From the Spring Trunk - Water Passing. Spring Purifications and Awakenings

A Trunk of Memories in the Village of Monsampolo del Tronto

In the village of Monsampolo del Tronto, in the province of Ascoli Piceno, the Museum of the Crypt - The Mummies becomes a "trunk of collective memory" for an afternoon. The event "Water Passing. Spring Purifications and Awakenings" is the Monsampolo stop of the cycle "From the Spring Trunk. Easter Rituals and Spring Traditions in Piceno", promoted by the Piceno Museum System in collaboration with Bim Tronto. It is not a food festival or a village fair, but an encounter of intangible popular culture: a journey into the gestures, beliefs, and rites that once accompanied the arrival of spring and Easter in the Marche countryside.

The Theme: Water that Purifies and Awakens

The title "Water Passing" refers to ancient purification practices linked to water, a symbol of rebirth in the transition from winter to the warmer season. Around this common thread, the meetings reconstruct through oral testimonies a fragile heritage, made up of proverbs, superstitions, ritual songs, and peasant customs that risk being lost. The idea of the project is to transform the small local museums into living places, where the community becomes an active protagonist in a process of storytelling, sharing, and transmission.

How it Works

The meeting, led by Professor Gabriella Piccioni, is designed as a moment of intergenerational dialogue, with songs, storytelling, and conviviality. The audience does not passively attend: anyone can participate by bringing an object, a letter, a document, or a simple memory from their family trunk, sharing its story and meaning with others. Folk groups from the Piceno area animate the afternoon, such as I Suonatori di Sant'Emiddie, Lì mieti e Lea, and I Matti de Montecó, custodians of the local musical and dialectal repertoire.

A Unique Museum in Piceno

The setting itself is extraordinary. The Museum of the Crypt - The Mummies was established after the discovery, in 2003, of about twenty mummified bodies during the restoration work of the crypt of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta. The mummies, largely natural, have been reassembled in the environments where they were found, making this small museum in Monsampolo del Tronto one of the most evocative and unique destinations in southern Marche.

Part of a Wider Cycle Across the Territory

The Monsampolo event is part of a traveling itinerary that touches three municipalities in Piceno: Force, Monsampolo del Tronto, and Massignano, from late March to May. Each stop addresses a different chapter of the spring and Easter traditions of the Marche Region, under the direction of the Piceno Museum System and with the support of Bim Tronto, with the aim of enhancing the intangible cultural heritage of the Ascoli hinterland.