travel news & insights

Rome, Music Returns Beneath the Vaults of the Basilica of Massenzio

It is one of the most beautiful castle in Italy, a mixed style of  Moorish and Medieval, reach of colours and magic.

The brilliant man of science Cesare Mattei, wished to build it in 1850 and was completed in 9 years; inside he wanted a particular room, the "hall of 90", to celebrate his 90th birthday but unfortunately he died 30 years before this celebration.

"Buongiorno Siora maschera!" ( Good morning, Lady mask ): This was the greeting along the streets and canals of the city during Carnival: nothing in those days was more important, neither gender, neither social class, let alone the person's identity.
The Craftsmen who produced masks were called "maschereri", they belonged to the class of painters and they had their own statutes dating back to 1436. The manufacture of masks was not limited to the carnival period, because they were worn throughout the year even in official banquets or parties of the Republic.

In the Venetian tradition, the Epiphany which occurs on January 6th, is celebrated with ornate fireworks and a huge bonfire created to “burn the witch” (brusare a vecia).  Our ancestors used this bonfire as a way of presaging the weather for the coming year, not unlike Groundhog Day in the United States.

This tradition has different names depending which part of the Veneto you are in.  In the countryside it may be called "Pirola Parola”; around Treviso it is called "Pan e Vin”; in the eastern Veneto, “Casera”; or any number of other strange names.