Ferragosto is a national holiday in Italy (on August 15) and most businesses are closed for the holiday. Many business are closed in August anyway because August is the month that everyone goes on vacation. During the summer time, many people who live in the lower areas return to their ancestral villages up in the mountains to spend a few weeks or in some cases even a few months. We are told that they travel to the mountains and stay in these small villages in an effort to get away from the heat as it is quite a bit cooler up in the mountains. On Ferragosto itself even more business close down; in fact, it is very rare to find any businesses that are open.
See the origin of Ferragosto from:https://www.visititaly.eu/history-and-traditions/ferragosto-origins-and-facts-about-the-italian-tradition-of-august-15th
The festivity has Roman origins and the term Ferragosto derives from the Latin "Feriae Augusti" (August rest), a term referring to a festivity called by the Emperor Augustus in 18 BC.
The date of the ancient Ferragosto was August 1st. It was the Catholic Church that helped inspire the move of the date to the 15th, in order to make Ferragosto coincide with the religious celebration for the Assumption of Mary who died and was reborn on this day, being received into heaven.
When we visited Carpeneto in February, we met some really nice people who invited us to return to Carpeneto for Ferragosto. We decided to accept this invitation and returned along with the Kings to Carpeneto for the holiday. Because it is about a 4 to 4 1/2 hour drive from Bergamo to Carpeneto, we decided to break up the trip by going half way the night before. On Thursday, August 14, we drove to Alessandria and met up with the Kings and stayed the night in a hotel.
Dinner in Alessandria with the Kings
On Friday, August 15 (Ferragosto), we got up early and headed to Carpeneto. The route we selected took us over the mountain again so we were on some pretty narrow and windy roads. I quite enjoy these jaunts into the mountains as we get away from the crowds into some wide open spaces. As much as I enjoy everything that the cities offer, I find the trips into the countryside very refreshing and rejuvenating. As you can imagine, I enjoy looking at the roads, bridges, retaining walls and other unique features along the route. On this trip, I was even able to show Anziano King how a typical landslide manifests itself in the roadway through cracks and dips. He commented that these mountain roads were full of landslides, which I assured him that they were. As we travel in Italy, Jodie is constantly saying to me, "Hey, look at that pretty church". We find churches in cities, small villages, and alone on top of hills. There are churches everywhere, and at first glace they may seem similar; but each church has its own unique features. We hope that we never tire of stopping to listen to the sound of the church bells that ring on the hour or before services start. Consequently, this blog wouldn't be complete without a photo of the church in Carpeneto.
La Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo, Carpeneto
A bridge that we crossed on our way
Very typical roadway going up and over the mountain
The turn off SP-16 to Carpeneto
View from on the top of the mountain
(If you look closely you can see several small villages dotting the hillsides.)
It was a great trip and we arrived in Carpeneto just a few minutes before the festivities started. The celebration started with Mass at the church and was to be followed by a procession around town. Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain so hard that they cancelled the procession.
Bell tower on La Chiesa di San Michele
As you might imagine, the Mass was in Italian so we didn't understand everything. However, because we have been attending church for a couple of months here in Italy, many of the words and phrases were familiar to us. We really enjoyed attending the Mass at the very church where Jodie's ancestors would have worshipped, been baptized, and married before they immigrated to the United States.
We were thrilled to be warmly greeted by one of our friends from our visit in February who then introduced us to her husband and several others in the congregation, several who are undoubtedly Jodie's distant family members through her Orocchi and Ferretti lines.
One family invited us into their home where we visited and shared stories for almost two hours. Jodie had printed a Ferretti family story which she had discovered in her research. She had it printed in Italian and in English with the hopes to share it with some Ferretti family members. She was so pleased to have the opportunity to share the story in the actual home where the Ferretti's lived in Carpeneto. Most of the Ferretti's come from a neighboring village so we are confident that Jodie's 3rd great grandmother (Grandma Kate) has ties to this home. She was born in Carpeneto in 1845. After her marriage, she immigrated to the United States. She and her husband Francesco lived for a time in Hoboken, New Jersey and added to their family there. They then moved to Reno, Nevada where they raised their family and passed away. Jodie's journey into family history in Italy began with finding this photo of Grandma Kate and Grandpa Frank; so it is very fitting for us to visit their hometown village.
