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🔔 The Italian Almanac

September 1

Stories and curiosities for September 1, from the Italy of a thousand bell towers.

Impossible geography 📅 1933

The Italian town completely surrounded by Switzerland

Campione d'Italia, a comune in the province of Como, is Italy's only exclave: the Swiss territory of Canton Ticino and Lake Lugano cut it off from the rest of Lombardy. Shops take euros and Swiss francs side by side, and the phones answer to the Swiss prefix +41 as well as Italy's +39. Until 2019 the town even followed the Swiss customs regime; it only joined the EU customs area on 1 January 2020. The 'd'Italia' in its name was added by royal decree in December 1933 — a reminder, written into the name itself, of which country the bell tower belongs to.

📍 Discover Campione d'Italia

Today's tidbits

Italian records 1959

Italy's tallest bell tower is reinforced concrete from the 1950s

The Almanac of Bell Towers could only open in Mortegliano, a town on the plain of Friuli, in Italy's north-east. Beside the duomo rises a tower of 113.20 metres, the tallest campanile in the country, about a metre higher than the famous Torrazzo of Cremona. No medieval stone here: it was built between 1957 and 1959 to a design by the Udine architect Pietro Zanini, entirely in reinforced concrete, and inaugurated on 20 September 1959 by the Patriarch of Venice, Giovanni Urbani. The national record does not live in a city of art, but among the fields of Friuli.

📍 Mortegliano →
On the table today

In Carmagnola, one pepper comes in five shapes

Between late August and early September, Carmagnola, on the plain south of Turin in Piedmont, throws a fair for its pepper — a national fair since 2017, and the stage, back in 2010 at the 61st edition, of a 1,190-kilo peperonata that entered the Guinness World Records. The star is a recognised traditional Italian food product, with an IGP production standard and mark approved in 2002. It grows in five shapes, each with a Piedmontese dialect name: the square braghèis, the ox-horn longh, the spinning-top trottola, the tomato-named tomaticòt and the elongated square. Worth learning them before you join the queue at the stall.

📍 Carmagnola →

🎉 Celebrations today in… 33

33 towns with a guide celebrate their patron saint on September 1

Sant'Egidio 13

CavezzoEmilia-Romagna LinguaglossaSicily LatronicoBasilicata San GillioPiedmont CastignanoMarche VerrèsAosta Valley Avigliano UmbroUmbria Melito IrpinoCampania CellereLazio MompeoLazio FilaccianoLazio Camerata NuovaLazio TerelleLazio

Sant'Egidio Abate 9

Sant'Egidio alla VibrataAbruzzo OrteLazio Altavilla SilentinaCampania CaprarolaLazio TolfaLazio StaffoloMarche GrottolellaCampania OspedalettoTrentino-South Tyrol Rocca di CaveLazio

Other saints of the day 11

MinturnoMadonna delle Grazie · Lazio Serrisan Basilio Magno · Sardinia Nasosan Cono · Sicily San PriscoSan Prisco, Santa Matrona · Campania Vagli Sottosan Regolo · Tuscany Rezzoagliosan Terenziano · Liguria Rocchetta e Crocesan Vito · Campania Pietravairanosant'Eraclio · Campania Campi SalentinaSant'Oronzo · Puglia Alimenasanta Maria Maddalena · Sicily CapranicaTerenziano di Todi · Lazio
Patron saint festival 📍 Carinaro

Feast of Saint Euphemia

📅 Every year, from 1 to 16 September

Carinaro celebrates Saint Euphemia on 16 September, but the festivities already begin on 1 September: more than two weeks of religious rites, shows in the square and contests.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Verrès

Feast of Saint Giles

📅 Every year, on 1 September

On 1 September Verrès celebrates Saint Giles, Saint Gilles to the Valdostans. In February the village holds its other feast: the historical carnival that recalls Caterina di Challant.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Serri

Feast of San Basilio Magno

📅 Every year, on 1 September

On 1 September Serri, a municipality of 676 inhabitants in the province of Sud Sardegna, celebrates its patron San Basilio Magno.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Vagli Sotto

