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Folklore with the ancient guild of winemakers

A monster cart of flasks of wine
[Susan Glasspool]

On the last Saturday of September every year the Guild of Winemakers brings the new wine to Florence for benediction, after which the consacrated wine is offered to the city authorities.

This ceremony of honouring and blessing the wine dates from the period of the Republic in the 13th century when the consuls of the Guild officially presented the consacrated wine for the table of the Priors of the City Council in Palazzo della Signoria. A symbolic festival that is still revived every autumn when the wine becomes a way of recalling the city’s many ancient links with the surrounding countryside.

The event starts out from Piazza del Duomo with a procession that parades through the street of the city. It is composed of heralds, flag wavers, trumpeters, knights and ladies in costume and passes in front of the House of Dante before returning to Piazza Duomo where historical pageants and flag waving performances are held at 4.30pm.

The great cart, or the carro matto (mad cart), containing 1300 flasks stacked like a pyramid and drawn by a pair of oxen await the procession in the square. It is a real masterpiece of packaging that can only be carried out by expert hands. The flasks, pear-shaped with long necks, contain a litre and three quarters of wine. The outer straw covering was carried out to protect the flasks on their long journey from Rufina, as well as to keep them at the same temperature, and not just for decoration. In the past all the wine to be delivered at the various taverns and trattorias was carried into Florence in this way.

After a salute from Cardinal in the Cathedral, the historic procession of the Florentine Republic and the Borough of Rufina arrives at around 5.30pm at the Church of San Carlo dei Lombardi in Via dei Calzaiuoli, for the ceremony of the Benediction of wine. The consacrated wine is then taken to Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza della Signoria and offered to the Mayor or one of his delegates. The festivities then continue in the square with flag wavers and personalities in costume.

Saturday September 30th from 3.30pm to 6.30pm


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