The delicious sea village of Marinucchio
is a quite classic fishermen village, even if nobody of the inhabitants
never went to sea fishing, since they are frightened by water
and nobody of them can swim.
Marinucchio has however a flourishing fish market, dealing in
particular with anchovies, based on an ingenious activity of the
villagers, who buy canned anchovies
in oil, then drain and dry them, and they sell them as fresh
ones.
Anyway the huge exchanges' level in the market does not generate
high yields because both the vendors and the purchasers are villagers,
and the anchovies which are exchanged are always the same ones,
until they disintegrate themselves.
What to see
In the central square of the village can be admired the monument
to the local hero, Marino Pinna, the first Marinucchiese who dared
to defy the sea walking barefoot on the water line.
On the square rises also the parochial church dedicated to Saint
Alice, patron of Marinucchio; inside the church is sheltered the
sacred image of the "Virgin of the
scales", venerated by the villagers as a protector of
the fishermen, in the case that someone would decide to undertake
this activity.
Miraculous powers are attributed to the sacred image, like the
healing of a villager who in the 1908 had an thumb wounded by
a can-opener.
In the right aisle of the church rises the statue of Saint
Peter the fisherman, erected to thank for the liberation of
the village from a insidious representative of canned tunny, who
tried to corrupt the sound customs of Marinucchio, but thanks
to the miraculous intervention of the Saint was unmasked and sent
away.
Popular festivities
and traditions
The most important Marinucchiese popular festivity is the feast
of Saint Alice, that culminates with the traditional ceremony
of "Wedding of the sea", similar to the homonymous Venetian
festivity. The doyen of the village, Felice Pesce, also known
as "Magellan", the only one of the villagers who is
not frightened by the water (even if it give him some trouble),
goes at the end of Marinucchio pier, and drops into the sea one
by one all the empty anchovy cans which have been opened in the
past year, as a pledge of alliance with the sea.
Another popular feast of the village is April 1st, when
jokes are played with anchovy cans, which are emptied out, and
then filled up again with mackerels, delighting then in the astonishment
of the victims of the joke as they open the cans.
For Easter the village celebrates the end of the Lent period,
with its abstinence from meat, and the villagers exchange the
Easter eggs with surprise, that have the particularity to be opened
with the key.
For Christmas, instead, the families gather around the traditional
tree, with its characteristic fish-bone shape, and gifts are exchanged.
Handicraft
The Marinucchiese handicraft is famous in the region for its jewels
(necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets), made with anchovy-bones.
Other likeable objects are the fancy boxes
made with empty anchovy cans, the lovely tiny plush anchovies
and the funny T-shirts bearing writings like "Herrings? No,
thanks!" or "Fish you were here".
Gastronomy
In Marinucchio the availability of fish gastronomic specialties
is limited to the periods in which the boats re-enter from the
fishings, and therefore it is extremely improbable.
The main course of the Marinucchiese cooking are cakes: in particular
anchovy meringues, anchovy tiramisù, anchovy pudding and
strawberries and anchovies tart.
Other specialty of the country, famous in the world, is the Acciughello, an anchovy liqueur, with
miraculous digestive properties.
Events
In Marinucchio takes place the most important world-wide fair
for collectors of canned anchovies in oil, and moreover the annual
trade-fair "Fieralice" to which the most important cannery
industries of the fishery sector take part.
Hospitality
The Marinucchiese hospitality is some improved as the villagers
began to use tooth-paste for their dental hygiene, instead of
anchovy paste. To organize boat
trips it's however advisable to address to the other villages
of the coast.
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last updated: June 6th 2009