Feast of San Regolo

📅 Every year, on 1 September

On 1 September Vagli Sotto, a municipality of 991 inhabitants in the province of Lucca, celebrates its patron San Regolo.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Rocchetta e Croce

Feast of San Vito

📅 Every year, on 1 September

On 1 September Rocchetta e Croce, a municipality of 463 inhabitants in the province of Caserta, celebrates its patron San Vito.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Terelle

Feast of Sant'Egidio

📅 Every year, on 1 September

On 1 September Terelle, a municipality of 460 inhabitants in the province of Frosinone, celebrates its patron Sant'Egidio.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Mompeo

Feast of Sant'Egidio

📅 Every year, on 1 September

On 1 September Mompeo, a municipality of 534 inhabitants in the province of Rieti, celebrates its patron Sant'Egidio.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Melito Irpino

Feast of Sant'Egidio

📅 Every year, on 1 September

On 1 September Melito Irpino, a municipality of 1,936 inhabitants in the province of Avellino, celebrates its patron Sant'Egidio.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Filacciano

Feast of Sant'Egidio

📅 Every year, on 1 September

On 1 September Filacciano, a municipality of 490 inhabitants in the province of Rome, celebrates its patron Sant'Egidio.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Cellere

Feast of Sant'Egidio

📅 Every year, on 1 September

On 1 September Cellere, a municipality of 1,230 inhabitants in the province of Viterbo, celebrates its patron Sant'Egidio.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Camerata Nuova

Feast of Sant'Egidio

📅 Every year, on 1 September

On 1 September Camerata Nuova, a municipality of 460 inhabitants in the province of Rome, celebrates its patron Sant'Egidio.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Ospedaletto

Feast of Sant'Egidio abate

📅 Every year, on 1 September

On 1 September Ospedaletto, a municipality of 820 inhabitants in the province of Trento, celebrates its patron Sant'Egidio abate.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Grottolella

Feast of Sant'Egidio abate

📅 Every year, on 1 September

On 1 September Grottolella, a municipality of 1,955 inhabitants in the province of Avellino, celebrates its patron Sant'Egidio abate.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Minturno

Our Lady of Graces, patron also celebrated with the sagra delle regne

📅 Every year, on 1 September; the sagra delle regne, of pre-Roman origins, is held on the second Sunday of July

Minturno celebrates Our Lady of Graces on 1 September; on the second Sunday of July, the sagra delle regne is also held, a religious event dedicated to the same Madonna with very ancient origins, dating back to pre-Roman times.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Naso

Saint Cono, the patron born in Naso

📅 Every year, on 1 September

Naso celebrates Saint Cono on 1 September; born in the town, he is also patron of the identically named municipality in the Calatino area. The temple dedicated to him stands on his hermitage.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Sant'Egidio alla Vibrata

Saint Giles the Abbot, patron of the Carnevale Santegidiese

📅 Every year, on 1 September, with the Carnevale Santegidiese and the Festival del Fiore d'Oro in December

Sant'Egidio alla Vibrata celebrates Saint Giles the Abbot on 1 September. The Carnevale Santegidiese brings a parade of allegorical floats and costumed groups on the last Sunday of carnival and on Shrove Tuesday; in the second half of December, instead, the Festival del Fiore d'Oro is held, with singing and artistic performances by minors.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Tolfa

Saint Giles the Abbot, patron of the torch procession

📅 Every year, on 1 September; 17 January brings the torch procession for Saint Anthony the Abbot

Tolfa celebrates Saint Giles the Abbot on 1 September. On 17 January, the feast of Saint Anthony the Abbot, his statue is carried on shoulders through the historic centre amid hundreds of wax torches.

Patron saint festival In 309 days 📍 Orte

Saint Giles the Abbot, patron solemnised by Pope Boniface IX

📅 Every year, on 1 September, with the eve procession on the evening of 31 August

Orte celebrates Saint Giles the Abbot on 1 September. It is a feast of ancient tradition, solemnised by Pope Boniface IX in 1396 with the granting of the same indulgences as the Porziuncola of Assisi. Even today the eve procession, on the evening of 31 August, draws great participation.