A Small-Town Celebration To Step Back In Time

A heartfelt tribute to history, community and 1900s traditions in a tiny town just within minutes from Cremona .

Nov 18, 2024

In today’s post, I’ll take you to Monticelli d’Ongina, a charming small town just a short drive from Cremona, where a unique event celebrates the traditions of the early 1900s.

Before diving in, I’d love to remind you about my Italian immersion retreats, two of which are hosted right here in Cremona. These retreats let you experience small-town Italian culture, countryside life, and local traditions—all while improving your Italian in a natural, relaxed way.

If this resonates with you, join my waiting list to get all the details about next year’s retreats. Now, let’s step back in time together!

Yes, give me all the details!

Two weeks ago, before I was hit by a bad cold that doesn't seem to want to leave, I went to see Il San Martino di Monticelli.

I had never heard of it before but it's a three-day event that is hosted in the tiny town of Monticelli d' Ongina, a bare 15 minutes away from Cremona, where I live.

It's a commemoration of what life was like at the beginning of the 1900s. The habits, the traditions, the jobs and even the games that the locals used to have.

For three days, everyone is dressed up and acting as if they were living in the same town but in the 1900s. Horses pull carriages, old cars roam the streets.

There are different aspects and traditions that are reenacted and I won't go into too much detail because I'm really not an expert. In fact, I quickly read up on the topic before heading to Monticelli and here's what I found out.

San Martino ( November 11) was traditionally the end of farming season. Once upon a time, that meant that the farm laborers' contracts ended and they needed to find another cascina ( farmstead) to work for. That's when the trasloco took place, literally entire families loaded trucks and carriages with all their belongings (food, furniture, firewood, poultry )and moved to find another place to live and work in.

That's why, in some areas of Italy, people say when they're moving house, or even just freeing up space in the house, they call it fare San Martino ( to do San Martino).

San Martino, was also a day to celebrate because people had to empty the wine barrels of what wine was left to make space for the new wine.

And all this is exactly what I saw in the streets.

This is something I truly love about the whole Emilia-Romagna and Lombardia area, this effort to remember and commemorate the difficulties of a not-so distant agricultural past.

I also enjoyed looking at all the mestieri ( jobs).

Some are long gone and testimony of how incredibly hard life used to be for everyone.

Others, I'm old enough to remember seeing some of them, like for example the impagliatore di sedie, the person who repairs and makes the seats of chairs using straw. Or the guy who created a net for the big wine bottles so that the glass wouldn’t break.

This was a time where nothing was ever thrown away and when things broke they were repaired or repurposed.

I'm not for a minute saying that life was better then but there's something really wrong with everything being so disposable nowadays.

Without going back to the 1900s, I do wish I lived in a world where things didn't break after a month and clothes were made to last years and not minutes.

I wish things felt more solid especially in turbulent times like these.

I also think it's important to look back and honor where we came from.

As I looked at all those aspects that were being brought back to life, I wondered if aside from very welcome technological progress, if something else, something more subtle hasn't been lost in the process.

Some level of community that I think we'd all benefit of having more of now.

Personal ramblings aside (I’m done), it was simply so heartwarming to see this sagra, seeing a whole town embrace its past, honoring their forefathers and celebrating their heritage.

Needless to say, there were food explorations and in such a rich area, there was so much to dive into. Aglio piacentino, tortelli, salame, Ortrugo wines. All local produce.

What impressed me was how much everyone in the town was enjoying themselves. They were totally in the part.

Why isn't this event more well-known?

I’m so happy I found out about it thanks to my routine of scanning the local papers in search of events because locals wouldn’t have thought of telling me.