Feast of St. Francis, October 4th: Valle d’Aosta in Assisi

Every year for the Feast of St. Francis, one of the 20 regions of Italy brings the oil which will burn all year in front of his tomb in the Basilica of St. Francis – for San Francesco is the patron saint of Italy.

This year, that honor went to the Valle d’Aosta (often called simply “Val d’Aosta“), small mountainous region of northern Italy, bordered by France and Switzerland.

In 19th-century costumes, a noted folkoristic group of the region paraded proudly into Assisi’s main square…..

…dancing and playing instruments of their region:

…including the fleye’, (“fléau” in French), a rhythmical instrument linked to the ancient rural work of harvesting grains, its beating sounds re-echoing the din of the thrashing of the wheat crops at harvest,

Local police of many Val d’Aosta towns chatted near the excited young Assisi drummers as all prepared to enter the main square, Piazza del Comune, for the start of the solemn procession to the Saint’s tomb:

Mayors of the Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta, draped proudly in their red-white-and-green mayoral sashes, joined too in the festivities, smiling for me in front of the 1st- B.C. Roman Temple to Minerva in Assisi’s main square…..

Rising to the left of the temple is the belltower of the town, the beloved campanile…..

…and October 4th is certainly a day of campanilismo in Assisi, i.e, the loyalty to one’s belltower, the sense of belonging to one’s town. I often tell my tour guests as we walk in front of that bell tower that there’s not a nationalistic sense of being italiano, for one first has a sense of belonging to one’s town (bell tower). Generally, we assume that “paesan” – as used by Italian-Americans – signifies “fellow countrymen” and yes, “paese” does mean “country” but it also means “town”. Maybe, therefore, an immigrant in New York from Palermo might use the term to greet a fellow palermitano – not just a fellow Italian?

Back to Assisi: October 4th is a proud day of campanilismo lived with full passione by the assisiani including those living elsewhere now, returning home to join the festivities…and looking up with nostalgic affection at the blue and red banners (colors of the Assisi flag), draped on city hall opposite the bell tower and displayed for important festivities:

Assisani leading the procession are dressed in the apparel of our May medieval festival, the Calendimaggio:

….blue and red the prevalent colors: blue for La Nobilissima Parte de Sopra – and red for La Magnifca Parte de Sopra, (for “Uppper Assisi” and “Lower Assisi” challenge each other in medieval contests during the Calendimaggio festivities):

Assisi vigili urbani (urban police) were ready to carry the banner of Assisi in procession…..

….and the medieval trumpeters in blue and red medieval dress were all set to announce the festivities, trumpeting the Assisi hymn:

The little drummers of both Parti were eager and ready to join the procession, beating those drums to announce the festivities:

Assisi school children of all ages gathered near the Assisi trumpeters and Umbria flags, anticipating their participation in the procession honoring San Francesco on his feast day:

Many carried olive branches, symbol of peace….

….and their teachers, too…

…for Assisi is la citta’ della pace.

After this glorious morning procession to the Tomba di San Francesco in the Basilica di San Francesco, I stopped in city hall, Palazzo dei Priori, to view the artworks in wood of the Val D’Aosta on display, blue and red (those Assisi colors!|) banners announcing the show inside:

Through the entrance door, I could see the sculpture of San Francesco and the wolf of Gubbio:

The wood masterpieces displayed had been presented earlier in the year in an immense fair of traditional arte valdostana.

The creative carved Nativity opening the show depicted a bearded valdostano pilgrim arriving at the crib scene, staff in hand, hat with a shell (symbol of the pilgrim) on the brim of his hat:

Sant’Orso, too, had been sculpted, 6th-century saint from Ireland who preached in the Valle d’Aosta. A tiny bird is perched on his shoulder for legend tells us Sant’Orso was most generous with all creatures, even the insignificant little birds: