|The 8 metre high bonfire | Photo F. Pignatale Il Focarone of
Bagnaia is the biggest of the hundreds of bonfires that are lit
all over Italy on the night of January 16th-17th in honor of St.
Anthony Abbot, healer and protector of livestock. |tower and
entrance to medieval Bagnaia| For the entire week preceding the
festival, groups of young people were hard at work setting up
the eight-metre tall mass of tree trunks and other timber in the
middle of the piazza. The expert builders must insure that the
bonfire will burn evenly so it does not collapse on one side.
|Il Focarone, ready for lighting| The mid-winter bonfire is a
tradition that is strongly felt by the Bagnaioli, as the
townspeople are called. The festivities begin at 5 p.m. with a
procession of costumed dignitaries representing important
characters in the town’s long and sometimes tragic history. |as
night falls the festivities begin| These include La Pucciarella,
a young girl who defended Bagnaia when the Lanzichenecchi lay
siege to the town in 1527