Every town, every village and every city neighborhood pulls out the decorations, dusts off the statues of their favorite saints and “presto”, it’s a celebration. And these are just a handful of the many. There are the Festivals of the Sea and the of the miracle of the White Madonna in Liguria, the Festival of Candles in Sardinia, the decorated tractors of the wheat festival of Benevento, the barrel race around Montepulciano and the Escape of the Ox festival in the Tuscan town of Montefalco. ![]() There are festivals all over the country the opera seasons in Trieste, The Baths of Caracalla in Rome and the Roman Amphitheater of Verona, the Venice film festival, the medieval Palio in Siena and the renaissance festivals of the Veneto and Sicily, the jousting tournament of Ascoli Piceno in Le Marches, the Festival of the Madonna of the Snow in Rome commemorating a miraculous 4th century snowfall and the Palio del Golf, a rowing race between 13 villages along the coastline of Tuscany near La Spezia. Everyone has a different answer, which is probably they way it’s been since the early Christians first confused the Romans.Īnd as for the decree of the Emperor Augustus that the entire month be filled with celebrations and festivals, well, why not? You can’t go too far in Italy without running into a festival of some kind. When we asked a restaurant manager near Marsala what his thoughts were on the true meaning of Ferie, he told us it signaled the end of summer and soon the autumn rains would begin. Go ahead and ask anyone in Italy the meaning of Ferie, you’ll get answers ranging from the “annual holiday in Italy”, “the annunciation of the Virgin Mary” or “the government sanctioned period for businesses to be closed”. These days it’s hard to separate the sacred holiday of Ferragosto with the secular holiday of Ferie, when most businesses close for the annual summer holiday. I actually read that the 15th of August was the Emperor’s birthday. Augustus the Emperor declared the entire month designated to celebrations and festivals. With regard to the timely co-incidence of Christian miracles and pagan Roman celebrations, Ferragosto is no different. ![]() ![]() The Italian holiday of Ferragosto commemorates the 15th of August, when the Virgin Mary ascended, body and soul, into heavenly glory.
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