Paper mache and living cribs, fire celebrations. Salento offers a thousand other reasons that makes a visit worth doing also during winter. The invitation was extended by a tourist and cultural Mediterraneo’ magazine Spiagge, directed by Carmen Mancarella (www.mediterraneantourism.it); by Regione Puglia; by the Arts and Entertainment Tourism and Mediterranean Department; by Pugliapromozione; by Gal- Gruppo di Azione Locale (a limited liability consortium) Terra d’Arneo and Capo di Santa Maria in Leuca; by the Communes of Supersano and Presicce and by the Unions of the Communes of North Salento and of Grecìa Salentina.
They organized a package tour, which has already been tested and appreciated by national journalists, during 16th Educational, to promote the land of Salento also in winter. Not only sea and the crowded beaches during summer but more importantly traditions and culture. During Christmas holidays, in the historic centre of Lecce, it is possible to visit the workshops of the master craftsmen who manufacture paper mache statues. In the Nativity, the Three Wise Men, with their wet clothes moved by the wind, seem to have been let down in the landscape of Salento. The paper mache figures seem to come alive in the living cribs, they are arranged by thousands of volunteers coming from all over Salento. There are more than twenty living cribs and they can be usually visited on December 25th, 26th, and 30th or January 1st and 6th. Among the most original, we have to mention that organized in Sternatia, in the heart of Grecìa Salentina, where the characters speak “griko” a dialect -similar to modern Greek- that arrived to Salento with the first Greek settlers.
However, the winter in Salento is enlivened by fire celebrations. They start at Presicce the last weekend of November with the “focareddha” in honour of Saint Andrew, patron of the fishermen. Besides illuminations and fireworks also a huge bonfire is made with dry branches of olive trees. Fire celebrations continue with the Focara of Novoli that, lit up on January 16th, is created using vine stocks. This year, the Focara of Novoli Foundation called the director of the National Cinema Museum of Turin, Ugo Nespolo, to perform the symbol of the rural art -represented by the Focara of Novoli- now become the winter version of the night of the Taranta.
These fire celebrations are strictly linked to the rural culture in which is expressed the real soul of the people from Salento: people of the land and sea. The “focare” (huge bonfires) are, in fact, created using dry branches of olive trees or vine stocks depending on which trees you find in the cities. The meeting point between land and sea can easily be found in the local cuisine. Traditional dishes are served during traditional feasts: handmade maccheroni with mullet sauce are served on Saint Andrew’s day.
You can taste them at the restaurant “Da Enzo” in Presicce.
You can taste sea flavoured gnocculeddhi, on January 16th, to honour Saint Antony in Novoli. You can’t miss the dishes which are cooked in the inn “Mangia n’terra e stusciate subbra” in Novoli. You can stay in Presicce at the B&B Giardino degli Angeli, Monsellato, via del Campo and at the hotel Casina dei cari, Lido Marini, on the country road to Presicce; and at the hotel Corte dei Nonni, in the historic centre of Presicce. The elegance of this city with its noble buildings and its secret gardens and the small rural houses in the quarter of Padreterno will surprise you. Salento is a land to discover also during winter.
They organized a package tour, which has already been tested and appreciated by national journalists, during 16th Educational, to promote the land of Salento also in winter. Not only sea and the crowded beaches during summer but more importantly traditions and culture. During Christmas holidays, in the historic centre of Lecce, it is possible to visit the workshops of the master craftsmen who manufacture paper mache statues. In the Nativity, the Three Wise Men, with their wet clothes moved by the wind, seem to have been let down in the landscape of Salento. The paper mache figures seem to come alive in the living cribs, they are arranged by thousands of volunteers coming from all over Salento. There are more than twenty living cribs and they can be usually visited on December 25th, 26th, and 30th or January 1st and 6th. Among the most original, we have to mention that organized in Sternatia, in the heart of Grecìa Salentina, where the characters speak “griko” a dialect -similar to modern Greek- that arrived to Salento with the first Greek settlers.
However, the winter in Salento is enlivened by fire celebrations. They start at Presicce the last weekend of November with the “focareddha” in honour of Saint Andrew, patron of the fishermen. Besides illuminations and fireworks also a huge bonfire is made with dry branches of olive trees. Fire celebrations continue with the Focara of Novoli that, lit up on January 16th, is created using vine stocks. This year, the Focara of Novoli Foundation called the director of the National Cinema Museum of Turin, Ugo Nespolo, to perform the symbol of the rural art -represented by the Focara of Novoli- now become the winter version of the night of the Taranta.
These fire celebrations are strictly linked to the rural culture in which is expressed the real soul of the people from Salento: people of the land and sea. The “focare” (huge bonfires) are, in fact, created using dry branches of olive trees or vine stocks depending on which trees you find in the cities. The meeting point between land and sea can easily be found in the local cuisine. Traditional dishes are served during traditional feasts: handmade maccheroni with mullet sauce are served on Saint Andrew’s day.
You can taste them at the restaurant “Da Enzo” in Presicce.
You can taste sea flavoured gnocculeddhi, on January 16th, to honour Saint Antony in Novoli. You can’t miss the dishes which are cooked in the inn “Mangia n’terra e stusciate subbra” in Novoli. You can stay in Presicce at the B&B Giardino degli Angeli, Monsellato, via del Campo and at the hotel Casina dei cari, Lido Marini, on the country road to Presicce; and at the hotel Corte dei Nonni, in the historic centre of Presicce. The elegance of this city with its noble buildings and its secret gardens and the small rural houses in the quarter of Padreterno will surprise you. Salento is a land to discover also during winter.
By Carmen Mancarella
Translated by English Centre
Translated by English Centre
