway from visitlimonesulgarda.com)

More reading:

Pope John Paul II forgives the man who tried to assassinate him

Celebrating the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi 

From Naples to New York, Italians celebrate the Festival of San Gennaro



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Vajont Dam Disaster

Catastrophic flood may have killed 2,500

The Vajont Dam, pictured before the disaster of 1963, was
considered a triumph of  engineering.

Prone to earthquakes because of its unfortunate geology, Italy has suffered many natural disasters over the centuries, yet the horrific catastrophe that took place on this day 53 years ago in an Alpine valley about 100km north of Venice, killing perhaps as many as 2,500 people, was to a significant extent man-made.

The Vajont Dam Disaster of October 9, 1963 happened when a section of a mountain straddling the border of the Veneto and Fruili-Venezia Giulia regions in the Fruilian Dolomites collapsed in a massive landslide, dumping 260 million cubic metres of forest, earth and rock into a deep, narrow reservoir created to generate hydroelectric power for Italy's industrial northern cities.

The chunk of Monte Toc that came away after days of heavy rain was the size of a small town yet within moments it was moving towards the water at 100km per hour (62mph) and hit the surface of the reservoir in less than a minute.

The effect was almost unimaginable.  Within seconds, 50 million cubic metres of water was displaced, creating a tsunami that rose to 250m high.  The dam held, but the colossal volume of water had nowhere to go but over the top and into the Piave valley below.

Where the village of Longarone had stood, all that
 remained was mud and debris.

The landslide was timed at 10.39pm.  In the valley, dotted with villages, many residents were already in bed, others locking up, some making their way home.  They had no chance of escape.  The only warning was a rumbling in the distance, accompanied by a sudden, strengthening wind, that rapidly turned into a deafening roar.

The force behind the surge of water was such that its initial impact with the valley floor after its 250m descent through the narrow Vajont gorge left a crater 60m (200ft) deep and 80m across.

As the water rushed onwards into the Piave valley, it pushed along a pocket of air generating more energy than was created by the atomic bomb that flattened Hiroshima. It was so powerful that most of the victims were found naked, their clothes ripped off them by the blast.

Within a matter of minutes, the villages of Longarone, Pirago, Rivalta, Villanova and Faè had been wiped from the map and 80 per cent of their inhabitants were dead, accounting for around 2,000 of the fatalities.

Others died in villages further downstream, as well as on the opposite side of the reservoir to the landslide, where another huge wave swept up the hillside.

It is estimated that more than half those killed were never found, their bodies buried too deep to be recovered under the vast mud plain that the water left behind.  Others were carried for miles along the Piave River, some possibly into the Adriatic.

The collapse of the mountain filled in almost
half of the reservoir in minutes

A cemetery exists at Fortogna, which commemor- ates all those known to have died, although the headstones - identical blocks of marble in uniform rows - do not necessarily correspond with the remains buried immediately underneath. In many cases there are no remains at all.  To the dismay of relatives, flowers and personal memorials are not permitted to be left.

In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, the Italian government and the two authorities involved with the construction of the dam - the Adriatic Energy Corporation (Societa Adriatica di Elettrica) and, at a later stage, the National Entity for Electricity (Ente nazionale per l'energia elettrica) - attributed the catastrophe to natural causes. Journalists who suggested otherwise were accused of "undermining public order".

Later, however, it emerged that many warnings about the instability of the site chosen had been ignored and the project had been allowed to continue despite a number of landslides over a period of four years before the disaster.

A number of engineers eventually went on trial and some were convicted of negligence but the sentences handed out were seen by many as too lenient.  The government was urged to sue the Adriatic Energy Corporation for compensation but in the end decided against it.

Among events held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the disaster in 2013, a stage of the Giro d'Italia cycle race finished in the municipality of Erto e Casso on the northern side of the reservoir, with the next stage starting in Longarone.

Longarone was completely rebuilt as a modern village

Travel tip:

Nowadays, the largely undamaged Vajont Dam - itself a triumph of engineering, at 262m (860ft) the tallest in the world at the time of construction - is open to the public and a small memorial chapel has been built.  The rebuilt village of Longarone contains a memorial church designed by one of Italy's most influential 20th century architects, Giovanni Michelucci.

Travel tip:

The most important city in the upper Piave valley, situated about 30km south of Longarone, is Belluno, a former Alpine Town of the Year, where there has been a settlement of some kind since around 220BC.  Subsequently it passed into the hands of the Romans.  The sarcophagus of Caius Flavius Hosilius and his wife Domitia can be found in the church of Santo Stefano, which was built on the site of a Roman cemetery.

