Spello and the Infiorate
We fell in love with Spello during our travels in 2022, and returned this year to experience the Infiorate celebration, which coincided with our 40th anniversary.
This ancient walled city dates back to the third century and is charmingly beautiful any day of the year, but comes alive for the Infiorate, the Feast of Corpus Christi.
Any time of the year, you will find each street alley way and square filled with beautiful flowers.
Returning to Spello was one of the highlights of our trip this year. The people, the food, the wine and the beauty of this town of 8,000 people allows for an authentic and memorable visit.
Infiorate di Spello is a custom which is practiced every year in the Umbrian town of Spello, Italy on the Feast of Corpus Christi. The night before the feast day, more than a thousand adults and children work incessantly through the night to create carpets and pictures made of flowers along the town's narrow streets.
The intricate works of art created by adults are highly engineered and masterful in their complexity and vibrancy.
The sheer scale and elaborate designs of over 100 works of art is hard to imagine, and should be experienced at least once in a lifetime. This piece was created by high school students. When they finish, they sing, chant and celebrate their accomplishment.
All works of art are created with flowers only. The petals are gathered and sorted by colors into boxes for weeks prior to the feast day.
This piece was so large it could only be viewed from a ladder. It filled the city center.
The smell of the flower petals filled the air. Not only are the colors expertly selected, they consider the texture of the flowers selected and utilize layering to create depth and a stunning display.
Artist at work!
Many of the works of art were designed and created by children under the age of 14. These adorable youngsters were sleeping next to their creation at 5 AM after a hard night’s work.
Because Spello is only 15 miles from the town of Assisi St. Francis of Assisi is seen in some of the art.
Up to 100,000 people from around the world visit Spello’s Infiorate each year, and it is considered the finest in Italy. Even though it was our anniversary, we still woke at 5 AM to stroll the streets to admire the creations prior to the crowds arriving. The use of different materials on this wolf’s fur was particularly striking.
We were awake early enough to capture the sun rising over Spello on our anniversary.
After our 5 AM exploration, we rested, but Stacy returned to the streets two more times to witness the final completed pieces. She chose to wear the flower crown that celebrants don on this feast day.
The solemn Corpus Domini (Corpus Christi) Eucharistic procession passes over the floral carpets on Sunday morning. The procession is led by the Bishop, accompanied by local clergy, nuns, a band, local officials and a crowd of the faithful.
Our dear friends, Irene and Luca Angelini, hosted us at their apartment during our time in Spello. They own one of the most renowned wine shops in Italy, Enoteca Properzia, and they ship all over the world. We tasted exquisite wines throughout our stay in Spello paired with delicious homemade food. We will soon enjoy these wonderful wines when we return home. They toasted us on our 40th anniversary, and treated us like family. Grazie Mille!
The Angelini’s new restaurant Il Mulino offers phenomenal food, and arguably the best Carbonara in Italy. We ate at this restaurant twice because the food was excellent.
Spello is famous for its stunning architecture constructed from the distinctive pink and white limestone which you can see in the walls of this restaurant.
