However first I have not forgotten either that November 11 is also Remembrance Day but here in Italy servicemen who died for the nation are remembered on 4 November, when the ceasefire that followed the Armistice of Villa Giusti in 1918 began. Since 1977, this day has not been a public holiday and nowadays many services are held on the first Sunday of November.
In Memory of those that lost their lives for us.
All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection
November 11th is the official feast day for San Martino - Saint Martin whom I have discovered was born in a Roman province in what is now Hungary, a Roman citizen whose father was an army officer and himself became one, later giving it up to become a monk. He is the patron saint of soldiers and wine-makers!
Historically the story goes that while he was riding at the gates of the city of Amiens with his soldiers, he met a poor, freezing beggar, cut his own military cloak in half and shared it with him. That same night he dreamt of Jesus wearing the half-cloak he had given to the poor man and thanking him for his compassionate gesture. It is also said that at the moment he shared his cloak, the sun came out and that is why in Italy, a period of sunny, warm weather with clear skies and mild temperatures of around 21C/70F, occurring during early November is called Estate di San Martino. It seems we must have enjoyed our St Martin's summer last week then!
Historically the story goes that while he was riding at the gates of the city of Amiens with his soldiers, he met a poor, freezing beggar, cut his own military cloak in half and shared it with him. That same night he dreamt of Jesus wearing the half-cloak he had given to the poor man and thanking him for his compassionate gesture. It is also said that at the moment he shared his cloak, the sun came out and that is why in Italy, a period of sunny, warm weather with clear skies and mild temperatures of around 21C/70F, occurring during early November is called Estate di San Martino. It seems we must have enjoyed our St Martin's summer last week then!
San Martino also happens to be the day when festas are held to celebrate the vino novello (the new seasons wine) in some parts of Italy.
.jpg) |
| Google Images |
I have included the links to my previous posts for those of you that may be interested. San Martino November 11th 2011, San Martino November 11th 2010, Indian Summer 2009
In my last post I announced that News From Italy has been accepted by Expatblogs.com as a contender for one of their awards.
Thanks lovely followers for the tremendous support you have given me, by leaving such wonderful comments at Expatblogs.com in support of News From Italy, I am so touched by them.
Thanks lovely followers for the tremendous support you have given me, by leaving such wonderful comments at Expatblogs.com in support of News From Italy, I am so touched by them.
That poppy photo is just beautiful. It's good to read and learn about historical dates in other countries - I don't generally get much information about Italian history, thanks for this. Hope you "enjoyed" the bad weather in front of your fire place. Have a lovely week xo
ReplyDeleteHello:
ReplyDeleteAs indeed you make mention, St. Martin's Day is very much associated with, and celebrated, in Hungary. Some friends who came to drinks last night had just returned from a very happy day out in the country where the feast was celebrated in great style with much in the way of local colour.
Ciao Linda, I do always enjoy to read some information about our traditions!
ReplyDeleteChildren get a cake shaped like San Martino on the back of his horse here. x
ops..."enjoy reading" :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post and I love the pretty poppy flowers. Congrats on your blog award, very nice! Have a happy day!
ReplyDeleteLoving that poppy shot! Great post!
ReplyDeleteThat poppy photo is gorgeous! Congrats on the award! That's so exciting!
ReplyDeleteClicked the twitter sign to tweet this post and a whole page advert for clairvoyant reading covered the screen!
ReplyDeleteApart from that (!) this is the first time I've visited your blog. If all the posts are as interesting as this one - I can see why you have been nominated for the award.
It is a holiday here today in lieu of yesterday being on a Sunday. Keep well Diane
ReplyDeleteBeautiful picture and I enjoyed reading about Estate di San Martino
ReplyDeleteI heard that the weather may be taking a turn for the worse, particularly across northern Italy. Hope you are fine and well Linda!
ReplyDeleteWonderful poppies in the wind ... a beauty. Greetings.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. I enjoy reading the background stories to these special days.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful photo for rememberance day. Also really interesting to read about San Martino.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this beautiful memo, Lindy!
ReplyDeleteI have a poem for you, Lindy, by one of Italy's greatest poets: Giosuè Carducci. An example of how a beautiful landscape can be "painted" with words. (Homework for Lindy: Translate poem!)
ReplyDeleteANNA xxx
San Martino
La nebbia a gl'irti colli
piovigginando sale,
e sotto il maestrale
urla e biancheggia il mar;
ma per le vie dei borghi
dal ribollir de' tini
va l'aspro odor dei vini
l'anime a rallegrar.
Gira su' ceppi accesi
lo spiedo scoppiettando:
sta il cacciator fischiando
su l'uscio a rimirar
tra le rossastre nubi
stormi d'uccelli neri,
com'esuli pensieri,
nel vespero migrar.
