Assisi’s Living Crib Scenes: Remembering a “Profound and Mysterious Event”

For many in Umbria, Christmastime is inextricably linked to visits to the presepi viventi (“living crib scenes”) of medieval villages surrounding Assisi.  The first to bring the Nativity scene alive was San Francesco in Greccio in 1223. For over forty years, the villagers of Armenzano, San Gregorio and Petrignano – all frazioni (“little fractions”) of Assisi – have spent…

Lighting Up for an Assisi Christmas

On this December 7th at nightfall, we weren’t able to gather around the towering blazing bonfire – il focaraccio (literally, “big ugly fire”) – up at Assisi’s 14th-c. fortress, la Rocca Maggiore.   Due to COVID, the traditional Dec. 7th grouping together to chat over roasted chestnuts and hot mulled wine was canceled. Here’s a group with paper cones of…

Assisi’s Christmas Illumination

There’s usually a life-sized creche scene on the lawn in front of Assisi’s majestic Basilica di San Francesco, right  across the street from the Bar San Francesco of the Angeletti family. Since 1995, the Angeletti family, in fact, has worked with volunteers to set up the artisanal presepe (creche) with the help of volunteers each Christmastime.…

From Naples to Milan: Christmas Solidarity in Italy

Glorious Naples is not only the Italian capital of pizza but also of espresso;  in fact, here in Umbria if we wish to compliment the coffee of a local coffee bar, we might say, “veramente buonissimo – come a Napoli!” (“Really very good- as if from Naples”). Neapolitans are not tea-drinkers, for they see tea as…

Ceramics of Orvieto: Artisanal Masterpieces Spanning the Ages

Perched on a  porous volcanic rock plateau, the geology of Orvieto is characterized by layers of volcanic materials, such as  lava,  ash, and pumice, permitting the easy creation of caves, cisterns, tunnels and underground cavities over the centuries. Over the years, the orvietani have often uncovered remnants of medieval and Renaissance ceramic plates, bowls, cups, jars,…

In Orvieto, from Beato Angelico Majesty to Luca Signorelli Humor

As you enter the Cappella di San Brizio in the Orvieto Duomo (cathedral),  the venerated Madonna di San Brizio will be facing you,  reigning over the altar.  Constructed in the 15th-century in the place of the sacristy, in 1622, this chapel was dedicated to San Brizio, one of the first bishops of Spoleto and Foligno, who’d preached in Orvieto.…