Saint Blaise Festival in Vivaro Romano

The patronal feast of Vivaro Romano

Every year in early February, the Municipality of Vivaro Romano—one of the smallest villages in the Metropolitan City of Rome, in the Lazio region—gathers to honor its patron saint, Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr. The liturgical feast falls on February 3rd, and around this date, the village experiences the most heartfelt moment of its winter calendar: a solemn mass in the parish church dedicated to the saint, followed on Sunday by a large community lunch organized by the Pro Loco.

Saint Blaise, protector of the throat

Saint Blaise, a bishop who lived between the 3rd and 4th centuries, is venerated throughout Italy as the protector of the throat: according to tradition, he saved a child who was choking on a fish bone. In many Italian towns, his feast is accompanied by the blessing of the throats of the faithful and the distribution of blessed bread and sweets. In Vivaro Romano, the saint is also invoked to protect the agricultural and pastoral activities that have defined life in this mountain territory for centuries.

The Parish Church of Saint Blaise

The heart of the festival is the Parish Church of Saint Blaise, Bishop and Martyr, part of the Diocese of Tivoli and Palestrina. The current building, consecrated on August 5, 1910, was commissioned by Cardinal Angelo Di Pietro, an illustrious son of Vivaro Romano, who entrusted the design to architect Costantino Sneider and the decoration to painters Silvio Galimberti and Eugenio Cisterna; the interior is inspired by the Sienese-Pisan style. The new church replaced a 17th-century building that had become too small for a population that at the time exceeded a thousand inhabitants.

The Pro Loco Saint Blaise lunch

Beyond the religious dimension, the festival is primarily a moment of conviviality. The Pro Loco of Vivaro Romano organizes a traditional indoor lunch by reservation, which in the 2025 edition featured a typical mountain menu: mountain-style appetizers, fettuccine with meat sauce, and sausage with seasonal vegetables, all accompanied by wine and water. It is an opportunity to taste local products and gather around the table in the heart of winter.

A mountain village at the gates of Rome

Vivaro Romano is a village of about 150 inhabitants at 756 meters above sea level in the Monti Carseolani, on the border between Lazio and Abruzzo, about fifty kilometers from Rome. The town preserves the remains of the Borghese Castle, whose origins date back to around 1012, as well as ancient fountains and 19th-century mills. The Saint Blaise Festival is the ideal occasion to discover this authentic and secluded corner of the Roman province, far from the most beaten tourist paths.

A community that reunites

As in many small towns in the Apennines, the patronal feast is much more than a folkloric event: it is the day when those who have emigrated to Rome and elsewhere return to the village, families reunite, and the community reaffirms its identity. The Pro Loco, together with the parish and the Festival Committee, preserves this tradition year after year, blending spirituality with gastronomic culture.