facchini running to their positions under the macchina at the start of festival of the macchina of Santa Rosa Viterbo Rome Italy
Every year on the 3rd of September the town of Viterbo in Lazio, Italy, celebrates its patron saint, Santa Rosa - Saint Rose -. Around one hundred men, known as the facchini, transport an enormous tower, 28 metres tall and weighing 5 tonnes, illuminated with 3000 tiny electric lights and 880 candles, on their backs through the darkened streets of the town for a distance of 1200 metres. This tower is the macchina - machine - di - of - Santa Rosa. The tradition dates from 1258 when Pope Alexander IV had the saint's body exhumed after she appeared in a dream which led him to her unmarked grave. The first real machine did not appear until 1664 as a mark of gratitude by the towns' people for having survived a seven year plague. Aspirants to the job of transporting the machine have to be able to carry 150 kilograms over 80 metres, and once selected ususally proudly carry on year after year for twenty years or more.
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Photo credit: © Stephen Bisgrove / Alamy / Afripics
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