Friday photo:
So there we were.. ready for our medieval feast
Bevagna is a small town in Umbria. It’s a charming and picturesque walled town, that was an important place in ancient Roman days, situated along the Via Flaminia. It’s also home to a festival called Mercato Delle Gaite. For a few days each spring, the town is time-warped back to the middle ages.
If you visit during this time, you’ll find quite a different place than normal! The townspeople are all dressed in medieval garb, and the locals are very much into the spirit of the event. As you wander through the streets, you’ll find all sorts of unusual activities underway, from falconry, to blacksmithing, to paper making.
The town is historically divided into four quarters, “Le Gaite”. These neighborhoods compete against each other in different events as part of the festival, and there’s a real rivalry between them. Archery is one of the events. Watching the contestants in their tunics engaged in this traditional endeavor, can really take you back. Just pretend that the spectators are of a different era, too!
One of the competitions is cooking, and that’s where our banquet comes in. For this, we all got to dress in character, and attend an authentic medieval feast. There were jesters and musicians, and food and drink appropriate to the time.
“Appropriate to the time” has a very specific meaning here. It must be “food as it was prepared and served between 1250 and 1350, in this region of Italy”. They’re very particular about this authenticity when it comes to judging. A dish could be eliminated from competition if it used a type of apple that wasn’t grown at that time! Somehow I expected this historical food to be bland, but I was surprised by how delicious it was. I was fortunate enough to be given a cookbook with the secret recipes from Gaita Santa Maria. 
You can see photos of the town at Excursion to Bevagna, taken at a quieter time of year, without all the medieval activity!
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I’m not sure when we’ll be back in Bevagna, but looking at this makes me hope it will be soon. We’ll have to start planning another Tuscany and Umbria trip before long… That was so much fun!
PS. The guy in the middle looking like a happy Friar Tuck was our driver, Massimo. His true calling should have been opera singer — what an amazing voice!
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6 responses so far ↓
1 Ari Herzog // May 9, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Which one is you in the photo?
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2 Deanna // May 10, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Hi Ari -
I’m in the back row, in the light grey robe & dark hat. Those were quite the serious hats, with the long whatever-you-call-its hanging down behind. It was a blast! (-:
3 Travel Health // Jun 18, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Looks awesome, I have been to tuscany, but never made it here. Like the photos.
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4 kadmiel // Jun 19, 2009 at 8:49 pm
this sounds like you had a wonderful time. One of my dreams is to visit italy one day
5 Eric @ Touch Up Paint // Aug 27, 2009 at 1:16 pm
When I traveled through Umbrian and Tuscany late last year I encountered many of these festivals in small hilltowns. I recall being in Norcia where some townsfolk were dressed in similar attire to pay homage to a local fairytale about the courtship between a prince and a poor farm girl. It was as if the entire city participated. Probably one would attract second glances back in the states but over in the Italian countryside where traditions root deep, such is the spirit of costuming and celebration of ancestral culture.
6 Ur // Sep 19, 2009 at 3:19 am
Slounds just great – beautiful photo.
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