The tarantella calabrese, sometimes called tirantella or in the past u sonu, is a term that encompasses various traditional dance and music styles found throughout the Calabria region of southern Italy. While it shares a name with other southern Italian tarantellas, the Calabrian version is distinct—especially in its rhythm and performance style. U...
READ MOREThe Wild Boar Hunt is a historical reenactment held every year from August 12 to 15 in Mondavio, a town in the province of Pesaro-Urbino in the Marche region. The event commemorates the arrival of Giovanni Della Rovere in Mondavio in 1474, when he took possession of the vicariate — a gift from Pope Sixtus IV to mark Giovanni’s marriage to Giovanna...
READ MOREThe Scamiciata is a historical reenactment held in Fasano (Brindisi, Apulia) in memory of the victory over the Turks on June 2, 1678. On this day, after years or even centuries of enduring Turkish raids in patient resignation, the people of Fasano finally defeated the Turks in a major battle outside the city walls. In remembrance and celebration of...
READ MOREThe Giostra del Saracino of Sarteano is a knightly tournament with ancient tradition that has been held in Sarteano, in the province of Siena, for time immemorial. Five knights, known as "giostratori," representing the five districts into which the town is divided, compete for the coveted palio. Called to charge, each mounted knight, galloping and...
READ MOREThe feast of Our Lady of the Sterpeto and St. Ruggero, after a two-year pandemic, returns to Barletta, Apulia. A millennial feast that fideistically the city's faithful repeat every year in July with heartfelt participation. The importance that the patronal feast in honor of its patron saints has always had has contributed to the solidarity of huma...
READ MOREMontefiore dell'Aso, a typical medieval-style village of the Marche hinterland, is well preserved: notable stretches of walls equipped with gates and six towers dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries remain. A visit offers tourists pleasant views and valuable evidence of the historical and artistic past of the Italian Renaissance. This beautifu...
READ MOREThe month of May is dedicated to Mary. Especially in Etruria, in the Lazio region, archaic festivals of pagan origin follow one another. A particularly suggestive feast, which at times fills the eyes with tears for its intensity, is certainly the Barabbata on May 14th. It is celebrated at the church of Santa Maria del Monte in Marta, a village alon...
READ MOREOn Easter Sunday, Lent, the long period of fasting, is broken and sweets in the shape of a dove and an egg are distributed. The egg, symbol of life that is renewed and auspicious of fertility, is connected to the meaning of Easter as the feast of spring and the awakening of nature. The egg is the most ancient and representative symbol of Easter, fe...
READ MOREOne of the festivals that most represents the Italian Easter tradition is the "Procession of the Mysteries" in Trapani, Sicily, where there is an intense popular participation. Imagine a river of people standing for twenty hours in extreme silence as they watch the representation of the "Mysteries". This magical word is not to be considered as an i...
READ MOREThe celebration of Carnevale (Carnival) is very important in Italy. Unfortunately with the passing of time, younger generations are losing the meaning of it, but despite everything, it is still a very important celebration, not only for the taste of dressing up but also for the culinary specialties, made of delicious sweets, such as ravioli with cr...
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