Frank (Francesco Mongonlo) & Kate (Catterina Ferretti)
The Ferretti home in Carpeneto
New friends in Carpeneto
After our visit, we headed back to Alessandria for the evening. Jodie and I returned to Carpeneto the next day as we had an appointment to view the old church records for this Parish. Parish records are critical to Family History research in Italy because the civil records really don't start until about 1866. Prior to 1866 the official records were only kept by the Catholic Churches which recorded significant events such as baptism, marriage and death.
When we retuned to Carpeneto, we visited the cemetery and took photos of headstones so that we could later upload them into Billion Graves. Interestingly, the cemetery in Carpeneto wasn't even identified in Billion Graves, so step one was to identify and add the cemetery to Billion Graves. Once we had taken photos of all of the headstones in the cemetery, we decided to walk around town.
Wouldn't you know it, we didn't walk 50 steps before we ran into the first person that we'd met in Carpeneto back in February. We'd really wanted to see him again this trip but hadn't seen him the day before. Jodie had baked a banana chocolate bread for him. Just days before our visit, Jodie found civil record photo copies of the birth records for his Grandpa and Grand Aunt which were both born in Hoboken, New Jersey. The family had immigrated but changed their plans and returned to Carpeneto to live out their lives. Knowing this history, she had printed copies of their civil birth records for him along with family group sheets. His timing to be in the street at the same time we were walking was a miracle. He walked us back up to the cemetery to show us the headstone for his father, grandfather and grandmother. He has a very fun personality, and we enjoy talking to him. He teases us both playfully about our lack of Italian language skills.
Jodie visiting with her distant Orocchi cousin in the cemetery
After our visit in the cemetery, Jodie had also wanted to deliver a banana chocolate bread to another friend so we walked just a short distance to her house. Her husband (also an Orocchi) met us in the yard and immediately invited us into their home for a visit. In a very typical Italian way; she invited us to lunch, and we spent two wonderful hours with them prior to our appointment to see the church records.
Friends in Carpeneto
The church records are kept in a cupboard in a bedroom of the house connected to the church. This is the house where the Priest would normally live; however, they haven't had a Priest living in this house since the mid 1950's so the house is rented to a family that spends their summers and holidays in Carpeneto. Over the years, the man renting the house has cataloged the records and has made a summary of the records contained in each book. What a labor of love which makes research so much easier. Jodie was looking for some specific information and because of this catalog, we were able pull out the exact book and begin scanning the pages for the information that she wanted. Another added blessing for us was that the man showing us the records could speak English so our language handicap went away as he patiently helped us look through the pages. What a privilege and blessing it was to see and take a few photographs of a few of these old church records. We are so glad that we went to Carpeneto for Ferragosto as the family renting the house will be leaving soon, and we won't have access to the records until next summer when they return. We certainly feel that the Lord is guiding our efforts and facilitating this family history research. Jodie's ancestors want to be found and connected!
Jodie searching through church records in Carpeneto that predate the 1866 civil records
Before we left Carpeneto for the day, I was able to demonstrate how a Digital Reading Room works. Our friend is very open to the idea of allowing Family Search to digitally capture images of these records so that we can make a Digital Reading Room of the records. In time we hope to get an agreement and facilitate this effort.
Blake demonstrating a Digital Reading Room
The Kings weren't with us on the second day, so they ended up going back the next week to look at the records for themselves. Jodie continues to make great progress in her record research and review in Carpeneto. Within the last several weeks, she has found several more generations on her Orocchi and Ferretti family lines. She is now back to her 7th great grandfather in two different family lines from this community! Joannis Luccae Orocchi (Giovanni Lucas Orocchi) and Joannis Baptae Isola (Giovanni Battista Isola), both born in the early to mid 1700’s. It is tough to know if we should use the Italian or Latin version of their names, so we have both. You get the idea. As she goes, she is also adding details about individuals and families to Family Search as this information is not yet available anywhere else. Hopefully others will find these people and can connect them to their family trees.
After a review of baptism, marriage and death records, Jodie
has found 2 more generations on these charts in the last week!
Here’s another fun way to look at it. This is a fan chart starting
with Jodie’s great grandfather.
We loved visiting Carpeneto, met more family and made more friends. An added bonus was that Jodie was able to advance her family research in this community. Our first Italian Ferragosto was a great experience!
