{"id":1281,"date":"2026-06-01T04:18:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T04:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/?p=1281"},"modified":"2026-01-08T01:40:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T01:40:31","slug":"june-in-craco-vecchio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/june-in-craco-vecchio\/","title":{"rendered":"June in Craco Vecchio"},"content":{"rendered":"

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June was a busy month in Craco Vecchio. The population, moving to the rhythm of the seasons needed to address a significant agricultural milestone and also had to deal with the celebration of a church event.<\/p>\r\n

In the fields there was much hard work that had to be done because the grain harvest was ready.\u00a0Using only hand tools and with only the aid of a donkey or mule everyone contributed.\u00a0This timeless process was repeated for hundreds of years. Scenes from the late 1960\u2019s of part of the harvesting process can be seen in the Society’s DVD Craco: Visits through Time.<\/i> S<\/i>tarting with the cutting down of the sheaves of the wheat they were then tied in bundles.\u00a0The bundles then were gathered and transported to a location where it would be set aside to be threshed in July.
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The land also provided a reward that could be consumed in June.\u00a0 The first figs called \u201cFioroni or culumm\u00eb\u201d ripened and ready to be picked.\u00a0The fig tree has 2 crops; the first (fiorini) are bigger and not as sweet and flavorful as the later ripening figs. Also, their skin tends to be tougher and thicker than those that come out later in the season. Theses are not as juicy or syrupy as the settembrini (autumn figs) that come out in the second crop later in the year.<\/p>\r\n

At mid-month, on June 13 the Church and the townspeople celebrated the feast of St. Anthony. The children were dressed in a monk\u2019s cloak as a devotion to St. Anthony.\u00a0 Small loaves of bread, \u201cSt. Anthony\u2019s Bread,\u201d were baked and taken to the church to have them blessed, then they were given away to the poor.<\/p>\r\n

Saint Anthony of Padua was born in Portugal and became a follower of St. Francis of Assisi spending his ministry in Italy.\u00a0 He performed several miracles involving children and was involved in an apparition with the infant Jesus.\u00a0He died on June 13, 1231.\u00a0Tradition holds on the day of his death the children in the streets of the city of Padua were crying: “The saint is dead, Anthony is dead.” He was canonized within a year of his death. The city of Padua began building a large cathedral to honor him and in 1263, a child drowned near the construction site.\u00a0The child\u2019s mother\u00a0 besought St. Anthony and promised that if her child were restored to life, she would give to the poor an amount of wheat equal to the weight of her child. Of course the child was saved, and her promise was kept creating the custom of “St. Anthony’s Bread.” There is the widespread tradition of placing children under his protection right from birth. From this custom followed the tradition of dressing children in a little Franciscan habit to thank the Saint for his protection and to make it known to others.<\/p>\r\n

Historic Dates in Craco<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n