As mentioned in Part I, the activities in Ivrea went into high gear this past Saturday when this years Mugnaia, Irene Quaglia Ferraris was presented to the people from the balcony of the Municipal Center.  The piazza is always packed as are all the surrounding balconies.  The Mugnaia or “miller’s daughter is perhaps the most popular of the Carnevale characters.  She represents a woman named Violetta who as the legend goes was the prime mover of the revolt in 1194 in which the townspeople overthrew Count Raineri di Biandrate and destroyed his castle.  Violetta whose father ran one of the mills along the Dora River was betrothed to Toniotto.  Keep in mind that in those days there were certain rights and privileges the Count enjoyed over his subjects including new brides.  Violetta was not your ordinary subject and decided to take the offensive.  As the story goes she hid a dagger in her petticoats and at the critical moment cut off the Count’s head. The figure of Violetta has thus been for centuries the symbol of freedom from all forms of tyranny and dear to the hearts of all Ivreans.  Once the Mugnaia is presented by the Cancelliere and the crowds welcome her chanting “viva la mugnaia” she comes down to the piazza and is joined by her guards, the Generale, and his entourage.  Followed by the townspeople they lead a procession thru the 5 borgos (neighborhoods) of Ivrea which culminates in a fireworks display over the Dora River.  The evening continues with parties in each borgo and the Mugnaia hosts a dinner dance for the dignitaries, organizers and past Mugnaia’s.  As an aside, the records show that in 1879 the Mugnaia was one Agate Gilardini-Pistonato, I have to think she is somehow related because we were the only Gilardini family in Ivrea.

Sunday is a full day of events most noteworthy being the serving of the fagioli (beans) at various sites in the town.  This commemorates the distribution of food to the needy by the various Confraternities during the middle ages.  The afternoon begins with a parade thru the streets of each borgo, led by the Pifferi e Tamburi (fife and drum corps) the Generale and his staff, the Abbas on their ponies, and a gilded carriage with the Mugnaia and her attendants.  The rear of the parade is made up of  the carts of orange throwers which are pulled by teams of two or four horses decorated for the occasion.  They are followed by the 9 teams each made of 100’s of orange throwers who will participate in the Battaglia di Arance (the orange battles) in the various squares of the town.  The Battaglia di Arance represents the battle of the townspeople (those on foot) against the forces of the tyrants (those in the carts).  The battles are fierce and you sometimes wonder if perhaps the participants are taking it much too seriously, however, at the end of the day everyone shakes hands and walks away friends.  This part of Carnevale is exciting and has therefore become the most popular with the tourists and the foreign media.  There is a very good You Tube video at this link if you’d like to see it in action.  To be continued. (Click on any picture in this post to see an expanded view.)