The 17 contrade

The Legend of la BEFANA

Passion of Christ on Palm Sunday

The Grassina Passion Play

Gothic Dream

The Race or Bravio of St. Reparata

Wish upon a star

Halloween

Bacco Artigiano at Rufina

And who was St. Zenobius?

A home from home through the year

More Tuscan history

The Scottish market

Chianti celebrates the grape harvest

Fall at Impruneta
[Maddalena Delli]

September is the month of grape picking, one of the merriest harvests in the farming world. A number of events and festivals are held throughout Tuscany and provide visitors and locals alike with a great chance to enjoy themselves as well as taste the local wines. The best known – and certainly the oldest – of such events is the Festa dell’uva at Impruneta, an old town just South of Florence.

The festival was first held in 1926, one year before the Chianti consortium was founded. For the entire month of September the town of Impruneta bustles with activity as the four districts – Fornaci, Pallò, Sant’Antonio and Santa Maria – put the finishing touches to their allegorical floats, which on the last Sunday of the month (September 28th this year) will parade around the main square and compete for the prize awarded by a panel.The parade is accompanied by folk performances involving hundreds of participants, with much merriment and singing of praises to wine. The event never fails to pull crowds and provide a merry spectacle. Another major traditional event is held at Impruneta in October during the week of the feast of the local Patron Saint, St. Luke (Oct. 18th): the Antica Fiera di San Luca has been held for over one thousand years and like any event of Medieval origin it mixes agricultural roots with popular culture, sporting contests and religious implications.

Impruneta is a traditional farming town, and these events attest to its peasant history. It is also a major center for the production of terracotta including the world-famous cotto paving tiles, and in recent years it also has become a popular tourist resort and gateway between the city of Florence and the Chianti region. The town stretches around Piazza Buondelmonti with the basilica of Santa Maria and its image of the Madonna dell’Impruneta, believed to be miraculous.
Tourist office: 055.2313729
See also www.comune.impruneta.it

How ot get there:
CAP buses departing from largo Fratelli Alinari (more info on www.capautolinee.it or call 055.214637)


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http://www.comune.impruneta.it
http://www.capautolinee.it