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Antonio Cabrini - World Cup winner

Star of 1982 became coach of Italy's women

Antonio Cabrini starred in the
bianconeri strip of Juventus

World Cup winner and former Juventus defender Antonio Cabrini celebrates his 59th birthday today.

Cabrini, who went on to becone head coach of the Italian women's national team, was born on October 8, 1957 in Cremona.

He took his first steps in professional football with his local team, Cremonese, and moved from there to Atalanta of Bergamo, but it was with the Turin club Juventus that he made his mark, forming part of a formidable defence that included goalkeeper Dino Zoff plus the centre-back Claudio Gentile and the sweeper Gaetano Scirea.

During Cabrini's 13 seasons in Turin, the Bianconeri won the Serie A title six times, as well as the 1985 European Cup, plus the Coppa Italia twice, the UEFA Cup and the European Super Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup.

Milan's Paolo Maldini tends to be recognised as the greatest defensive player produced by Italy but Cabrini's abilities put him only just behind.

Known by his fans as Bell'Antonio for his good looks and the elegance of his football, Cabrini's game possessed all the qualities required of a left-back.  His positional sense and speed of thought served him well in defensive duties and he was also exceptional going forward.

He was a key figure in the defeat of Liverpool in the 1985 European Cup final, although the memories of the Juventus victory in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels will forever be tarnished because of the deaths of 39 supporters - mainly Italians - when a wall collapsed during disturbances before the match began.

Italy's team to play Argentina at the 1982 World Cup. Back
 row (l-r): Zoff, Antognoni, Scirea, Graziani, Collovati,
Gentile; Front: Rossi, Conti, Cabrini, Oriali, Tardelli.

Cabrini scored 33 goals for Juventus and his tally of nine for the national team is the most by any defender for the Azzurri.

One of these came in the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain, when he scored the winner in a 2-1 victory over holders Argentina in the second group round, in which the Azzurri also beat Brazil to emerge as a force to be reckoned with.

Cabrini missed a first-half penalty in the final, but it was forgotten when second-half goals by Paolo Rossi, Marco Tardelli and Alessandro Altobelli enabled Italy to defeat West Germany and win the trophy for the third time.

In all Cabrini won 73 caps for the national side.  He made his debut aged only 20 in the opening match of the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina, at the end of which he was named Best Young Player of the Tournament after Italy reached the semi-finals.

He also played in the 1986 finals in Mexico, finishing his career with the distinction of having been picked in the starting line-up for every match played by the Azzurri in three consecutive World Cup tournaments.

Cabrini, who captained Italy on 10 occasions, played his last international match in 1987 but continued in club football for another four years, eventually leaving Juventus for Bologna, where he spent his final two seasons.

He did not begin his coaching career for almost 10 years.  Starting out in Serie C1 with the Tuscan club Arezzo, he almost won a promotion in his first season, his team losing in the play-offs.  Yet subsequent spells in charge at Crotone, Pisa and Navaro brought no success.

Antonio Cabrini today

In 2007 he accepted the position of head coach of Syria's national team only for the contract to be cancelled amid the fall-out from a row between the Syrian FA and the national team's sponsors.

Therefore his appointment in 2012 to coach the women's Italian national team came as a surprise to many but Cabrini's record so far has been good.

The Azzurri women reached the quarter-finals of the 2013 European Championships and were considered unlucky not to qualify for the 2015 World Cup, finishing second in the qualifying group but losing 3-2 on aggregate to the Netherlands in the final of a play-off involving the four best runners-up.

Italy's women have never won an international tournament but Cabrini will have another chance to put that right at Euro 2017, which is being hosted by the Netherlands next summer.

Italy qualified by finishing runners-up to Switzerland in their qualifying group, in which they lost at home and away to the group winners but won at home and away against the Czech Republic, Northern Ireland and Georgia, scoring 26 goals and conceding only eight.

Away from football, Cabrini has been politically active as a member of the centre-left Italia dei Valori (Italy of Values) party founded by the former anti-corruption magistrate, Antonio di Pietro.

He was married in 1983 and has two children, 32-year-old Martina and Edoardo, 28, but has now separated from his wife, Consuelo.  He has been with his current partner, fashion manager Marta Sannito, for seven years.

UPDATE: Cabrini spent five years as coach of Italy's national women's team before being replaced by Milena Bertolini in 2017.

