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🔔 The Italian Almanac

September 30

Stories and curiosities for September 30, from the Italy of a thousand bell towers.

Vanished Italy 📅 1950

The bell tower rising from Lake Resia

A fourteenth-century bell tower stands in the water of Lake Resia, high in the Venosta valley in Italy's far north. It is all that remains visible of the old village of Curon, flooded in 1950 when a dam merged the two small alpine lakes of Curon and Resia into a single reservoir. The houses were demolished and the inhabitants had to move to a new village rebuilt on the eastern side of the valley, today's Curon Venosta. The spared tower, alone in the lake, has become a protected monument and a magnet for visitors.

📍 Discover Curon Venosta

Today's tidbits

It started here 1897

Frank Capra's American dream began in Bisacquino

The director of It's a Wonderful Life was born in Bisacquino, an inland village in the province of Palermo, Sicily, on 18 May 1897, and sailed for the United States with his family at the age of five. That Sicilian child went on to conquer Hollywood, winning three Academy Awards for Best Director in five years: for It Happened One Night in 1935, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town in 1937 and You Can't Take It with You in 1939. The great storyteller of the American dream had lived it himself, starting from a small Sicilian village.

📍 Bisacquino →
Busted myths 1873

The David outside Palazzo Vecchio is a copy

Millions of visitors photograph the marble giant in front of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, often assuming they are looking at Michelangelo's original. The real David left the square in August 1873: strapped into a purpose-built wooden cart, it rolled on rails through the city centre to the Galleria dell'Accademia, where it still stands. Only in 1910 did a replica, carved by Luigi Arrighetti, take its place in Piazza della Signoria. For over a century now, the statue posing outside the palace has been a stand-in.

📍 Florence →

🎉 Celebrations today in… 7

7 towns with a guide celebrate their patron saint on September 30

San Girolamo 5

CittanovaCalabria MotteggianaLombardy Torre de' RoveriLombardy CedegoloLombardy OrtezzanoMarche

Saint Victor de Soleure 2

RoisanAosta Valley Challand-Saint-VictorAosta Valley
Patron saint festival 📍 Nusco

Feast of Saint Amatus of Nusco

📅 Every year, on 30 September

On 30 September Nusco celebrates Saint Amatus of Nusco; among the town's traditions is also the "Night of the Bonfires" in mid-January, born after the 1656 plague that claimed about 1,200 victims.

Patron saint festival 📍 Cedegolo

Feast of Saint Jerome

📅 Every year, on 30 September

On 30 September Cedegolo celebrates Saint Jerome in the church dedicated to him; the municipality lies within the area of the Ceto Cimbergo Paspardo rock engravings, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Patron saint festival 📍 Cittanova

Feast of Saint Jerome

📅 Every year, on 30 September

On 30 September Cittanova celebrates Saint Jerome in the church dedicated to him; the town also hosts the National Stockfish Festival.

Patron saint festival 📍 Motteggiana

Feast of Saint Jerome

📅 Every year, on 30 September

On 30 September Motteggiana celebrates Saint Jerome; the municipal territory also preserves the dovecote tower of Corte Borsa.

Patron saint festival 📍 Ortezzano

Feast of Saint Jerome

📅 Every year, on 30 September

On 30 September Ortezzano celebrates Saint Jerome; the village also hosts a permanent museum of modern and contemporary art.

Patron saint festival 📍 Canaro

Feast of Saint Sophia

📅 Every year, on 30 September

On 30 September Canaro celebrates Saint Sophia in the church dedicated to her; the village also hosts the Virtual Museum of Garofalo.

Patron saint festival 📍 Pisciotta

Feast of Saint Sophia

📅 Every year, on 30 September

On 30 September Pisciotta celebrates its patron Saint Sophia; the village also venerates Saint Vitus and Saint Agnello the Abbot, and preserves the Cenotaph of Palinurus, linked to Aeneas's legendary helmsman.

Patron saint festival 📍 Santa Sofia d'Epiro

Feast of Saint Sophia the Martyr

📅 Every year, on 30 September

On 30 September Santa Sofia d'Epiro celebrates Saint Sophia the Martyr, who gives the town its name; the municipality is Arbëresh, founded by Albanian refugees, and the Arbëreshe Museum at Palazzo Bugliari preserves traditional dress.

Patron saint festival 📍 Roisan

Feast of Saint Victor of Solothurn

📅 Every year, on 30 September

On 30 September Roisan celebrates Saint Victor of Solothurn in the church dedicated to him; at carnival the village parades with the Landzette, the traditional masks of the Combe Froide that parody Napoleonic troop uniforms.