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Hotel Viterbo

The Rites of Spring

: : Map of Viterbo : : Click for a larger view Download PDF

: : Map of Province : : Click for a larger view Download PDF

Just beyond Rome's big-city confusion in the unspoilt area known as Tuscia or Etruria, the traditional festivities marking the arrival of spring are still celebrated as they have been for centuries. Rarely witnessed by tourists, they are a mirror of the people's spirit, their religious fervor and love of a good time.
Carnevale , meaning good-bye to meat (carne-va-là) breaks up the mid-winter doldrums. It was part of the propitiatory rites our ancestors offered to underworld gods or demons in the moment that nature initated a new productive cycle. Grotesque masks and costumes break down the social barriers making flirting, dancing and joking available to all social levels.
At carnival time anything goes, ".. ogni scherzo vale". This is very true in Ronciglione, where costume parades, dancing in the streets and horse races inject a note of danger. Rider-less horses careen along the main street in the Corsa a Vuoto, and crowds gather to see the costume parades that are a mix of satire and noisy fun.

On Ash Wednesday in the town of Gradoli (100 kms north of Rome ) the all-male Confraternità del Purgatorio puts on a Lenten lunch with the excuse of helping the souls in Purgatory. Over 2000 diners find their places along trestle tables in the huge cantina sociale warehouse to enjoy the "pranzo di magro" marking the first day of the fasting period.
From baskets and tote bags, guests pull out crockery brought from home and set their places with bottles of wine that are offered to others at the table. Genuine homey hospitality is one of the major ingredients of this festa.
The cooks , all members of the confraternity (no women allowed!) follow secret recipes and a menu that has remained the same for about 700 years. The meal begins with cannellini beans, then fish broth with rice, followed by pike, fried whiting, baccalà with garlic, oil and parsley . An apple serves as dessert and each course is washed down with the famous local wines-Grechetto and Aleatico. The white-smocked "holy waiters" zip among the tables with huge platters emblazoned with the confraternity's coat-of-arms while the older members preside over copper cauldrons in the makeshift kitchen. As afternoon lengthens and the empty wine bottles multipy, songs break out and ruddy-faced guests serenade with verve.
Holy week is highlighted by Good Friday processions when lines of hooded, chained flagellants march through the historic centers of Orte, Bagnaia, Canino and other towns . In tiny Blera , (60 kms from Rome) they are led by choruses of darkly dressed parishoners chanting ancient laments .In the narrow, medieval streets lighted only by candles and Chinese lanterns, townspeople renact the passion of Christ dressed in Roman costumes . The procession of centurions on horseback lead the actor Christ and two thieves to the church square where they are hoisted up on crosses in front of the church to the music from "Ben Hur".
In Tarquinia Easter greetings are exchanged only in the late afternoon after the Cristo Risorto procession has been held. . Members of the fraternity carrying a gilded statue of the risen Christ race uphill accompanied by hunters shooting off their rifles, the town band and the pealing of the city hall's huge bell.
Easter Monday , known as Pasquetta, is a quiet time when people take to the fields, beaches and countryside to enjoy the first outing or picnic of the season . Those who like a good trek can join the procession in honor of the local saint of Blera that happens on Pasquetta and is repeated on the second Sunday of May. Chanting groups carrying banners and the saint's relics walk several kilometeres from Blera to the grotto where the saint lived near the Etruscan rock tombs of Norchia. In sign of devotion, crumbs of the tufa stone are eaten and the next day the local doctor usually has several cases of acute appendicitis.
Only a spattering of outsiders come to assist at the ceremony known as Sposalizio dell'Albero, the Wedding of the Trees, that is performed each May 8th by the mayor of Vetralla in his tri-color sash . Just as Venice is "wedded to the sea," so Vetralla with this simple ceremony reinstates its sovereignty over the forests, continuing the right of citizens to a cubic meter of firewood annually. The couple of giant oaks are draped with veils and garlands, horsemen offer bouquets of the first spring flowers and new trees are planted while a picnic lunch is offered to all at the town's expense.

The festival known as La Barabbata in Marta is the prototype of all May fairs and perhaps the most important day in the year for the fishermen and farmers of this lovely village on the shores of Lake Bolsena. Groups representing the different trades construct colorful carriages or "fontane" that they push, pull or carry along a steep uphill route to the sanctuary, of the Madonna del Monte. Dressed as representatives of the old trades, the men (the women are meer onlookers) carry their tools and file through the town with shouts of "Viva la Madonna del Monte". White buffalo help pull the 20 -odd homemade floats piled high with the fruit of their labors in the fields and lake-wheat sheaves, cheeses, flowers, fruits, the gigantic lake fish and eels . The climax of the Barabbata feast is the noisy passage of men and animals through the church.

Mary Jane Cryan - www.elegantetruria.com