A statue of the violin-maker
Stradivari in Cremona

Travel tip:

Although Antonio Cabrini is not the only notable footballer to be born in Cremona - the former Italy, Juventus and Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli is another - the northern Italian city is more famous for its long association with music.  It hosts a number of important music festivals and has been a centre for the manufacture of musical instruments since the 16th century.  The great violin makers of the Amati family, as well as Andrea Guarneri and Antonio Stradivari, both of whom learned the craft from Nicolò Amati, established Cremona's reputation for producing the best violins in the world.  Violins are still made in the city to this day.

Travel tip:

Juventus is one of the two major football clubs in Turin, the other being Torino.  Although Juventus now play at a stadium on the northern perimeter of the city in the Vallette district, the club's roots are in the city centre.  Their original ground was in what is now known as the Parco Cavalieri di Vittorio Veneto, a large green space between Corso IV Novembre and Corso Galileo Ferraris just south of the city centre, which in the late 19th century was Piazza d'Armi, an army parade ground.  Nearby is the Stadio Olimpico, now the home of Torino, which was formerly called Stadio Comunale, where the two clubs co-habited until 1990.

More reading:

Spain 1982: Paolo Rossi's hat-trick defeats Brazil in classic match

Spain 1982: Epic goal celebration immortalises Marco Tardelli

Spain 1982: Dino Zoff, Italy's World Cup-winning captain 

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Saint Giustina of Padua

Murdered by Romans in last major purge of Christians

A portrait of Santa Giustina by Italian
artist Bartolomeo Montagna

On the Italian catholic calendar, today is the feast day of Santa Giustina of Padua, celebrating the memory of a young woman executed on this day in 304 in the city of Padua.

Little is known about the life of Giustina apart from her faith. Born into a noble family in Padua, she took a vow of chastity and devoted her life to God and teaching the values of Christianity.

She died as a victim of the purge of Christians undertaken by the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

Persecution of Christians by the Romans was nothing new. Christians were regarded with suspicion and seen as subversive at times. When misfortune struck the Roman Empire they were often blamed. Feeding Christians to lions was once seen as entertainment.

Even as Christianity grew and attitudes softened, there were still emperors from time to time who decided to take a hard line.  One was Diocletian, who had come to power in 284.

Following an edict that rescinded all legal rights for Christians and compelled Christians to sacrifice to Roman gods or face imprisonment or execution, Diocletian launched what became known as the Diocletian Persecution.

A detail from Paolo Veronese's altarpiece in the
Basilica di Santa Giustina in Padua

He concentrated first on purging the Roman military of Christians and then broadened the persecution to the population in general.

When Diocletian's officers confronted Giustina in Padua, they ordered her to go to the Roman temple to Minerva to worship the Roman goddess, offer her virginity as sacrifice and renounce Christianity.

Because she refused to comply with the edict and denounced the Roman gods, Giustina was condemned to death.  The execution is said to have taken place at a part of Padua called Pontecorvo, where she was stabbed through the heart with a sword.

The Diocletian Persecution was the last major purge of Christians before the Edict of Milan in 313 gave the religion legal status within the Roman Empire for the first time.

Giustina's body was buried in a cemetery near the Zairo Roman theatre and now lies beneath the altar table in the vast Basilica di Santa Giustina, with its eight domes, which was built in the 16th century on the site of the cemetery.

The impressive Basilica di Santa Giustina in Padua

The Basilica is the ninth largest Christian church in the world and houses the relics of many revered saints, including those of St Luke the Evangelist, who is credited with writing the Gospel According to St Luke.

Giustina is a patron saint of Padua and of many other Italian municipalities, where celebrations take place on October 7 each year.

She is a co-patron saint of Venice, where she became extremely popular for a number of years following the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, a naval battle between a coalition of Catholic maritime states marshalled by Pope Pius V and the Turkish fleet which took place on her feast day, and which was decisive in halting the expansion of the Ottoman Empire on the European side of the Mediterranean.

Travel tip:

The Basilica di Santa Giustina in Padua is at the south-east corner of the square called Prato della Valle, where it is joined by Via Avazzano and Via Ferrari. At the back of the Presbytery, a magnificent altarpiece painted by Paolo Veronese in 1575 depicts the moment of her death. Next door to the basilica there is a Benedictine monastery with frescoed cloisters and a famous library that can be visited by arrangement. Admission to the basilica is free. It is open daily from 7.30am until noon and from 3pm until 6.30pm (7.30pm on Sundays).

