Italy's beloved summer holiday, Ferragosto, has Ancient Roman roots

On 15 August, the whole country heads to the beach regardless of the traffic jam inconveniences

15 August is also known as the Feast of the Assumption, marking the belief that on this day the Virgin Mary ascended to Heaven. In both Catholic and Orthodox Christian countries, this holiday is the most important one during the summer. And Italy, being the centre of Catholicism, is no exception with the holiday popularly known as Ferragosto there.

However, rather than head to the churches en masse, Italians partake in a rather worldly hobby instead, they head to the beach…again en masse. Where does this tradition come from? Probably even most Italians wouldn’t be able to explain.

Before we delve into that, let’s explore the origins of Ferragosto. It might actually be one of the earliest known public holidays on record. Feriae Augusti refers to the day of rest introduced by Rome’s first emperor Octavian Augustus in 18 BC. Curiously, however, it was marked on 1 August during the pre-Christian period.

When Christianity became the official state religion in the Empire, the Church had to get creative to gain acceptance, so it attached religious festivities to old pagan ones in order to avoid rejection and resentment. In this case, Feriae Augusti was kept as well but it was moved to 15 August becoming the Feast of the Assumption. It looks like collective memory is strong, though, and the original name of the holiday never quite perished.

Mussolini’s connection to Ferragosto

Throughout history beach culture and leisure tourism weren’t a thing, so the custom of escaping to the nearest beach with your whole family is a much more recent addition – dating back to the 1920’s and Mussolini’s fascist government.

The aim of his administration was to popularize holidaying among the working class. For this reason, the authorities even offered discounted rail tickets to the coast.

During these train trips, it became common for people to bring their own home food since eating out was seen as a luxury.

It used to be that all shops, businesses and museums would shut down during Ferragosto, these days the demands of tourism and the rise of the middle class have forced many entrepreneurs to rethink that habit and instead make bank on that day.

What has stayed on and gotten worse over the years are the traffic jams on the roads leading in and out of the seaside.