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🔔 The Italian Almanac

September 22

Stories and curiosities for September 22, from the Italy of a thousand bell towers.

Bell-tower rivalries

Limoncello, one liqueur with five hometowns

Tradition dates limoncello to the early twentieth century; where it was born is another matter. Capri, Sorrento and Amalfi, three neighbours around the Bay of Naples, all claim paternity of the yellow lemon liqueur, and Sicilians and Sardinians have entered the contest too. On Capri as on the two coasts, everyone keeps their own version of the origin story, not least because owning the invention makes excellent advertising. The liqueur itself never waited for a verdict: from the bay it has spread to bars around the world.

📍 Discover Capri

Today's tidbits

Italian records

The Aril, a river 175 metres long

Through Cassone, a hamlet of Malcesine on the Verona shore of Lake Garda, runs the Aril: 175 metres in total from spring to lake, bridges included. A sign put up by the town proclaims it the shortest river in the world in several languages, but the planetary record does not hold: the Reprua in Georgia manages with 18 metres and the Roe in Montana with 61. That leaves the Aril with a place on the podium, third worldwide, and its reputation as the shortest river in Italy.

📍 Malcesine →
Vanished Italy 1953

The drowned village under Lake Vagli

Beneath the artificial Lake Vagli, in the municipality of Vagli Sotto in Tuscany's Garfagnana valley, sleeps an entire medieval village: Fabbriche di Careggine, founded in the thirteenth century by blacksmiths from Brescia, emptied in 1947 and gradually swallowed as the 92-metre dam rose, completed in 1953. Whenever the reservoir is drained, the stone houses, the Romanesque church of San Teodoro and the bell tower surface again. It has happened only four times, in 1958, 1974, 1983 and 1994, and the last draining drew close to a million visitors.

📍 Vagli Sotto →

🎉 Celebrations today in… 29

29 towns with a guide celebrate their patron saint on September 22

San Maurizio 16

Cassano MagnagoLombardy Montalbano JonicoBasilicata Vedano OlonaLombardy SarreAosta Valley Borgofranco d'IvreaPiedmont Riva LigureLiguria Ponte in ValtellinaLombardy AcutoLazio FénisAosta Valley ColzateLombardy CampodennoTrentino-South Tyrol Villar PellicePiedmont Schiavi di AbruzzoAbruzzo BrussonAosta Valley IncudineLombardy VoccaPiedmont

San Maurizio martire 4

San Maurizio CanavesePiedmont NeironeLiguria TerzoPiedmont LosineLombardy

Other saints of the day 9

Lampedusa e LinosaMaria Santissima di Porto Salvo · Sicily Vignolosan Costanzo · Piedmont Delicetosan Mattia apostolo, Beato Benvenuto, Maria S.S. dell'Olmitello · Puglia Pianello Val Tidonesan Maurizio e san Colombano · Emilia-Romagna Roccaforte Mondovìsan Maurizio e san Pio V · Piedmont Jesisan Settimio · Marche Murisengosant'Antonio abate · Piedmont Grassanosant'Innocenzo · Basilicata Sommariva PernoSanta Croce · Piedmont
Patron saint festival 📍 Grassano

Feast of Saint Innocent

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Grassano celebrates Saint Innocent; for centuries the village was the seat of a Commandery of the Knights of Malta, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and Saint Mark, with jurisdiction over nineteen "grance" across Basilicata and the Terra di Bari.

Patron saint festival 📍 Sarre

Feast of Saint Maurice

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Sarre celebrates Saint Maurice in the church named after him, in the municipality of the royal castle.

Patron saint festival 📍 Incudine

Feast of Saint Maurice

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Incudine celebrates Saint Maurice; the village also honours Saint Vitus, whom local folklore links to the figure of the Wild Man.

Patron saint festival 📍 Vocca

Feast of Saint Maurice

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Vocca celebrates Saint Maurice; with just 162 residents, it is one of the smallest municipalities in Piedmont, with its ancient parish church dedicated to the patron.

Patron saint festival 📍 Terzo

Feast of Saint Maurice

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Terzo celebrates Saint Maurice the Martyr; one of the village's churches bears the same title.

Patron saint festival 📍 Schiavi di Abruzzo

Feast of Saint Maurice

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Schiavi di Abruzzo celebrates Saint Maurice; the village keeps its own traditions alive in the "Mazzoroni", its typical carnival masks, and the "Spallata", the traditional dance of the Alto Vastese and Molise areas.

Patron saint festival 📍 Neirone

Feast of Saint Maurice

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Neirone celebrates Saint Maurice the Martyr; the village also preserves the Fieschi Castle.

Patron saint festival 📍 Montalbano Jonico

Feast of Saint Maurice

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Montalbano Jonico celebrates Saint Maurice; another cherished tradition is the bonfire contest for Saint Anthony Abbot, whose ashes are scattered on the fields to bring a good harvest.

Patron saint festival 📍 Losine

Feast of Saint Maurice

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Losine celebrates Saint Maurice the Martyr; between late September and early October the village also holds the "Sciör del Tórcol", the Val Camonica wine festival.

Patron saint festival 📍 Colzate

Feast of Saint Maurice

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Colzate celebrates Saint Maurice with religious and sporting events; in mid-July the town also holds "Colzate in festa", a week of sporting, recreational and cultural events.

Patron saint festival 📍 Campodenno

Feast of Saint Maurice

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Campodenno celebrates Saint Maurice; the parish church is dedicated to him and the companions of the Theban Legion, martyred alongside him.

Patron saint festival 📍 Acuto

Feast of Saint Maurice

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Acuto celebrates Saint Maurice; the village lies at the foot of Monte Carmine, in Ciociaria.

Patron saint festival In 330 days 📍 Brusson

Feast of Saint Maurice

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Brusson celebrates Saint Maurice, in the parish church of the main town; in the hamlet of Extrepiéraz, instead, he shares a dedication with Saint Grato.

Patron saint festival 📍 Fénis

Feast of Saint Maurice

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Fénis celebrates Saint Maurice, the soldier saint dear to the Alpine valleys, in the church that bears his name.

Patron saint festival 📍 Pianello Val Tidone

Feast of Saint Maurice and Saint Columbanus

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Pianello Val Tidone celebrates its patrons Saint Maurice and Saint Columbanus; the first Sunday after the feast brings the Fiera di San Maurizio, once devoted to livestock trading and now paired with the Valtidone Wine Fest.

Patron saint festival 📍 Jesi

Feast of Saint Septimius

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Jesi celebrates Saint Septimius; the city was the birthplace, on 26 December 1194, of the future Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II of Swabia.

Patron saint festival In 330 days 📍 Maglione

Feast of San Maurizio

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Maglione, a municipality of 468 inhabitants in the province of Turin, celebrates its patron San Maurizio.

Patron saint festival 📍 Riva Ligure

Saint Maurice and the vow of 1693

📅 Every year, on 22 September

On 22 September Riva Ligure celebrates Saint Maurice in the parish church built after a 1693 vow; the older church, mentioned as early as 1205, is today the sanctuary of the Madonna del Buon Consiglio.

Patron saint festival 📍 Castellazzo Bormida

Saint Stephen, patron of the month of «settembre castellazzese»

📅 Every year, on the Tuesday after the third Sunday of September; the Goose Palio is run on the third Sunday

Castellazzo Bormida celebrates Saint Stephen on the Tuesday after the third Sunday of September; the «settembre castellazzese» gathers all the events of the town festival, from the programme presentation in late August to the pumpkin market exhibition, including the Goose Palio in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II.