Night of the Candles of Lenola

A village that turns off to light up

There are events that can be described with numbers and others that can only be understood when you are in the middle of them. The Night of the Candles of Lenola belongs to the second category. At sunset, on a midsummer evening, the Municipality of Lenola performs a gesture as simple as it is radical: it switches off the public lighting of the entire historic center. In its place, tens of thousands of candles are lit, one by one. In the most recent edition, there were about thirty thousand, spread over an area of twenty thousand square meters.

The result is a village that changes its nature. The outlines of the alleys soften, the facades of the houses lose their details and gain depth, and the stairways become cascades of light. Those who have been there say that the first thing that strikes you is not so much what you see, but the sudden silence that accompanies the switching off of the lights — and then the buzz that resumes, different, lower.

Lenola, between the Ausoni Mountains and the sea

Lenola is a small town in the province of Latina, in southern Lazio, perched on the slopes of the Ausoni Mountains a short distance from the Gulf of Gaeta. It is part of the territory of the Regional Natural Park of the Ausoni Mountains and Lake Fondi, an area of Mediterranean scrub, olive groves, and paths that rises rapidly from the Pontine plain towards the hinterland. The village retains a compact medieval layout, with a network of alleys that climbs up to panoramic points overlooking the valley.

Two places in particular become protagonists during the illuminated night: the Stairway of Peace, which with its sequence of steps lends itself to spectacular light compositions, and the Basilica Sanctuary of Santa Maria del Colle, the main devotional reference point of the town, which dominates the inhabited area and is included in the route.

How the setup is born

The peculiarity of the event lies in the method. There is no setup imposed from above: each family in the historic center receives a quantity of candles — about four hundred and fifty per household — and decides independently how to arrange them in front of their home, on the windowsill, along the steps, or in the courtyard. The overall design of the illuminated village is therefore the sum of hundreds of individual choices, different every year.

• Collective lighting announced by a pyrotechnic signal
• Simultaneous switching off of public lighting in the historic center
• Creative installations curated by families, associations, and volunteers
• Free, one-way path through alleys, squares, and stairways

Shows, music, and gastronomy

The path of light is not a silent walk: along the squares and main streets, there are street performers, fire and juggling performances, violin duos, live harp, musical groups, street comedy theater, and entertainment moments. The stations are distributed in such a way as to stagger the flow of visitors and ensure that those walking encounter a different show at every stop.

Accompanying the route are food areas and fixed refreshment points managed by local businesses, where you can taste typical products and specialties of the Pontine territory and the Ausoni Mountains. Among the initiatives introduced in recent editions is a Poste Italiane desk with a dedicated postcard and the official philatelic cancellation of the event.

A rapidly growing event

The Night of the Candles debuted in 2019 with about ten thousand candles. In a few years, the number has tripled, and the event has become a draw that goes far beyond the municipal borders, attracting visitors from all over the province of Latina, the Frosinone area, and lower Lazio. The organization is by the Associazione Pro Loco Lenola APS, with the patronage of the Municipality of Lenola and the collaboration of public bodies and cultural institutions, including the Regional Natural Park of the Ausoni Mountains and Lake Fondi.

Tips for your visit

Admission is free. As it is a historic village with narrow alleys and significant elevation changes, it is essential to wear comfortable shoes and take into account uphill sections and steps. The recurring advice from the organizers is to arrive well before the lighting time: the sight of the village still illuminated normally, followed by the darkness and then the light of the candles, is an integral part of the experience.