Statues and a canal line Padua's Prato della Valle, site
of a former Roman theatre

Travel tip:

The elliptical Prato della Valle, one of Padua's principal squares, is built on the site of the Zairo theatre on land which fell into disuse and became flooded following the fall of the Roman Empire.  The land was drained in the 18th century and a canal crossed by four bridges was created around an island planted with trees and lawns, which was later lined by statues of 78 eminent citizens of Padua. Nearby is a restaurant, the Ristorante Zairo, which contains statues and wall decorations that recall the chariot races and other activities that would have taken place in the theatre. Diners can also see a 17th century fresco that came to light when renovations uncovered part of the structure of a former church.

More reading:

St Anthony of Padua - patron saint of lost people and things

How the horrors of war changed everything for St Francis of Assisi

San Gennaro - also a victim of the Diocletian Persecution

Bergamo's Sant'Alessandro paid for his believes with his life

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Bruno Sammartino - wrestling champion

How a sickly kid from Abruzzo became king of the ring

Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Sammartino, who found fame as a professional wrestler in the United States, was born on this day in 1935 in Pizzoferrato, a village in the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region.

Nowadays he lives in Ross Township in Pennsylvania, about six miles north of the city of Pittsburgh.

Sammartino held the title of world heavyweight champion under the banner of the World Wide Wrestling Federation - now known as World Wrestling Entertainment - for more than 11 years in two reigns. The first of those, spanning seven years, eight months and one day, is the longest any individual has held the title continuously since it was first contested in 1963.

At his peak in the ring, Sammartino weighed in at 265lbs (120kg), yet it was something of a miracle that he survived his childhood.

Sammartino grew up in a mountainous region of Abruzzo now known as the Majella (or Maiella) National Park, still populated by bears, wolves and wild cats.  Life was tough, especially during the harsh winter months. He was the youngest of seven brothers and sisters, four of whom did not make it into adulthood.

It became tougher still during the Second World War, when the area came under German occupation. His father, Alfonso, was already in Pittsburgh, having left to find work in the steel industry. Fearing capture, his mother took Bruno and his surviving brother and sister to hide on the top of a mountain above the town, often going days without food.

The Neapolitan singer Mario Trevi gets a lift
from world champion Sammartino in New York

Bruno returned to the area for the first time six years ago, at the request of a friend who was making a television documentary, and recalled that his mother, Emilia, would have to sneak back into the town to obtain food and supplies, the journey there and back taking all day.

There was always the danger she would be spotted by German soldiers and Bruno said that as the evening approached he would sit on top of a rock, watching the path down the mountainside, anxiously waiting for her to return.  She was captured once but escaped, suffering a bullet wound to her arm but continuing the climb regardless.

Bruno himself suffered serious health problems, including a bout of rheumatic fever.  Treating him with hot blankets and leeches, Emilia somehow nursed him through.

As a result, though, when the opportunity came to join his father in Pittsburgh in 1950, he was a somewhat sickly 14-year-old, weighing only 90lb (41kg).

Unable to speak much English, he found himself picked on and bullied at school and it was this, indirectly, that led him on his chosen career path.   Determined to build himself up physically, he took up weightlifting, at which he became so good he narrowly missed out on selection for the United States team at the 1956 Olympics.

Sammartino addressing fans in 2014 alongside a more recent
wrestling favourite, Paul Levesque - better known as Triple H

He made money competing in bodybuilding contests and performing strongman stunts. Then, in 1959, he was invited to try out at professional wrestling by a Pittsburgh promoter, who saw Sammartino as a competitor likely to attract interest in his shows among the local Italian community.

Sammartino made his professional debut in December 1959 and within a year was appearing at Madison Square Garden in New York.  He became world champion in 1963. His fame took him all around the world and he became so popular that when he eventually surrendered the title for the first time at Madison Square Garden in 1971, the arena fell into a stunned silence, so quiet that Sammartino momentarily thought he had lost his hearing.

He regained the world title in 1973 and retained it this time until 1977, after which he continued in the ring for another 10 years.  After retiring he remained in professional wrestling as a media commentator and was inducted into the sport's Hall of Fame in 2013, the ceremony performed by his friend, the movie actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He married his wife, Carol, in 1959. They have three sons and four grandchildren and have lived in Ross Township since 1965.

UPDATE: This article was written in October, 2016. Sadly, Bruno Sammartino passed away in 2018 at the age of 82.

Shrouded in low cloud here, Pizzoferrato sits on a hillside
at the foot of a massive rock formation.

Travel tip:

Pizzoferrato is built on a rocky hillside on the edge of the Majella National Park and was a town that many noble families fought over down the centuries because of its strategic advantages.  It flanks an enormous rocky outcrop, on the top of which is the abandoned church of St Nicola and Madonna del Girone, which is thought to have been used once as a fortress.  Nowadays the town is a mountain holiday resort and a centre for skiing.

