Festa del redentore (The Redemeer Day)

The Redentore began as a celebration to give thanks for the end of the terrible plague of 1576, which killed 50,000 people (25-30 per cent of the population), including the great painter Tiziano Vecellio (Titian). The Festa del Redentore remains a major festival in the Venetian calendar, celebrated on the third Sunday of July. The most important place of the festival is Giudecca, one of the islands of Venice, situated to the south of the city center, where the Andrea Palladdio’s Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore (Church of the Most Holy Redemeer) was built.

On Saturday 19th of July, the eve of the festival, fireworks of the most varied colours and shapes are let off. Preparations start early in the morning when people begin to decorate their boats, or the small wooden terraces on rooftops from where they can admire the fireworks. From the early afternoon, Saint Mark’s basin fills with up to 2,000 boats of all kinds, decorated with balloons and garlands: the water surface is full of thousands of boats and lights, and thousands of Venetians awaiting the fireworks while dining on the boats. Around 10 o’clock at night (more…)

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The battle of the bridge: a tradition in Pisa

On the 29th of June, there will be in Pisa the Battle of the Bridge. It is an historical waking demonstration, which is divided in two different moments: the Historical Procession, which is a sort of large military parade with more than 709 figurants, and the Battle on the Ponte di Mezzo, where the teams of the contending factions show their physical strenght creating a suggestive and impressing athmosphere.

The Battle of the Bridge is a very old tourney, whose first surely-documented edition

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The spectacular Luminara of San Ranieri in Pisa

Again this year the city of Pisa, in the night of the 16th of June, keeps its annual date with the Luminara on the occasion of the feast of its patron Saint Ranieri.

Pisa’s citizens celebrate this day by decorating the streets of the city with a particular lighting, which gives name to the event. More than about seventy-thousand wax candles are put into smooth and transparent glasses and fixed onto wooden white-painted frames, which are placed in order to highlight the shape of palaces, bridges, churches and towers overlooking the banks of the river Arno. Thanks to the Luminara, also the Leaning Tower of Pisa becomes (more…)

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Milan: discover the Navigli of Leonardo

Thanks to About Milan and Paesionline.com in the last few days we rediscovered the beauty and the historical and scientific importance of the Navigli of Milan. To our astonishment we have discovered that there is a company that organizes, as a result of the last year’s success, excursions on the Navigli of Leonardo during the whole summer.

In fact, until 30th September it is possible to book an excursion on the Navigli on three different routes:

• The Valley Line: from Alzaia Naviglio Grande 4 to dam “Conchetta”, passing along Darsena of Milan;
• The line Delizie: along the route Robecco sul Naviglio - Castelletto di Cuggiono;
• The line Parco Sud that unravels along the path that connects Milan with Gaggiano.

It is very unusual that the term “Navigli”, in Milan, is identified with only the two opened routes of Navigio Grande and Naviglio Pavese and in more general sense the area between the two navigable canals characterized by the presence of numerous nightspots.

In fact, many people don’t know, and here we come to the usual fact, that the Navigli were used not only to transport different kinds of merchandise to Milan, but also to transport the marble of Candoglia used in the construction of Milan’s Cathedral, and in more recent times, to transport the rolls of paper used by the typewriters of Corriere della Sera.

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Florence celebrates the festivity of its Patron

On June 24th, like every other year, Florence celebrates the festivity of San Giovanni Battista, Saint Patron of the city. According to the tradition, it’s a day in which several festivities take place in Florence throughout the day, such as parades, the ’sbandieratori’ show, the Rowing Club competition along the river Arno, fireworks, the famous marathon called “Notturna di San Giovanni”, and to conclude the night, the famous fireworks (the ‘fochi di San Giovanni’) at around 9:00pm.

This year, however, the festivities will start a day before, on Saturday. On the 23rd of June there will be a couple of activities that you won’t want to miss: the Notturna di San Giovanni (marathon race) and “Nottarno” the white night in “Oltrarno” (the southern streets of Ponte Vecchio) that offers music, art shows and several amusement activities throughout its squares and quarters. For this special occasion, all restaurants will remain opened throughout the night with tables on the streets and squares. (download the program in pdf)

For the second year in a row, the final match of Calcio in Costume (football in costumes) has been cancelled. The famous Historic Florentine Football, was a peppy medieval version of football played in Santa Croce square. In fact, in 2006 the match was cancelled with a specific motivation: “The unjustify events that took place on the opening match of the 2006 edition, forced the Municipality of Florence to take action on this important sporting event.”

But this will not discourage Florentine people, as they are preparing themselves for a weekend full of festivities and events. And now, as customary, here we give you some curiosities you could eventually have missed or never heard.

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