The main church of Trecastagni - with a newly refurbished exterior!
The three brothers.
Our town is supposedly named for three brothers, although "tre castagni" really means "three chestnuts". Every year the garlic harvest coincides with the celebration of the martyrdom of the three brothers, so there is a very large festival. Our town is not huge by any means, but there were at least one hundred food stalls and market booths out in the streets including a dozen selling large bunches of garlic for about a Euro each! The festival started on Friday and ends tomorrow. Last night was the largest event with many people recreating the march of the three brothers from Catania into Trecastagni carrying large pedestals and candles. The procession ends at the town church, which is decorated with icons of the brothers and beautiful murals and mosaics. We didn't get to go into the church, however. We were wearing shorts, and in Italy most churches will not allow you in so we didn't even try! [Upper arms and most of the legs have to be covered (remember this if you are ever touring in Italy in the summer - a lot of the famous cathedrals and churches will turn you away!)]. We did, however, walk through the streets and take lots of pictures. As usual the festivities are followed EVERY evening by a rather loud (we live only two blocks from the main square) and ambitious fireworks display. A small display is usually set off around 0730 with a much, much larger one around 0930. What a joy to hear that every single night like clockwork.
