24–25 January
Festival of Saint Paul the Apostle
The peak of the winter ritual cycle. A re-enactment of the frugal meal that Roman farmers offered the captive Apostle in the spring of AD 61.
At 4:00 a.m. on 25 January, the winter silence is broken by the Sveglia di San Paolo (Saint Paul's Reveille): a musical march paced by drums that runs through every alley, followed by morning fires. It is a collective summons, a kindly order to rise and walk up to the chapel.
Lupin beans & wine, A shared identity
At the top of the hill, after the blessing, lupin beans and wine are handed out for free to every pilgrim. The lupin bean, a bitter legume that needs long soaking to become edible, paired with wine embodies a farming ethic: human labour redeeming the wild fruit of the earth, then shared in evangelical equality.
7 August
Madonna SS. delle Grazie, The torchlight procession
The date is no accident: it marks the coronation of the tuff icon on 7 August 1960, led by Cardinal Santiago Luis Copello.
A three-day prayer cycle, then the striking night-time torchlight procession that draws lines of light along the outer roads and up the hill. By day, brass-band concerts; by night, open-air shows in the squares.
10 August · Night of San Lorenzo
S. Paolo under the Stars
A night-time toast organised jointly by the historic committees of the two patron saints, Paolini and Mariani, at the top of the Saint Paul hill, on the night of the shooting stars. An embrace under the stars between the two devotional souls of the village: proof that old rituals can renew themselves without losing their meaning.