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, Passion plays…
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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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
Even “freddo polare” (“polar cold” – which for Italy means anything below freezing temperature) – never deters jazz appassionati from heading to Orvieto at the end of December for Umbria Jazz Winter. We’re always…
Entering the 12th c.- church of San Lorenzo Martire in Spello, your attention is drawn immediately to the golden baldacchino dominating the altar: The 17th-c. Spello baldacchino copies the splendid Bernini bronze baldacchino of the…
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…
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 time which takes…