Natalecci - the bonfires of Gorfigliano

Natalecci - the bonfires of Gorfigliano

Palio dei Natalecci; every year on the 24th December the night sky in certain parts of Garfagnana is lit up with huge fires. These are the Natalecci. Huge towers, often more than 20 metres high, made up of trees and covered with branches of juniper which are then set alight.

Villages try to outdo each other by building the tallest Nataleccio or the one that burns the longest. The origins of this ceremony have long since been lost but probably dates back to a pagan rite to the god Mitra but which was then appropriated by the Christian faith and given meaning with the fires now warming up the newly born Jesus

As the church bells ring out across the valley to announce the birth of The Messiah, the people around the Nataleccio start to sing "Oh! Oh! Nataleccio! Oh! Oh! Nataleccio!" and the fires are lit. The air is then rent with the sound of fireworks, sirens, shouts and the unmistakable sound of gunshots.

More images plus an MP3 file of the sounds in and around Gorfigliano this evening can be found here