The Italian Almanac for October 22: stories and curiosities

Busted myths

Pisa does not have one leaning tower but three, and the most tilted is not the famous one

The cathedral bell tower of Pisa, begun on 9 August 1173 and 57 metres high, now leans 3.97 degrees; in 1993, before the stabilisation works, its top was about 4.47 metres off the vertical, close to 5.5 degrees. But the soft clay and sand under the city has bent two other bell towers as well. The octagonal one of San Nicola, perhaps from the second half of the 13th century, with a spiral staircase running open around its inside, leans 2.5 degrees. The one of San Michele degli Scalzi, on the side facing the Arno, tips towards the river by 5 degrees: more than the Tower. Only nobody poses for a photo with it.

📍 Discover Pisa

Today's tidbits

Italian records

Giugliano in Campania, 125,126 inhabitants: Italy's biggest town that is not a provincial capital

Giugliano in Campania, on the doorstep of Naples, had 125,126 inhabitants on 31 May 2026 across 94.62 square kilometres: it is the most populous municipality in Italy among those that are not the seat of a province or metropolitan city, and the only one of that group above 100,000, a mark passed in 2006. In 1550 it had about 3,000 people, in 1798 8,106. The full name dates from 1863, when Giugliano became Giugliano in Campania. In the 17th century its governor was Giovan Battista Basile, author of “Lo cunto de li cunti”, home to the first literary Cinderella in Europe; he was buried in the church of Santa Sofia in 1632. On the coast lie the hamlets of Lago Patria, Licola and Varcaturo.

📍 Giugliano in Campania →

It started here 1916

Ferruccio Lamborghini, a farmer's son from Renazzo di Cento: from tractors to sports cars over a broken clutch

Ferruccio Lamborghini was born on 28 April 1916 in Renazzo, a hamlet of Cento near Ferrara, the son of farmers Antonio and Evelina Govoni. In 1946 Italy was hungry for tractors: he bought war-surplus military vehicles and turned them into farm machines, and in 1948 he founded Lamborghini Trattori in Cento. Then the story he himself confirmed: the clutch of his Ferrari kept breaking, a mechanic took it apart and found it identical to the one on his tractors. Enzo Ferrari is said to have replied that the car was fine, it was Ferruccio who could drive tractors, not Ferraris. In 1963 he unveiled the 350 GT at the Turin Motor Show. On the badge, a bull: 28 April falls under Taurus.

📍 Cento →

🎉 Celebrations today in… 8

8 towns with a guide celebrate their patron saint on October 22

San Giovanni Paolo II 5

Terre del RenoEmilia-Romagna Casali del MancoCalabria TrecastelliMarche Rivignano TeorFriuli Venezia Giulia Borgo MantovanoLombardy

Other saints of the day 3

Capo d'OrlandoMaria SS. di Capo d'Orlando · Sicily Bercetosan Moderanno · Emilia-Romagna Castellirisanta Maria Salome · Lazio

Patron saint festival 📍 Torre Annunziata

Feast of Our Lady of the Snow

📅 Every year, on 22 October

On 22 October Torre Annunziata celebrates its patron Our Lady of the Snow, in memory of the 1822 vow that halted the lava of Vesuvius; the devotion dates back to 1354, when fishermen found the image in their nets.

Patron saint festival 📍 Borgo Mantovano

Feast of Saint John Paul II

📅 Every year, on 22 October

On 22 October Borgo Mantovano celebrates its patron Saint John Paul II; the municipality brings together hamlets with their own patrons, such as Saint Albert in Revere and Saint Michael the Archangel in Villa Poma.

Patron saint festival 📍 Casali del Manco

Feast of Saint John Paul II

📅 Every year, on 22 October

On 22 October Casali del Manco celebrates its patron Saint John Paul II; the municipal territory, in the Sila range, includes Monte Pettinascura.

Patron saint festival 📍 Rivignano Teor

Feast of Saint John Paul II

📅 Every year, on 22 October

On 22 October Rivignano Teor celebrates its patron Saint John Paul II; the municipal territory includes the Biotopo Risorgive di Zarnicco wetland.

Patron saint festival 📍 Terre del Reno

Feast of Saint John Paul II

📅 Every year, on 22 October

On 22 October Terre del Reno celebrates its patron Saint John Paul II; the municipal territory includes the Bosco di Sant'Agostino, also known as Panfilia.

Patron saint festival 📍 Trecastelli

Feast of Saint John Paul II

📅 Every year, on 22 October

On 22 October Trecastelli celebrates its patron Saint John Paul II; the town also preserves Palazzo Antonelli Castracani Augusti.

Patron saint festival 📍 Castelliri

Feast of Saint Mary Salome

📅 Every year, on 22 October

On 22 October Castelliri celebrates its patron Saint Mary Salome; the town also preserves the Parco Principe di Piemonte.

Patron saint festival 📍 Berceto

Feast of Saint Moderannus

📅 Every year, on 22 October

On 22 October Berceto celebrates its patron Saint Moderannus; the town hosts the treasury museum of Berceto Cathedral.

Patron saint festival 📍 Santa Maria Capua Vetere

Feast of Saint Symmachus

📅 Every year, on 22 October

On 22 October Santa Maria Capua Vetere celebrates Saint Symmachus, one of its patrons; the other patron, the Blessed Virgin of the Assumption, has a feast documented since the 15th century with the famous "burning of the bell tower".

Patron saint festival 📍 Capo d'Orlando

Maria Santissima of Capo d'Orlando

📅 Every year, on 22 October

On 22 October Capo d'Orlando celebrates its patroness, the Madonna whose sanctuary of 1600 stands among the remains of the castle, on the hill above the town.