Paniere in festa

On Easter Monday, in Santa Maria a Monte, the patron saint festival in honor of Blessed Diana Giuntini returns as per tradition.

This year the festival is revamped in name and design: "Paniere in festa" (Basket in celebration), scheduled for the afternoon of April 1, is the event that commemorates the transfer of the body of Blessed Diana. The fulcrum of the entire day is the procession, which begins at a chapel at the foot of the hill and reaches the Collegiate Church, inside the ancient third ring wall placed to defend the castle.

The initiative takes the form of a centuries-old commemorative feast that unites the entire municipality: the whole community abandons divisions and traditional parochialism, typical of the contrade, and unites around the figure of its patron saint.

Each district, in fact, offers the Blessed a basket filled with flowers, carried on the head by a lady accompanied by a horseman; the "baskets" form a true carpet of flowers all the way to the church in the historic center.

The historic center will be cleaned up for the occasion: painting and photography exhibitions, performances for children, cultural initiatives, guided tours of the "underground city", street theater entertainment for young and old. Museums in the historic center will have free admission, with theatrical guided tours. La Rocca Archaeological Area, the attached Blessed Diana Giuntini Civic Museum and the Carducci House Museum, the house where the Carducci family lived from 1856 to 1858, will be open to visitors. You will also be able to climb the Clock Tower, an ancient defense of the medieval castle, from which you can enjoy a splendid view of the entire Lower Valdarno.