EASTER SUNDAY IN CITTA DELLA PIEVE & A STUNNING "LIVE" TABLEAU

Easter weekend turned out to be a cold affair with northerly winds bringing a definite chill to the air and ensuring we needed warm clothing to go outdoors. This was a shame because several events were scheduled for Citta della Pieve which must have been months in the planning and although we are used to such things happening in the UK, we'd hoped it would be a bit better here! On Easter Sunday we decided to mainly stay indoors having had the busy Saturday in Arezzo and Pienza and we only ventured out for a short brisk walk in the afternoon. On Easter Monday, however, we'd made plans to go out for lunch with some friends and when we got up in the morning it was a relief to see clearer skies. It was still bitterly cold though when I went out on to the balcony to stretch my legs.

At about mid day we set off down the narrow alley way at the back of our apartment to meet our pals in the centre of town. Going through the archway we emerged into the hustle and bustle of one of the town's main streets, the Via Vannucci, which was lined with street vendors selling, junk, collectables and crafts. I was immediately taken with one stall selling attractive jewellery including pendants, ear rings and the like, all made from finely plaited wheat stalks combined with polished agates and semi-precious stones. The street was busy with people but everyone was dressed in warm anoraks and woolly coats and hats.

Stalls in the Via Vannucci - Citta della Pieve

Further up in the Piazza Plebiscito the food market started and here was an abundance of stalls selling "artigianale"products from the local area round Lake Trasimeno including cheeses, sausages, pickles, chutneys and preserves and some of the sellers were from much further afield - I couldn't resist tasting some soft, creamy gorgonzola cheese from the Milan area and one of the marzipan fruits from Sicily.

Water converted in to wine - the old iron pump
 in Citta dispensing wine on Easter Monday.

In front of the market hall an old iron pump had been converted to dispense wine rather than water - an old tradition evidently - but we didn't partake preferring to make our way to the Cafe dell Artisti to meet up with Janice and Marcia. Here it was hot cappucinos all round whilst we waited for our other friend Adje to arrive with her three dacschund dogs and the three house guests staying in her bed and breakfast who were from Belgium. Soon we were a party of eight and it was time to head to the Vannucci Hotel next door for our long awaited lunch. The restaurant was packed out with a mixture of locals and visitors but no one minded the wait and we soon settled down to laden plates of lamb chops, beef steaks, grilled chicken and fish all done on the open fired grill at the back of the restaurant  and washed down with the hotel's flavoursome house wine.

Easter lunch in the restaurant at the Hotel Vannucci

When we were all wound up it was 3.30pm and almost time for the highlight of the day - a visit to see the themed tableaux in the undercroft of one of the town's medieval buildings. There was just time left to have a quick look round more of the food stalls, do some tasting and buy a few things to take home.

Janice, Marcia & Adje in front of the
"Made in Umbria" stalls at the Citta Food Fair

Janice buys a cheese from a local supplier

Jon shows off our purchases of "artiginale" products
from the food fair. 

In Citta dell Pieve, as in many Umbrian towns, the community is divided in to quarters or districts known as terzieri - in this case three. One is named the Castello terziera based round the castle, the second Casalino centred on the area round the Palazzo Corgna and the third Borgo Pentro - based on the old part of the town outside the walls. Each year one of the terzieri takes responsibility for organizing the Easter tableaux event and not surprisingly there's an element of competitiveness about it all - the selected terziera attempting, in the best possible way, to outdo its predecessors in terms of the spectacle; there was a small exhibition next to the venue showing photographs of tableaux from years gone by. We were expecting the subject of the tableaux to be based, as it had been in previous years, on scenes from Christ's passion, but this year the organizers had chosen a different theme concerning the subject of local hero Giacomo, so it's worth telling his story here before recounting what we were about to see when the palazzo cellars opened at 4pm.

Giacomo (James) was born in Citta della Pieve in 1270 and not a lot is known about his early life, but as a young man he trained as a lawyer in Sienna returning afterwards to practice in his home town. He regularly worshipped at one of the local churches where one day, according to the legend, he is said to have listened  to a sermon from the New Testament book of Luke where the priest quoted the words of Jesus "he who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple". These words are said to have weighed heavily on Giacomo and in a dream he sees a vision of Jesus calling him to service . He takes the big decision to devote his life to the poor and to use his advocacy experience and skills to protect them from the abuses of the local bullying nobility. Giacomo uses his wealth to convert and renovate an old church and turn the adjacent buildings in to a  hospital providing food, beds and care for the homeless and dispossessed, also encouraging  others to make donations to the cause. The bullying local Bishop from nearby Chiusi attempts to take possession of the hospice and Giacomo again uses his legal experience to appeal to the Roman curia who rule in his favour thus embarrassing the bishop. Angered and humiliated, the bishop hires assassins to kill Giacomo as he makes his way back up the hilly road to Citta della Pieve one dark night in 1304. His body was preserved in the church dedicated to his name. The legend of Giacomo persists in the local area through the centuries and in 1806 Pope Pius IX awarded the title of "Blessed" (one stop short of sainthood) to Giacomo and he has remained one of the town's best known local heroes.

This was the tale commemorated in the 2015 Easter tableau event. We purchased our 2.50 euro tickets from the table outside the door to the palazzo and joined the queue waiting to enter. We were lucky enough to make the first trench of entrants to go down the staircase into the subterranean, cave like interior of the building, because after 15 minutes the individuals taking part in the tableaux can't hold their poses any longer and need a well deserved rest before the next lot of folk are allowed in. Well - I'd written about the local "live" Christmas presepe in previous posts, but this was another thing altogether. I was amazed by the efforts made by this group of local people - men and women of all ages and their children and grand children as well. The sets were dramatic and atmospherically lit by candles as well as discreet spot lights, the costumes beautifully made and the tableaux constructed with amazing props in a series of vaulted recesses each telling an aspect of Giacomo's story. It was stunning and here are a few pictures I managed to take of tableaux form the narrative of "Blessed James the Almoner" from Citta dell Pieve.

Jesus appeals to Giacomo to renounce his
wealth and help the poor

The treating of the sick in Giacomo's hospice

Giacomo appeals for assistance

The assassination of Giacomo in 1304

The sense of drama and theatricality in Italian culture is deeply ingrained - this is after all the country of the innovatory 17th century Roman Baroque, but it's a delight to see it alive and well in local traditions like this one.

It's also manifest in the many summer fiestas to be found in the area  (I've already written about the Arrezzo  jousting festival in the post previous to this one) - so no doubt there's more to come when we visit other traditional gatherings in Umbria and Tuscany. It's a pleasure to visit and recall these events.

KBO & Ciao - Ian