Spello and L'Infiorata

Last weekend we went down to Umbria for a special event. It was the Festa di Corpus Domini in the city of Spello. What makes this fesival so special is the corresponding celebration, L'Infiorata. More on that in a minute. 

We arrived in Spello on a Friday afternoon, and found the locals to be very inviting and friendly. The town is like many other medieval towns, located atop the crest of a small hill so it would be easier to defend. Our hotel was right downtown, a perfect spot to witness what was about to unfold. 

Saturday began the setup for L'Infiorata, which is a celebration of biblical and historical events through huge, elaborate "tapestries" of flower petals laid out on the streets of downtown Spello. Starting in the afternoon, the designs were laid out across the streets in the form of large paper sheets with 'paint-by-number' stencil designs. We could not believe how big (some were perhaps 40' x 10') and detailed these designs were. The designs were covered with large tents to shield the flowers from the wind. Then, starting around 7:00 PM, the teams began laying out the flower petals across the designs. Most of the flower petals were tiny, maybe half the size of a fingernail. Some people were putting them down with tweezers and aligning them with a credit card. It appeared to be exhausting work. 

All through the night the teams worked, most finishing up the next morning. We actually got up at 3:00 AM to check on the progress, and found the town to be very active, with lots of people walking around and checking out the progress. In the morning, we got to see the finished products. Wow! They were even better than we ever thought they could be. After the Sunday mass, the priest led a procession through town, and walked over the flowers. All that work, and it gets ruined almost immediately.

We will post pictures of our favorite designs in a later post, because right now we have limited internet access. 

Arrivederci!