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| The 8 metre high bonfire Photo F. Pignatale |
Il Focarone of Bagnaia is the biggest of the hundreds of bonfires that are lit all over Italy on the night of January 16th-17th in honor of St. Anthony Abbot, healer and protector of livestock.
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| tower and entrance to medieval Bagnaia |
For the entire week preceding
the festival, groups of young
people were hard at work setting up the eight-metre tall mass of tree trunks and other timber in the middle of the piazza.
The
expert builders must insure that the bonfire will burn evenly so it does not collapse on one side.
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| Il Focarone, ready for lighting |
The mid-winter bonfire is a
tradition that is strongly felt by the Bagnaioli, as the townspeople are
called.
The festivities begin at 5 p.m.
with a procession of costumed
dignitaries representing important characters in the town’s long and sometimes
tragic history.
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| as night falls the festivities begin |
These include La
Pucciarella, a young girl who defended Bagnaia when the Lanzichenecchi lay siege to the town in 1527.
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| the piazza resembles, in miniature, Rome's Piazza del Popolo |
The flag throwers are followed by the igniting
of the bonfire at 6:30 p.m.
The flames leap higher than the village
rooftops heating up the piazza and the
crowds who come from Viterbo and other nearby towns.
Bagnaia is mostly known for its magnificent Renaissance Villa Lante gardens, which are a perfect retreat in sultry summer weather, so it is a surprise to discover this tradition offering respite from winter's cold.
