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🔔 The Italian Almanac

October 4

Stories and curiosities for October 4, from the Italy of a thousand bell towers.

Words born here

The saint of Assisi was christened Giovanni: Francesco was his father's choice, and the name went round the world

His mother had him baptised Giovanni in San Rufino, in Assisi, in Umbria. It was his father, Pietro di Bernardone, a cloth merchant forever travelling to Provence, who renamed him Francesco: an unusual name at the time, probably chosen in honour of the France that had made his fortune. Franciscus, in medieval Latin, means Frank. Devotion to the friar spread it across western Europe: Francis, François, Franz, Francisco, Ferenc, and a Spanish mission named after him gave its name to San Francisco. In Italy, according to ISTAT, it was the top name for newborn boys every year from 2001 to 2017. Francesco died on the night of 3 to 4 October 1226; since 1939 he has been patron saint of Italy.

📍 Discover Assisi

Today's tidbits

Italian records 1995

Under the Karst at Sgonico, a chamber 98 metres high: the Grotta Gigante has been in the Guinness book since 1995

In 1840 the engineer Anton Friedrich Lindner climbed down almost a hundred metres of darkness looking for water for Trieste, the booming Habsburg port: he found no water, he found the Grotta Gigante. It lies in Sgonico, on the Karst above Trieste in north-eastern Italy, and its Grande Caverna measures 98.5 metres high, 167.6 long and 76.3 wide, about 365,000 cubic metres: since 1995 the Guinness Book of Records has listed it as the largest natural chamber in any show cave. Open since 1908, the stairs drop to 101 metres below the surface, past the Colonna Ruggero, a 12-metre stalagmite grown over 200,000 years. It also houses the longest geodetic pendulums in the world.

📍 Sgonico →
On the table today

At Navelli the saffron is picked at dawn, flowers still closed: a kilo takes 200,000 of them

On the Navelli plateau, in the province of L'Aquila in Abruzzo, the second half of October is spent bent over the furrows: the flowers of Crocus sativus must be picked at dawn, before they open, and carried indoors so the three scarlet stigmas can be pulled out by hand. The stigmas go on a sieve over almond or oak embers and lose five sixths of their weight in toasting: a kilo of Zafferano dell'Aquila, a protected designation since 4 February 2005, takes around 200,000 flowers. The plant was brought from Spain in the 13th century by a Dominican friar of the Santucci family of Navelli. In Pixar's Ratatouille (2007) it is called “excellent”.

📍 Navelli →

🎉 Celebrations today in… 12

12 towns with a guide celebrate their patron saint on October 4

San Francesco d'Assisi 5

Cavallino-TreportiVeneto Salice SalentinoPuglia San Francesco al CampoPiedmont SchivenogliaLombardy BasicòSicily

San Francesco 3

BaronissiCampania SerinoCampania AglientuSardinia

Other saints of the day 4

Cisterna d'AstiMadonna del Rosario · Piedmont Sala Bolognesesan Biagio (Sala), santa Maria Assunta (Padulle), san Michele (Bagno di Piano), san Petronio (Osteria Nuova) · Emilia-Romagna Massasan Francesco d'Assisi e San Pietro · Tuscany Bolognasan Petronio · Emilia-Romagna
Patron saint festival 📍 Roppolo

Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

📅 Every year, on the first Sunday of October

On the first Sunday of October Roppolo celebrates its patron Our Lady of the Rosary; the town also preserves the archaeological remains of the Roc della Regina and the Pera Pichera.

Patron saint festival 📍 Cortiglione

Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

📅 Every year, on the first Sunday of October

On the first Sunday of October Cortiglione celebrates Our Lady of the Rosary together with the Festa della Vendemmia e della Pigiatura, with grape picking in the morning and barefoot treading in the vat in the afternoon.

Patron saint festival 📍 Cisterna d'Asti

Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

📅 Every year, on 4 October

On 4 October Cisterna d'Asti celebrates its patron, Our Lady of the Rosary; the same month the village, dominated by its medieval castle, also hosts the Mercandè, a re-enactment of the coin-minting privilege granted in 1673.

Patron saint festival 📍 Sala Bolognese

Feast of Saint Blaise

📅 Every year, on 4 October

On 4 October Sala Bolognese celebrates its patron Saint Blaise in the main hamlet of Sala; the other hamlets of the municipality have their own patrons, such as Our Lady of the Assumption in Padulle, Saint Michael in Bagno di Piano and Saint Petronius in Osteria Nuova.

Patron saint festival 📍 Tramonti

Feast of Saint Francis

📅 Every year, on 4 October

On 4 October Tramonti celebrates Saint Francis, one of the municipality's three patrons alongside Saint Anthony (13 June) and Santa Maria la Nova (12 September), to whom one of the town's churches is dedicated.

Patron saint festival 📍 Aglientu

Feast of Saint Francis

📅 Every year, on 4 October

On 4 October Aglientu celebrates Saint Francis in the church dedicated to him; the village also hosts the Mud'A contemporary art museum.

Patron saint festival 📍 Baronissi

Feast of Saint Francis

📅 Every year, on 4 October

On 4 October Baronissi celebrates Saint Francis; since 1996 the town has also hosted the Baronissi Jazz Festival, whose guests have included French pianist Michel Petrucciani.