Travel tip:

The nearest town to Pizzoferrato is Castel di Sangro, which enjoyed some fame a few years ago when its football team, formed at the end of the Second World War, completed a journey from the lowest level of amateur football in Italy to play in Serie B, the second tier of the professional game.  For a town of only 5,500 people, this was an extraordinary achievement and became the subject of a book, The Miracle of Castel di Sangro, by the American writer Joe McGinniss.

(Main photo of Bruno Sammartino by swiftwj CC BY-SA 2.0)
(Photo of Sammartino with Triple H by Miguel Discart CC BY-SA 2.0)
(Photo of Pizzoferrato by Licia Missori CC BY-SA 3.0)

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Francesco Guardi - painter

Artist evoked image of republic’s final years

A portrait of Guardi by his
contemporary, Pietro Longhi

One of the last great artists of the Venetian school, Francesco Lazzaro Guardi, was born on this day in 1712 in Venice.

Guardi’s wonderful scenes of crowds, festivals, regattas and concerts in Venice have kept the heyday of the republic alive for future generations to enjoy in art galleries all over the world.

The artist was born into a family of nobility from Trentino, who lived in a house in the Cannaregio district of Venice.

Guardi’s father and brothers were also painters and his sister, Maria Cecilia, married the great Venetian artist, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

Guardi’s first known works were painted in the 1730s in Vigo Anuania in Trentino, where he was working alongside his older brother, Gian Antonio.

Guardi's painting of the Doge's state barge, the Bucintoro, near
 the Riva di Sant'Elena, which is housed at the Louvre in Paris

The first work to be signed by Guardi is the picture Saint Adoring the Eucharist, which was painted in about 1739.

Guardi seemed equally comfortable painting landscapes or figures, but his early views of Venice show the influence of Canaletto on his style.

In 1757 Guardi married Maria Mattea Pagani, the daughter of another painter, Matteo Pagani.

One of his most important works was The Doge’s Feasts, a series of 12 canvases commissioned to celebrate the ceremonies held in 1763 for the election of Doge Alvise IV Mocenigo.

Guardi was also commissioned by the Venetian authorities to paint six canvases to celebrate the visit of Russian Archdukes to the city, of which only two remain.

This view of St Mark's Square is among the Guardi works
that can be seen at Accademia Carrara in Bergamo

The Academia Carrara in Bergamo has some fine examples of Guardi’s paintings in its collection, such as the Friars’ Cloister, the  Façade of Palace with Staircase and some wonderful views of Venice.

As Guardi grew older his style became noticeably different from that of Canaletto, who focused on the glamour of Venice, often showing it in bright sunshine.

Guardi often painted cloudy skies above the city at dusk, accurately conveying the mood and atmosphere of each scene. Some of his paintings evoke the onset of the decline of Venice’s empire, such as his landscape, Fire in the Oil Depot in San Marcuola, which was painted in 1789.

Guardi died in Cannaregio in 1793 at the age of 80, four years before the end of the Republic of Venice.

The house in Campiello della Madonna, a small square in
Cannaregio, where Guardi lived for much of his life

Travel tip:

Cannaregio, where Guardi was born and died, is a peaceful quarter of Venice, with crumbling, shuttered houses and little shops and bars that are still patronised by Venetians. Among the architectural masterpieces of the area are the Gothic church of Madonna dell’Orto and the early Renaissance church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli.

Travel tip:

Bergamo’s Accademia Carrara has a fine collection of paintings by Guardi including views of L’Isola di San Giorgio, Il Rio dei Mendicanti, Il Ponte di Rialto and Piazza San Marco. The Accademia Carrara is housed in a magnificent palace just outside Bergamo’s Città Alta, built in the 18th century to house one of the richest private collections in Italy. It is the only Italian museum to be entirely stocked with donations and bequests from private collectors. Visitors can view works by the masters of the Venetian, Lombard and Tuscan Renaissances as well as the great artists who came later, such as Guardi, Lotto, Titian, Moroni, Rubens, Tiepolo and Canaletto. For more details visit www.lacarrara.it.

(Photo of Guardi's house by Didier Descouens CC BY-SA 4.0)

More reading:

Tiepolo: 'greatest decorative artist of 18th century Europe'

Titian - giant of Renaissance art

How Pietro Longhi captured everyday life in 18th century Venice

Tintoretto - the dyer's son whose work still adorns Venice


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Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lamps light up Assisi in memory of saint

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

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

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

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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