Saturday, August 30, 2008

The Lepini people

I took this picture on the grounds of the Fossanova Abbey, which is in Sonnino scalo. I've been seeing these signs around the Sonnino area for the past few years. I asked my cousins about about the structure on the sign.

The area around Sonnino is called the "Lepini Plain". The Lipini are the ancient people of the Sonnino area. This structure is a rendering of what their dwellings looked like. My cousins also mentioned that in the hills right behind Sonnino there are still ruins of ancient Lepini homes. Has anybody seen them?

Monday, August 18, 2008

The giving of the torches

This is a video I took in the church after the priest had blessed the torches for "Le Torce" and sprinkled them with holy water. They were then given to the four leaders of Le Torce to carry.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Song: Sonnino Bello


I was having dinner with some family in Sonnino in May and we began to talk about some songs I had heard people singing. Zia Lydia and my cousin Antonio were kind enough to lend their beautiful voices and sing me a few. They said this one is very old and is called "Sonnino Bello". Zia Lydia is in this photo on the bottom-right. Here are the words and the recording. Bonus points if you can translate it!:

"Sonnino e bello, Sonnino
e fatto a ferro, di cavallo
non te ne incarica.
Di cavallo cesta la giovenio col sangue bello, non tene
incarea."