The event scheduled for 17 September has been recovered in Villamaina
Recovered in great style and pleasantness among sculptures, fountains, nature, arguments on medieval dishes, tastings and folk dances, the event scheduled in Villamaina on 17 September postponed due to the weather alert.
On this occasion, on a splendid sunny Saturday, it was possible to accompany visitors to discover hidden places of great beauty. This is the case of the “Antica” sculptural park in the homonymous Contrada which houses, among woods, rocks and walkways, valuable works by the artists Vincenzo Caputo and Alessandro Battaglino, including a beautiful face of Christ of considerable size. A park that was born as a place of spirituality and faith towards the Madonna dell’Antica but which also lends itself to excursions and picnics in contact with nature and with the charm of sculptural art, all this just a few steps from the town. Among other things, Vincenzo Caputo, in addition to his artistic qualities, had the merit of “saving” those places from destruction as they are coveted by private individuals to build a quarry. Alessandro Battaglino, an artist who recently passed away, also spent a lot of money on the park, to him the further merit of enhancing the typical onyx of Gesualdo and Villamaina.
Another stage of the excursion to one of the 14 springs present in the territory of Villamaina, the ancient source of “Formulano”, in an area of archaeological interest for the discovery, among other things, of two Roman furnaces and landscaping for greenery of the Fredane and Ansanto valleys. The well-restored and recently restored monument, in addition to the beautiful fountain with the ancient basins used in the past by women to wash laundry, preserves an interesting testimony of industrial archeology with a hydraulic pump donated in 1925 by Villamainese emigrants to America to bring the water in the village.
The day continued at the Casa Ex Eca for a conference on “The Middle Ages in Irpinia, food, drink and agriculture” organized by the Cultural Center for Permanent Education of “UNLA” (National Union for the fight against Illiteracy) Enthusiasts and scholars including the Mayor of Villamaina, an expert in Medieval History, Nicola Trunfio, the Councilor for Culture of the Municipality of Villamaina, as well as writer and painter, Francesco Caloia, and the writer and scholar of the Middle Ages, Edmondo Marra , they discussed a fascinating and important era for Irpinia in which not only castles and fortresses have arisen but in which customs and traditions have developed with a particular focus on the theme of food and drinks between curiosities and anecdotes.
Starting from the fact that there were no cutlery, we ate with our hands, that the wine was watered and spiced, that the oil was not of quality as the olives were harvested from the ground, that many products of today were not there. before the discovery of America, that sweets were not appreciated, salty and bittersweet were preferred, and above all that food profoundly marked social differences. Game and meat in general were the exclusive prerogative of the upper classes: the more land they owned, the more they could hunt and the richer were the tables and therefore synonymous with power; the poor were destined for soups and broths, rye or even acorn bread, legumes such as the “beans of Isis”, there were neither pinto beans, nor cannellini beans, and then chestnuts, few cereals, especially rye and barley, vegetables such as zucchini , broad beans, onions, turnips. A very meager diet that certainly did not help to stay healthy. Also project slides to understand, through literature, in particular The Divine Comedy, the approach with food in the Middle Ages: gluttony was associated with sin, therefore for the working classes it was pure subsistence.
And from theory to practice with the tasting, in the suggestive location of the Civic Arch, of medieval dishes by the APS “Domenico Caracciolo”, prepared mainly with local autumn fruits and then chestnut and legume soup with rye bread, broad beans dried, roasted chestnuts, cheese with walnuts and local honey, seasonal fruit. Braziers lit in Piazza Risorgimento and folk dances contribute to creating the atmosphere.
It was the penultimate event scheduled in the “Paths in the Valli del Ben Vivere” program, a recovery of one of the initiatives planned in Villamaina. 20 in all the events financed by the Campania Region, under the aegis of the Campania Tourism Agency, distributed over six municipalities with Grottaminarda as leader who offered guided tours, concerts, theatrical performances, archery and falconry demonstrations, exhibitions , cooking workshops and tastings of typical products.
The intervention is, in fact, co-financed by the Poc Campania 2014/2020. Urban Regeneration, Tourism and Culture Policies – Unitary Program of Cultural, Naturalistic and Enogastronomic Tourist Routes of National and International scope.
