© Parma1983 · CC BY-SA 4.0Request removal
🔔 The Italian Almanac

September 21

Stories and curiosities for September 21, from the Italy of a thousand bell towers.

It started here 📅 1817

From Rapallo to San Francisco, one chocolate empire

Domenico Ghirardelli was born in Rapallo, on the Ligurian coast of Italy, in 1817, the son of a spice merchant. He left for Uruguay at twenty, then ran a confectionery in Lima, Peru. The Gold Rush drew him to California in 1849: he spent a few months prospecting before realizing that selling chocolate to the miners paid better than digging. In 1852 he founded his company in San Francisco, and the old factory now lives on as Ghirardelli Square, that Ligurian surname spelled out in giant letters over the bay.

📍 Discover Rapallo

Today's tidbits

Saying of the day

In September, night contends with day

An old Italian proverb has September's nights contending with the days, each stealing minutes from the other as the equinox draws near. In Aiello del Friuli, a village in Italy's north-eastern corner, the contest can be read straight off the walls: the town has become known as the village of sundials, its façades painted with solar dials, and since 2001 a festival on the last Sunday of May unveils each year's new ones. Here the shortening of the days is no figure of speech: it is a matter of shadows.

📍 Aiello del Friuli →
Impossible geography

The piece of Milan that does not touch Milan

On paper San Colombano al Lambro belongs to the Metropolitan City of Milan; on the ground, you have to cross other provinces to get there. It is the metropolitan territory's only exclave, bordering solely on towns in the provinces of Lodi and Pavia. And its hill, an isolated rise reaching 147 metres above the flat Po plain, gives the Lombard capital an unlikely distinction: the San Colombano wine grown here holds the only DOC appellation in the whole province of Milan.

📍 San Colombano al Lambro →

🎉 Celebrations today in… 23

23 towns with a guide celebrate their patron saint on September 21

San Matteo 18

SalernoCampania MolinellaEmilia-Romagna Riese Pio XVeneto Fabrica di RomaLazio Montenero di BisacciaMolise Villanuova sul ClisiLombardy Borghetto Santo SpiritoLiguria CannaraUmbria Sicignano degli AlburniCampania Rocca San GiovanniAbruzzo Villa d'OgnaLombardy LaiguegliaLiguria CaresanaPiedmont PoggiofioritoAbruzzo Ortignano RaggioloTuscany PietrabrunaLiguria GiusvallaLiguria AuranoPiedmont

Other saints of the day 5

RivoliMadonna della Stella e Antonio Neirotti · Piedmont RaccujaMaria SS. Annunziata · Sicily Pont-Canavesesan Costanzo · Piedmont Nichelinosan Matteo (patrono) san Rocco (compatrono) · Piedmont Asiagosan Matteo apostolo · Veneto
Patron saint festival 📍 Pont-Canavese

Feast of Saint Constantius

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Pont-Canavese celebrates Saint Constantius; on those very days, 20 and 21 September, the ancient Fiera di San Matteo is also held, one of the town's historic trade fairs.

Patron saint festival 📍 Racconigi

Feast of Saint John the Baptist

📅 Every year, on the Monday after the third Sunday of September

In Racconigi the Baptist is not celebrated on 24 June as elsewhere, but on the Monday after the third Sunday of September: the holiday of the town of the royal castle.

Patron saint festival 📍 Poggiofiorito

Feast of Saint Matthew

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Poggiofiorito celebrates Saint Matthew; the village was the birthplace of accordionist Tommaso Coccione, who emigrated to America in the early 20th century, and is deeply tied to the revival of traditional Abruzzese music.

Patron saint festival 📍 Riese Pio X

Feast of Saint Matthew

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Riese Pio X celebrates Saint Matthew; on the third Sunday of September the town runs the Palio dei Mussi, a donkey race between its historic boroughs.

Patron saint festival 📍 Pietrabruna

Feast of Saint Matthew

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Pietrabruna celebrates Saint Matthew; the village's main church is dedicated to him together with Saint Gregory.

Patron saint festival 📍 Ortignano Raggiolo

Feast of Saint Matthew

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Ortignano Raggiolo celebrates Saint Matthew, to whom the parish church is dedicated together with Saint Margaret; the village also hosts the Casentino Chestnut Ecomuseum.

