Calendimaggio: See the Splendor, Live the Passion
Assisi’s glorious celebration of springtime, Calendimaggio, is above all una festa di amore, “a festival of love,” the love and passione of the assisani of all ages for their beloved early May medieval...
View ArticleFlags Wave Over Assisi’s Calendimaggio: Literally
Preparing my September 26th hour-long ZOOM presentation “Assisi’s Calendimaggio: From Roman Rites to Medieval Splendor” has been a challenge: so much to share! Just the subject of the banners and...
View ArticleCalendimaggio: Flinging Medieval Banners – with Passion
Flags and banners are integral to the celebration of Calendimaggio in Assisi and not just those representing the two districts, La Magnifica Parte di Sopra and La nobilissima Parte de Sopra…. ..but...
View ArticleThat Wine Mystique Splendor in Ancient Rome
My October 17, 2020 ZOOM presentation, “Italy’s Wine Mystique in History and Art” included – logicamente! – an exploration of the cult of the Roman god Bacchus, so often depicted in triumph as in the...
View ArticleSpello’s Olive Oil: That Umbria “Liquid Gold”
Umbria’s “liquid gold,” olive oil, is world-renowned and celebrated by the umbri in glorious festivals. These feste celebrate the olio nuovo (the “new oil”, that olive oil just pressed) at harvest...
View ArticleOlive Oil Stars in an Assisi Festival
November is the month of the olive oil harvest all over Italy – and this year, it’s my month to focus on olive oils, subject of my two ZOOM presentations (- and you can see all my presentations to...
View ArticleAssisi to Greccio: On the St. Francis Christmas Trail
Pino and I headed into Latium to the Franciscan sanctuary of Greccio on our first icy cold December day. We headed into the Valnerina and then south into Latium, medieval villages perched precariously...
View ArticleUmbria’s Pasquarelle: Singing in the Epiphany
January can be icy cold in Umbria but a month of warmth, too: the warmth of the locals celebrating January festivals. An Umbrian winter festival absolutely not to miss is the late-January rural music...
View ArticleGubbio’s Good Friday: Living Medieval Street Theater
Easter liturgies have incorporated early forms of performances and role-playing – varying from short text passages to long presentations – since the tenth century. In the 15th and 16th centuries,...
View ArticleIn October, Todi Celebrates San Fortunato
Perched on a double-crested hill overlooking the Tiber River, Umbria hill town Todi – “the world’s most livable city” – commands distant views in every direction. Its “livable” appellation was...
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