Patron saint festival 📍 Taglio di Po

Feast of Saint Francis

📅 Every year, on 4 October

On 4 October Taglio di Po celebrates its patron Saint Francis; the town also honours the Madonna del Vaiolo, carried in procession every 27 January in memory of 1887, when her intercession was believed to have stopped a smallpox epidemic.

Patron saint festival 📍 Serino

Feast of Saint Francis

📅 Every year, on 4 October

On 4 October Serino celebrates its patron Saint Francis, to whom the town's convent is also dedicated; the municipal territory includes Monte Terminio, a peak in the Picentini Mountains.

Patron saint festival 📍 Salice Salentino

Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi

📅 Every year, on 4 October

On 4 October Salice Salentino celebrates Saint Francis of Assisi; the village also hosts the Fair of Our Lady of the Visitation, established around 1662 by the feudal lord Gabriele Agostino Enriquez and still held today on 2 July.

Patron saint festival 📍 Basicò

Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi

📅 Every year, on 4 October

On 4 October Basicò celebrates Saint Francis of Assisi with a solemn procession; the village is also known for the Basicò Provola Cheese Festival, on 19 August.

Patron saint festival 📍 Bologna

Feast of Saint Petronius

📅 Every year, on 4 October

On 4 October Bologna celebrates Saint Petronius, patron of the city and namesake of the basilica on Piazza Maggiore. Beside him the city venerates a second: Caterina de' Vigri, whom Bolognese call simply "the Saint".

Patron saint festival 📍 Merlino

Feast of Saints Stefano and Zenone

📅 Every year, on the first Sunday of October

On the first Sunday of October Merlino, a municipality of 1,772 inhabitants in the province of Lodi, celebrates its patron saints Stefano and Zenone.

Patron saint festival 📍 Corte Palasio

Feast of San Giorgio

📅 Every year, on the first Sunday of October

On the first Sunday of October Corte Palasio, a municipality of 1,550 inhabitants in the province of Lodi, celebrates its patron San Giorgio (Saint George).

Patron saint festival 📍 Malagnino

Feast of San Michele Arcangelo

📅 Every year, on the first Sunday of October

On the first Sunday of October Malagnino, a municipality of 1,525 inhabitants in the province of Cremona, celebrates its patron San Michele Arcangelo (Saint Michael the Archangel).

Patron saint festival 📍 Pecetto di Valenza

Feast of San Remigio

📅 Every year, on the first Sunday of October

On the first Sunday of October Pecetto di Valenza, a municipality of 1,233 inhabitants in the province of Alessandria, celebrates its patron San Remigio.

Patron saint festival 📍 Ginosa

Holy Mary of the Rosary, patron of the town of the ravines

📅 Every year, on the first Sunday of October; Saint Anthony of Padua is celebrated on 12 and 13 June in Marina di Ginosa

Ginosa celebrates Holy Mary of the Rosary on the first Sunday of October; in the hamlet of Marina di Ginosa, Saint Anthony of Padua is celebrated instead, on 12 and 13 June.

Patron saint festival 📍 Giussano

Our Lady of the Rosary, patron celebrated in Piazza Roma

📅 Every year, on the first Sunday of October; the hamlets have distinct patrons

Giussano celebrates Our Lady of the Rosary, patron of the town, every first Sunday of October; her statue stands atop a column in Piazza Roma. Each hamlet, however, has its own distinct patron: Robbiano celebrates Saints Quiricus and Julietta, Birone Saint Stephen, Paina-Brugazzo Saint Margaret.

Patron saint festival 📍 Busto Garolfo

Our Lady of the Rosary, patron of the land of three devotional feasts

📅 Every year, on the first Sunday of October for Our Lady of the Rosary; Holy Cross in May and Saint Margaret in July

Busto Garolfo celebrates Our Lady of the Rosary on the first Sunday of October; the town also venerates the Holy Cross, on the first Sunday of May, and Saint Margaret of Antioch, on the first Sunday of July, in the Church of Santi Salvatore e Margherita.

Patron saint festival 📍 Lombriasco

Patronal feast and eel festival

📅 Every year, in the first week of October

In the first week of October Lombriasco, a municipality of 1,056 inhabitants in the province of Turin, celebrates the patronal feast of San Bartolomeo and San Secondo with the eel festival (sagra dell'anguilla).

Patron saint festival 📍 Castelvecchio Subequo

Patronal feasts of Saint Agatha, Saint John the Baptist and Saint Francis

📅 Every year: 4-5 February and 20 August (Saint Agatha), 24 June (Saint John the Baptist), 17 September and 4 October (Saint Francis of Assisi)

Castelvecchio Subequo, a municipality of 1,067 inhabitants in the province of L'Aquila, has three patronal feasts: Saint Agatha in February and August, Saint John the Baptist on 24 June, Saint Francis of Assisi on 17 September and 4 October.

Patron saint festival 📍 Vestenanova

Saint Leonard and the Bolca Fossils

📅 Every year, on the first Sunday of October

Vestenanova celebrates Saint Leonard of Noblac on the first Sunday of October. In the hamlet of Bolca, the museum holds the renowned fossils of the Eocene deposit.