Patron saint festival 📍 Nichelino

Feast of Saint Matthew

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Nichelino celebrates its patron Saint Matthew and co-patron Saint Roch; its territory is also home to the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi, the royal residence that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Patron saint festival 📍 Montenero di Bisaccia

Feast of Saint Matthew

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Montenero di Bisaccia celebrates Saint Matthew the Evangelist, to whom the parish church is dedicated; the town is also known for the ventricina, its traditional cured pork sausage.

Patron saint festival 📍 Laigueglia

Feast of Saint Matthew

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Laigueglia celebrates Saint Matthew; for the occasion the "balette de San Maté" are made, sweet fritters of flour and raisins typical of the patronal feast.

Patron saint festival 📍 Giusvalla

Feast of Saint Matthew

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Giusvalla celebrates Saint Matthew; on the first Sunday of September the village also celebrates the Madonna del Deserto, whose 19th-century wooden statue is kept in a chapel within its territory.

Patron saint festival 📍 Fabrica di Roma

Feast of Saint Matthew

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Fabrica di Roma celebrates Saint Matthew; the municipal territory includes the archaeological area of Falerii Novi, the ancient Roman city.

Patron saint festival 📍 Caresana

Feast of Saint Matthew

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Caresana celebrates Saint Matthew; the village is also known for the Corsa dei buoi, an ox race for Saint George run every year without interruption since 1236.

Patron saint festival 📍 Cannara

Feast of Saint Matthew

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Cannara celebrates Saint Matthew; that same month, since 1981, the town has also held the Onion Festival, dedicated to its most famous product.

Patron saint festival 📍 Molinella

Feast of Saint Matthew

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Molinella celebrates Saint Matthew; the municipality also preserves the historic Campanile di Durazzo.

Patron saint festival 📍 Aurano

Feast of Saint Matthew

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Aurano celebrates Saint Matthew; with just 103 residents, it is one of the smallest municipalities in Italy.

Patron saint festival 📍 Salerno

Feast of Saint Matthew

📅 Every year, on 21 September

21 September is Salerno's greatest feast: the silver statue of Saint Matthew crosses the centre, in the morning the paranze crews race off the seafront, and on the table there is stuffed spleen.

Patron saint festival 📍 Revine Lago

Feast of Saint Matthew (Revine)

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September the hamlet of Revine celebrates its patron Saint Matthew; the municipality's other hamlet, Lago, instead has Saint George the Martyr, on 23 April.

Patron saint festival 📍 Raccuja

Feast of the Annunciation

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Raccuja celebrates the Annunciation with a week of preparation made of prayer and local Marian songs; in the afternoon the statue, covered in a golden mantle, is carried in procession through the streets of the village.

Patron saint festival 📍 Ospedaletto Euganeo

Feast of the Madonna del Tresto

📅 Every year, on 21 September

On 21 September Ospedaletto Euganeo celebrates the Madonna del Tresto; the sanctuary dedicated to her is the heart of the Sagra e Fiera del Tresto, a popular festival held uninterruptedly since 1469.

Patron saint festival 📍 Deliceto

Feast of the Patrons of Deliceto

📅 Every year, from 21 to 23 September

From 21 to 23 September Deliceto celebrates its patrons, Saint Matthias the Apostle, Blessed Benvenuto and Mary Most Holy of Olmitello; tradition holds that in 1837 the town escaped cholera after carrying the Madonna's statue in procession, on 22 September.

Patron saint festival 📍 Arcore

Saint Eustorgius, patron of the town of the Borromeo villas

📅 Every year, on the third Monday of September; the Regina del Rosario parish holds its own feast on the first Sunday of October

Arcore celebrates Saint Eustorgius on the third Monday of September, in the church dedicated to him; on the first Sunday of October, the Regina del Rosario parish community in turn celebrates its own patronal feast.

Patron saint festival In 329 days 📍 San Mauro Torinese

The Holy Bodies, patrons of the town of the Strawberry Festival

📅 Every year, on the third Tuesday of September; the Strawberry Festival is held between May and June

San Mauro Torinese celebrates the Holy Bodies on the third Tuesday of September; between May and June, the Strawberry Festival is held instead, drawing numerous tourists and involving the whole town, historically known for growing this fruit.