The table of the dead

  • 16/09/2021
  • 508

A long journey illuminated only by candles that, between stories, narratives and symbols, will accompany the public in the visit of the 'Tavola dei Dead', ie in rediscovering the ancient Abruzzo tradition of leaving 'apparated' table at night Between the first and 2 November with the best peasant dishes, from the egg pasta strictly handmade to the baked chicken with potatoes, up to wine and to dessert, to welcome and make the passage of souls of their deceases more serene That in that night, they tell, come back to find their loved ones and their own affections.

returns tomorrow, Tuesday 1 November, as per tradition, the event of 'La Tavola dei Dead', organized by the 'FonteVecchia' association and that He will take place at the village of Troiano houses. "Let's say - he specified Luciano Troiano, president of the 'FonteVecchia' Association - who in our event is nothing of esoteric and above all has nothing to do with Halloween celebrations that, moreover, do not belong to our history , Neither to our culture, but, indeed, they went to supplant our tradition that instead wanted the night to the night between 1 and 2 November, that is, between Obnibs and the celebration of the deceased, precisely to commemoration and prayer For the souls of our loved ones who are no longer at our side.

With the 'Table of the dead' we want to tell the youngest and bring to light an important tradition for our history, precisely the duty to honor in the manner The more just, respectful and appropriately those people who have been part of our lives and that in that night, wants the narration, return to their homes for a short moment ". The event, completely free, will start at 5.30pm on October 31st with a conference on the history of the cult of the dead to be held in the Council Hall of the Municipality of Spoltore (PE) with the researcher, historical and essayist Maurizio Ponticello, author of Numerous volumes on the theme.

November 1st at 7pm in point before the headquarters of civil motorization, with the 'story of the places', starting from the well of the warriors, that is that well that, according to the story of the elderly of the place, it would be precisely in what today is a embankment and which was used for the refreshment of the horses of the Spanish army and the brigands, close to the 'ramp' of access to Pescara, from which , note, the 'Villa Raspa' denomination.

Then with the light of the candles we will walk towards the Troiano houses, following a path bordered by the Lumins, and with some pauses, each of which will be characterized by a story about events and characters who have characterized the village itself. Along the narrow street of the village, at the 'vutate de lope', it will cross the procession of the dead friars that will accompany those present until the garden where there will be 'lu 'Mazzamurille', a spiteful spiritello accustomed to take a game of the living, and the 'tomb of the knight'. To welcome the participants in the evening, at the entrance to the village of Troiano houses, it will be the altar set up for the suffrage of Pezzantelle souls, of which will be willed from origin and worship, going back to the divinities of Ecate and Persephone.

And still during the path you will know the stories of the characters who animated the life of the village, like 'Zi' pippine 'and' Zi 'Retine' up to the visit of the houses with the labeled tables for dinner accompanied by the singer of allissanti '. Outside each house there will be symbols, such as the bag of wheat, the inverted broom, the basin, the stick, and, every time, the reasons for those presences that sink the roots in the Abruzzo tradition will be discovered.

Obviously Even the tables will be packed according to the place uses, with ham and cheese, maccaroni with sauce, chicken and potatoes, water, wine, bread, Coffee, biscuits, sweets and fruit. But the peculiarity is that that food anyway cannot be consumed, because the 'table packed' must welcome the souls that will pass the night from that kitchen and that they can find, as the narration, the dishes so loved to life. And in fact the tradition wants that, in ancient times, families consumed those foods only the following day or, even destined food to the poor.

During the evening it will be possible to pay tribute to the church of the Holy Trinity, located in the village, and which will be regularly open: the entrance will be characterized by the presence of a 'pulcinella Abruzzese', as a path of union between the world of alive and that of the dead, and, according to the ancient beliefs, the first one that will enter a soul de l purgatory. At the end of the event, the participants will be offered the 'ritual food', which is also strictly respectful of tradition, or will consist of 'the wheat of the dead', ie wheat boiled with walnuts, pomegranate and cooked must, boiled beans , chickpeas abbruscated, chicocks and patane and red wine, an opportunity to rediscover a widespread tradition in all the meridion until the 1950s and who unfortunately went losing.

Information and reservations at 331/6796820





About Us

The committee for the establishment of the Fontevecchia Association was formed in 2010 and is an active part of civil society with interventions relating to the environment, mobility, knowledge and integration. The purpose of the association, in addition to the protection of traditions, the territory and the aesthetic redevelopment of the village born in 1600, is articulated on a wide range of interventions.