Gavignano Maccaruni Festival

A pasta that tells five centuries of history

Maccaruni alla gavignanese are no ordinary pasta. The dough, made solely from flour and eggs, is kneaded by hand and rolled out with a wooden rolling pin until it becomes paper-thin and nearly translucent. It is then rolled up and sliced with a low-blade knife into extremely fine strips. This recipe dates back to the mid-16th century and even appears in a late 17th-century inventory of Palazzo Aldobrandini, where a 'cucchiara degli maccaruni' (pasta spoon) is mentioned. Today, these maccaruni are officially recognized as a Traditional Agri-food Product (P.A.T.) of the Lazio region.

The sauce of the feast

The sauce that accompanies the maccaruni is one for special rural occasions: castrato meat, pork sausage, lard, and chicken giblets, slow-cooked traditionally in a copper pot over a fireplace, then finished with a generous grating of aged pecorino. It is a dish born for celebrations and long associated with the feast of Saint Roch, the village's patron saint. Eating it in the square during the festival is a way to reconnect with the original spirit of a community gathering together at the table.

What to expect at the festival

• Food stalls in Piazza dei Caduti, featuring maccaruni prepared by the local women as the main dish
• Other traditional Lepini cuisine and local products, paired with regional wines
• Live musical entertainment every evening, featuring local bands and dance orchestras
• Strolls through the medieval historic center, with its alleys, stairways, and views over the Sacco Valley
• A family-friendly crowd, including locals, returning residents, and visitors from neighboring towns

Part of the Gavignano Summer

The festival is not an isolated event; it is the highlight of the Gavignano Summer, a calendar of events organized by the Pro Loco of Gavignano and the Municipality every year between July and September. The same schedule includes the Historical Pageant of the Peasant Wedding, tastings of ancient flavors, the patronal celebrations of Saint Roch in mid-August with the town band and fireworks, poetry in the village, and traditional games. Visitors staying for a few days can enjoy multiple events.

Gavignano and the Lepini Mountains

Gavignano is a village of just over two thousand inhabitants perched on the Lepini Mountains, in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in Lazio, just over an hour from Rome. The town is known for being the birthplace of Lotario dei Conti di Segni, the future Pope Innocent III, and preserves the tower and traces of his family castle. The local ethno-anthropological museum tells the story of the peasant culture behind dishes like maccaruni. The surrounding Lepini countryside features olive groves, forests, and small historic towns worth a detour, such as Segni, Montelanico, and Carpineto Romano.

Why it is worth the trip

This is an authentic festival, free from tourist-trap artifice: you come for a dish that has been prepared here for centuries, and you stay for the atmosphere of a village square that becomes everyone's living room in the summer. Those who love the oldest traditions of Lazio cuisine, with its slow-cooked sauces and hand-rolled pasta, will find one of its purest expressions in Gavignano.