Living on a hill overlooking Norcia…. …..the Benedictine monks – affectionately called by all “the Monks of Norcia” – are known today for their production of artisanal beers. But many centuries ago, Norcia-area Benedictine monks were linked to prosciutto, sausages…and pig butchering. I find the story fascinating. And it all starts in the 6th-century. After…
Best known as birthplace (in the late 5th-c A.D.) of San Benedetto, founder of western monasticism, and his twin sister Scolastica, Norcia’s history weaves back through the centuries. Most likely ancient Nursia was settled as early as the 4th-5th-c B.C. by an Italic tribal people, the Sabines. The Romans moved into the area in about 300…
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 competition, the Rassegna delle Pasquarelle, in Cascia, in the mountainous southeastern corner of Umbria. Probably first inhabited by native Italic peoples, present-day Cascia, was part…
The creche art of Naples is truly an artistic representation of la vita napoletana, then and now. The presepe napoletano (Neapolitan crib scene), more than just a religious celebration, has become a way to describe the Neapolitan culture, each napolitano identifying with it and feeling represented. As I’d written in a past blog note (after a Naples walk…
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…
For periods of contemplation, meditation and restoration ,St. Francis of Assisi often withdrew to various retreats – grottoes, caves, primitive huts – in the areas of Italy now known as Tuscany, Abruzzo, the Marches, Latium and of course, Umbria. One of his favorite haunts – as of 2017 – was the mountainous area around Greccio,…
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 on rocky outcrops along our route. As we neared destination -now in Latium and no longer in Umbria, snow-capped Mt. Terminillo rose…
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…
Why not give gold as a gift this year? “Liquid gold”: Extra-virgin olive oil of Umbria, “Italy’s green heart.” Our son Keegan is offering you some of the best, an olive oil made with organic olives harvested by him with friends, Gigi and Leonardo. You can see the “olive-harvesting” trio here: Let Keegan tell you…
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.…