The Festa della Madonna della Neve takes place on August 5 in honour of the exceptionally unseasonal and “miraculous” snowfall that occurred on Esquiline Hill during the 4th century.
Locals and visitors participate in a special mass dedicated to the occasion, before witnessing a delicate and majestic shower of white rose petals dance down from the dome and through the air onto a mesmerised congregation, replicating the ancient miracle.
After the rose petals have made their way to the ground, the mass of devotees separates, and families return in a procession to their own district to carry on the celebrations.
So what’s the story behind the tradition?
Well, while there are two versions, both are strikingly similar and both take place on August 5, AD 352.
The first version tells that the Madonna appeared in Pope Liberio’s dream on the night before the miracle, advising him to build a Church where fresh snow would lie in the morning.
The next day, on August 5, AD 352, a blanket of snow covered the Esquiline Hill in Rome, and the Pope followed the Madonna’s instructions, building a Church in her name where the snow fell.
The second version of the story involves an elderly Roman couple with no children who were unsure about what to do with their wealth and estate.
The couple prayed fervently to the Madonna, asking her to advise them on how to spend their wealth in a way that honoured their faith, and that night, the Virgin Mary appeared in their dreams, counselling them to build a Church in her name where snow fell overnight.
The next morning, the elderly man visited Pope Liberio to explain his prophetic dream, and the Pope exclaimed that the Madonna had also visited him in his dreams, delivering the same message.
And so the Church was built.
Whichever story you choose to believe, this miraculous event has sparked an age-old religious tradition within the community of Rome, and has even spread to other cities and regions along the peninsula.
In addition to the widespread August festivities, the tradition lives on through myriad buildings and groups named after the 'Madonna of the Snow', while popular girls’ names such as Biancamaria and Maria Nives are commonly given to daughters across Italy.
