Venice, 25th April

On April, 25 Italy celebrates the anniversary of the liberation of the nation from nazi-fascism in 1945, but Venice also celebrates Saint Mark, the city’s patron saint. It is even the occasion of the traditional “Rosebud Festival” (Venitian dialect, Festa del Bòcolo), when men in Venice give their loved ones a single red rosebud as a symbol of their undying

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Inside the legend…

Story goes that in the second half of the IX century, when Duke Orso I Partecipazio was the head of the Serenissima Republic of Venice, his beautiful daughter Maria, named Vulcana after her brilliant eyes, fell in love with Tancredi, a young troubadour. But the Duke did not accept the young man’s low social standing and Maria convinced him to go to war against the Moors of Spain so that he could fight heroic deeds and come back to Venice rich of fame. But fate was bitter. The proud Tancredi was wounded in a battle and fell dying on a shrub of white rosebuds. His blood painted one of those buds red. Before dying, the young man asked his faithful friend Paladin Orlando to bring his beloved Maria in Venice the red rosebud as a sign of his eternal love. Crying for her Tancredi, the young girl hold the rosebud on her chest and fell asleep. The next day she was found lying dead on her bed hugging the flower tightly. It was April 25, since then a day in the heart of the Venitian tradition.