The Befana and the Bonfire by sandra46

Photography • Urban/Cityscape • posted on Jan 05, 2010

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Description

Here you can see the bonfire from St. Justina's church: it's huge and there's an old hag on it. On January 6th , the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Epiphany. In many countries it's also called the feast of the Three Kings. It's also the 12th night but to Italians this day is also the Feast of the Befana. This old lady is very much like Santa Claus and St Lucy (on Dec. 5th). This tradition dates back to the 13th century. Befana is descended from the Sabine/Roman goddess named Strina, and her solemnities were vigorously opposed by the early Christians on account of their noisy, riotous, and licentious character, until the church transformed them.The Befana is celebrated throughout Italy; she has become a national icon,with policemen in motobike disguised as Befanas to give gifts to children, but it’s in Marche, Umbria and Lazio, three regions once part of the Papal States, where the Epiphany held the most importance. The Roman origin of the Befana is hinted at in this nursery rhyme I remember: La Befana comes by night With her shoes old and broken She comes dressed in the Roman way Long life to the Befana! (La Befana vien di notte Con le scarpe tutte rotte Col vestito alla romana Viva, Viva La Befana!) This tradition had been conflated by the Church with that of our region, the New Year's Bonfire, of Celtic origin, and still very popular. The Celts occupied Northern Italy as far as Verona, and parts of northeastern Veneto, but the bonfire was also popular with the Venets occupying the central part of the region. More about it in the next post. Thank you for your kind comments.

Comments (53)

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Nickieboy2004

2:14AM | Wed, 06 January 2010

Wonderful picture with a great history to it!

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Hendesse

2:15AM | Wed, 06 January 2010

Fantastic shot and thank you for the very interesting informations.

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renecyberdoc

2:33AM | Wed, 06 January 2010

great piece of information as well as the shot.nice work altogether.

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csikigyopar

2:44AM | Wed, 06 January 2010

Le tua lavoro essere bella..io sono cristeana carismatica pentecostala ...ho traducto tutto con traductore..mi piace...grazie

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frieder

4:19AM | Wed, 06 January 2010

thanks for the slice of history and such a good shot.

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flaviok

5:36AM | Wed, 06 January 2010

Maravilhosa e excelente captura minha amiga, informação esplendida, obrigado, aplausos (5)

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Biffowitz

11:35AM | Wed, 06 January 2010

Looks like it's going to be one awesome bonfire, wonderful capture and background info. Keep up the good work!

bebert

2:31PM | Wed, 06 January 2010

jolie photo !!

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Richardphotos

2:39PM | Wed, 06 January 2010

a university in Texas had a tradition of building a bonfire from long logs until a few years back it fail killing several students.they refuse to allow it on campus property , but recently they allowed them to make another but much smaller

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MagikUnicorn

3:50PM | Wed, 06 January 2010

Look like a big fire camp to come :) WE DO THE SAME ON THE JUNE 24TH

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1358

5:54PM | Wed, 06 January 2010

your images tell great stories.. and they inspire the mind...more?

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Radar_rad-dude

6:56PM | Wed, 06 January 2010

Splendid photo and article! I really enjoy both! A fantastic and informative post! Thank you so much!!!

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schonee

7:23PM | Wed, 06 January 2010

WOW Thanks for sharing this Excellent shot!

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Madbat

9:16PM | Wed, 06 January 2010

Yup, THAT would heat things up nicely around here!

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mariogiannecchini

1:23AM | Thu, 07 January 2010

La Befana vie di notte... !Una magia che si ripete di anno in anno dove tutti si fa finta di credere in vecchie leggende , in cui pero ' i bimbi e' bene continuino a credere finche' possibile.

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knupps

6:40AM | Thu, 07 January 2010

Great info and a great image. Thanks :)

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Fidelity2

10:10AM | Thu, 07 January 2010

My Fav. 5+!!!

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mickeyrony

5:24PM | Thu, 07 January 2010

Beautiful catch of sight I like the ground colors like. Cheer still and mile mercies. An excellent work like of practice ((5++)) Belle prise de vue j'aime bien les couleurs de terre comme . Bravo encore et mile mercis . Un excellent travail comme d'habitude((5++))

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