Sagra dell'Uva

The tradition & historical record

The Marino Wine Festival ('a Sagra by antonomasia in Marino dialect) is a well-known traditional festival that occurs every first Sunday in October in Marino, a town in the province of Rome. It was established in 1925 on the initiative of poet Leone Ciprelli and has been regularly organized every year since then. The Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro granted the event the title of Sagra, with which only a few other similar events in Italy could boast. Its roots, however, go back to earlier historical events: coinciding with the secular festival is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrated to commemorate the victory of the Holy League against the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. ¹

On October 7, 1571, the combined forces of Spain, the Papal States, the Republic of Genoa, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Savoy, and the Knights Hospitaller defeated the Ottoman naval forces commanded by Muezzinzade Ali Pasha at the Battle of Lepanto on the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece. The Christians, united for the occasion in the Holy League, were commanded by John of Austria, while the papal contingent was led by Marcantonio Colonna, lord of several Lazio fiefdoms including Marino. After the victory, the Christian commanders returned to their own nations: Marcantonio Colonna landed at Gaeta and immediately went to Marino, where his wife Felicia Orsini and children were staying at Palazzo Colonna. The victorious commander's entry into Marino took place on November 4, 1571, and his stay lasted until December 4, the date of his triumphal entry into Rome that Pope Pius V wished to grant the admiral. The expedition, which ended victoriously, had been placed under the protection of Our Lady of the Rosary depicted in the Standard of Lepanto, now preserved in Gaeta Cathedral where it was deposited by Marcantonio Colonna at the time of his landing. Therefore, Pope Pius V proclaimed Our Lady of the Rosary the patron saint of the Papal States and ordered that in all localities subject to his temporal rule the solemnity of Our Lady of the Rosary be celebrated on October 7 each year. This practice, certainly encouraged by the Colonna family, also took over in Marino. Marcantonio also deposited in the fief several war relics taken from the Ottomans, which were later deposited in the Basilica of St. ¹

Wine production in the territory of Marino has its roots already in the Roman age: ancient authors knew and appreciated much of the white wine produced in the area of the Alban Hills under the name of Albanum, from the name of the ancient city of Alba Longa, a legendary mother-city of Rome that stood precisely on the shores of Lake Albano. During the Middle Ages and then in the modern age viticulture represented the main source of employment in Marino and its territory, as well as in all neighboring municipalities. In 1536 Emperor Charles V of Habsburg, visiting Rome, had the opportunity to drink Marino's wine during a banquet, and according to chronicles he expressed appreciation for it. The people of Marino were very attached to viticulture, so much so that on several occasions they turned to the protection of Our Lady of the People, a miraculous thirteenth-century effigy preserved in the Basilica of St. Barnabas, to save the countryside from hailstorms or untimely rains. Even in 1611 the Community in an extraordinary assembly on February 2 chose to adopt as its patron saint "His Divine Majesty" St. ¹

It may well be said that the whole of Rome is interested in the original and exceptional festivity, conceived, with a high sense of poetry by Leone Ciprelli, which will be celebrated tomorrow in Marino. Tomorrow will be a truly memorable date for Marino. The Celebration Committee in charge of organizing the first Sagra was chaired by Luigi Capri Cruciani, who also offered much of the wine distributed from the fountains at 7 p.m. on Sunday, October 4, 1925. Among the events of the first edition were a horse race organized along Via Castrimeniense, a monumental lighting system with colored lights and the election of the Grand Magistrate of Grapes, who was in charge of choosing the best bunch. At 6 p.m. themed floats paraded. During the second edition, on Sunday, October 3, 1926, the Queen of the Grape Harvest was elected for the first time, in San Barnaba Square, in a fashion somewhat similar to a modern beauty contest; the parade of floats was attended by actor Bruto Castellani. The I Concorso Poetico Musicale (First Musical Poetry Contest) was also held, with the jury presided over by the Roman poet Trilussa. The 1926 edition coincided with the celebrations of the seventh centenary of the death of St. ¹

By now the Marino Festival has entered the number of grand festivals celebrated in Italy. On September 28, 1930, by order of the central fascist government, a Grape Festival was celebrated in all municipalities in Italy. In Marino, this occasion was only a preview of the traditional Sagra that was held on Sunday, October 5. For the occasion, the first Wine Shop in Italy was opened on the ground floor premises of Palazzo Colonna. For the 1931 Sagra, Il Piccolo calculated a turnout of nearly 50,000 people. On the occasion of the 1932 Sagra, the Turkish shield preserved in the Basilica of San Barnaba was once again carried in procession. On the occasion of the ninth edition of the Sagra, on Sunday, October 1, 1933, the Ferrovie dello Stato and the Roman Castles tramways granted the application of the reduced popular fare for the routes between Rome and Marino. On Sunday, October 6, 1934, for the eleventh edition of the Sagra, the EIAR, the state radio station, declared that it had installed some microphones in Marino to broadcast the various stages of the festival. In 1936, due to the Ethiopian War, the Sagra festivities took place in a subdued manner and were ignored by the national press. In compensation, the Sagras of the following years became a kind of showcase for the autarky imposed by the fascist regime. In 1940, for the sixteenth edition of the Sagra, the last one celebrated in grand style under the fascist regime, nearly 2,000 liters of wine were poured from the fountains. ¹

Thus reducedIt rained wine againOf good omenTo the guests and to Marino! During the difficult years of the war, the Sagra celebrations were extremely limited due to World War II. Marino was hit several times by aerial bombardment and shelling, starting with the devastating bombing on February 2, 1944. Palazzo Colonna and the fountain of the Four Moors were completely destroyed by the bombs, and the basilica of San Barnaba was severely damaged. Over two hundred civilians lost their lives in the Anglo-American bombing. The first post-World War II Sagra, the twenty-first edition, was held on Sunday, October 7, 1945, once again under the supervision of Leone Ciprelli, amid the rubble of war. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Marino Wine Festival”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Sagra dell'Uva is wine festival in the municipality of Marino, Italy, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. ²