The name is a mine. In 1462 Giovanni da Castro found alunite in the Tolfa mountains, and the discovery came at the right moment: the fall of Constantinople, in 1453, had cut the Papal State off from the alum of the East, indispensable for fixing colours on cloth. Under pope Pius II the alum of Tolfa financed the war against the Turks; the Frangipane were removed from Tolfa and the popes took the «allumiere» into their own hands.
The village is the factory. The town of today stands where the largest plant for concentrating and working the ore was, built under the management of Agostino Chigi, and the workers' houses were put up beside it: in part convicts, to whom the work was offered as a form of franchise. The mines went on until 1941. Since 1965, every year, on the first Sunday after mid-August, the Palio of the contrade is run with donkeys instead of horses, in memory of the animal that pulled the alum carts.
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📅 Every year, on 15 August; the Palio delle Contrade with donkeys since 1965
Allumiere celebrates the Assumption of Mary on 15 August. The following Sunday, the Palio delle Contrade is raced, held since 1965 with donkeys in place of horses.
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Outside Allumiere, but an easy day trip away.
