Spello’s Infiorate: Flowers of Passione

Festivals, Folklore, Italian 'Passione', Umbrian Hilltowns17 Comments

It all started on a late June Sunday in the early 1900’s when an elderly woman from Spello (Umbria) scattered shredded bunches of brilliant yellow wild broom and mossy green wild fennel on the cobblestone street in front of her home. She had scrambled the slopes of Mt. Subasio, backdropping Spello, to pick the fragrant broom and pungent fennel for her floral “carpet” laid out to welcome the Communion Host venerated by Catholics as the true Body of Christ. It was carried through the streets by the bishop on the Feast of Corpus Domini…
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Bevagna: Passione for the Middle Ages

Festivals, Folklore, History, Italian 'Passione', Umbrian Hilltowns2 Comments

I often tell my tour guests that appreciating Italian passione is key to fully understanding the Italians. Passione is the underlying theme of all things Italian: from the elegant presentation of colorful gelati behind pristine glass to the artistic display of meats on butcher’s shiny metal trays to the full involvement for months of all the townspeople in preparation for the many local festivals which bring alive Italy’s culture and history.
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