Giosuè Carducci
Ciao anna, ma sai le volte che l'abbiamo ripetuta a scuola?
DeleteHey, ciao! Eh... purtroppo lo ricordo! Io, le poesie non ho mai voluto impararle! "Oh... Valentino vestito di nuovo, come le brocce del biancospino..." Ah, il caro Pascoli. Io amo la poesia e scrivo poesie, ma il mio cuore è con Pablo Neruda... anima e cuore. La Pioggia nel Pineto dannunziana, col suo vacuum, devo dire che mi entusiasma e mi coinvolge. Oh, quanto vorrei correre attraverso le tamerici salmastre di un pineto, sotto la pioggia (inseguita da Colin Firth, ma non dirlo a mio marito!) Ma non divulgarlo, per favore.
DeleteCiao... almeno noi in Italia cresciamo con una consapevolezza delle arti. All'università ho dato 3 esami di Lingua e Letteratura Italiana e due di Storia della Critica Letteraria. Il soggetto mi entusiasma, Francesca!
PS: Quando commento ai tuoi posts dal laptop, i commenti non compaiono!
CIAO!
ANNA (la cavallina storna...)
Great photos. I love the photo of the saint and also the poppy photo. Interesting history. Congrats!!
ReplyDeleteGreat rememberance post Lindy. Congratulations on been accepted by Expatblogs.com! Good luck! Your work is beautiful and you deserved many awards for it! :)
ReplyDeleteA wonderful post LindyLou in rememberance! May we remember all those servicemen who died for us.
ReplyDeleteSan Martino
ReplyDeleteLa nebbia a gl'irti colli
piovigginando sale,
e sotto il maestrale
urla e biancheggia il mar.....
Hello Lindy, who wrote this poem Anna, is the poetry of San Martino. Here in Italy is a must study it a bit for the party and a little to the importance of the author. At school, I remember, we learned with some effort, the poem is long, but now I still remember the verses with nostalgia. Francesca
Good Luck, Lindy. I love the delicate poppies.
ReplyDeleteI loved the story of Saint Martino. Thanks for sharing. One of my favourite things are Hagiographies!
ReplyDeleteI love the story of Saint Maryin
ReplyDeletethe poppies are lovely
brava on expatblogs
Hello Lindy lou Mac.
ReplyDeleteSao Martinho passed quickly here for me too. It was indeed the "Verao of sao Martinho" the weather was glorious.
Somehow with these times of crisis.. the village folks dont seem to celebrate like they did.. with roasting the chestnuts and drinking the 'jerapiga' new wine.. i miss that ..
thank you for telling the story of Sao martinho.. i never knew about him.
best wishes to you there in Bella Italia..
Ciao
val
Hello Lindylou,
ReplyDeleteI adore Italy and all things Italian, so thanks for this interesting post. I'll be back!!
Lynette
Thanks for the insight. I love learning about traditions in your area.
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful poppies and interesting information!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
***
Hope you are having a nice week****
Beautiful poppies Lindy Lou!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for that very interesting information....that's what I love about blogging---I actually get to take a peek into other people's lives from other parts of the world---I love your blog. :o)
ReplyDeleteI know the Saint Martin's feast very well ! During my whole childhood it was a big event in Germany, I lived in Bonn. At school we made our laterns then there was a big procession in the city with of course the St. Martin. After that we went from house to house with our laterns and sang a special song about him and people gave us sweets, (like the Halloween kids) It's still celebrated the same way today. And Toby made his first latern (a chicken I think) in day care !! In Holland they celebrate the same way then in Germany. In Belgium it's not known. Here it's the 11th Nov Armistice Day and also a bank holiday.
ReplyDeleteI'll vote for having a festival to celebrate the new season's wine!
ReplyDeleteI wish the US did more to celebrate its veterans than hold sales. I love Italy and wish I could click my heels together to go back. How wonderful to live there! :o)
ReplyDeleteI love poppies...not just for the flower but the symbol of veteran sacrifice. I have a painting in my living room with poppies in foreground.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely shot of the poppies! And congrats on being chosen!
ReplyDeleteI just discovered your blog and am really fascinated by all the information I found here, I love Italy! Its culture and traditions and I live in a very similar place, have a beautiful weekend.
ReplyDeleteThe poppies are beautiful and the feastday (with all it has to celebrate) sounds wonderful. But your weather sounds a lot like November in Oregon -- not how I usually think of Italy (I only remember the good parts of whatever I read!)
ReplyDeleteCiao LindiLou,
ReplyDeleteJust discover you blog just now, very nice blog. Happy San Martino to you.
Wishing you a great weekend