Until a few years ago, at the feast of Sant'Antonio, the tacchetti were brought down with shotguns. They are wooden strips tied to the branches of the tree raised in the square, each with a devotee's offering written on it: nearly always something from the fields or the herd, now and then a television set. The hunters had two shots each. Then the safety rules ended that, and now the trunk is climbed by hand.
The tree, the 'ndenna, is at least twenty metres tall and the ox teams bring it into the square; on top they fix a pine, the cunocchia. The town had been raised by the Saracens in 1031 as a lookout, and thirteen years later an earthquake brought it down. There are 1,480 residents.
No events match these filters.
📅 Every year, on the first three Sundays of June, with the «Ndenna» ritual
Castelsaraceno celebrates Saint Anthony on the first three Sundays of June with the «Ndenna» ritual: a pine tree cut high in the mountains is carried into town and raised in the piazza, decked with offerings from the faithful tied to its branches.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Castelsaraceno, but an easy day trip away.
