We saw a sign announcing the Sagra del Crostino (Festival of the little piece of toast with goodies on top), in the nearby town of Santa Brigida. That pretty much sums up Italy in the summertime. Everywhere you look there’s a different festival celebrating whatever it is that town is well-known for: funghi, mushrooms; cinghiale, wild boar; tartufi, truffles—you name it, and somewhere there’s a party in honor of that specialty.

Traditions run deep in Tuscany.

The larger the town, the more complex the traditions. Beyond their adoration of food, Italians love to race, whether it’s cars, horses or . . . whatever. The various local competitions have become more important over the centuries, drawing spectators from around the world. In July we told the story of the Palio di Siena—one of the most famous of all Italian horse races, known as the “race of the soul.” Powerful and beautiful!

August, however, took us down another path—to the hill town of Montepulciano in southern Tuscany for the centuries-old horse race through the narrow streets of town. Well, actually, it’s not really a horse race anymore. The horses have long since been swapped out for wine barrels. That’s right. The city finally got fed up “horsing around” with the issues (pardon the pun), of having large animals racing through the center of town, tearing everything up and creating danger for riders and spectators. They decided to update the festivities, making things a bit more civilized and at the same time, do some good old-fashioned marketing for their historic specialty—vino.

Since at least the middle of the 8th century, they’ve been known for their incredible local red wine called Nobile di Montepulciano. And if you’ve never tasted it, then go get some right now, before you read another word. It’s fantastic! So, with plenty of empty wine barrels laying around town, they decided to develop the art of rolling them uphill on a torturous cobblestone route, then downhill, where the barrels pick up speed and need careful corralling to keep them from spinning out of control. The route goes through town to the finish line, which, in this case is the duomo, cathedral—Santa Maria Assunta. Actually rather than a finish line, it’s a “finish door” since they roll to a stop at the entrance. How curious.

The Bravío is so much more than a simple race. Think about the symbolism for just a moment: 1) The uphill push becomes analogous to the challenges of life itself; 2) The downhill careening symbolizes the need for care and attention, even when things seem momentarily easier; 3) Teams are organized around neighborhoods, or districts which naturally reinforces the unity of family and friends; 4) The wine barrels signify the ancient art of the region for which they’re well-known throughout the world; 5) The celebration provides the setting to initiate future generations into the ancient traditions since everyone wants to join in the fun; 6) Then, don’t forget the hand-painted original artwork depicting San Giovanni Decollato, the Patron Saint of the city. The colorful banner is paraded out and presented to the winning contrada, neighborhood. 7) And if that’s not enough, the “finish door” is located . . . where else but Piazza Grande. Fantastic! How could anyone outdo that ritual? The Montepulcinese would win hands down in the categories of soulful meaning, participation, unity, life lessons and spirituality alone. Besides that, they really seem to have a good time.

There’s one last thing about this place called Montepulciano that is intriguing—they were extremely inventive people. For any ancient Medieval town, the challenge was always how to create massive walls to protect, and at the same time allow for expansion. In other words—where to put the wall? Well, the hill towns of Tuscany solved the problem—with a very clever solution. Over the centuries, they simply built the original town smack dab on top of the hill with the mandatory surrounding walls. Then, when they outgrew that, they simply built another circular wall further down the hill, and so on. We call it the “wedding cake” model of medieval town planning, since they ended up with 3 tiers that made up their town. The implementation of their creative idea was extremely logical and easy.

Imagine seeing the majestic ancient stone and brick city perched high on the hill. It’s a sight that would cheer anybody up and draw them in to stay. It’s also nice to know there’s a bottle of local Nobile on the table waiting when you arrive.

Following the race, we wandered through the winding streets of town back to our car, amid the camaraderie and laughter. The celebration continued with a roaring fire, food and merriment late into the night.

Strong traditions are primary reasons why these ancient cities haven’t turned into ghost towns; why families here have a different sense of what “home” means; and why Italians take the “long view” toward life and happiness. Of course, there’s also the annual promise of a sagra, festival every year to celebrate the very things they love so much. But, let’s face it. Time-honored ritual and great food aren’t the only things that make this place so compelling. What about the endless beautiful Tuscan hills, the blue Mediterranean and Adriatic seas close by; and of course the dramatic Italian alps. Ah, Italy! Ah, Tuscany!

Following is our video of the Bravío, taken on that magical day in August as we took one more step closer into the legendary Italian lifestyle.

You may also enjoy visiting our other websites:

Posted on September 3, 2011