Location
Palermo
Start Date
27-6-2025 9:30 AM
End Date
27-6-2025 11:00 AM
Description
This paper describes a case study of a “pilgrimage”: the Red Cross (RC) torchlight procession of Solferino. This “tradition,” born twenty years ago, represents a fundamental moment of the RC-RC Movement year after year, bringing thousands of members worldwide to Castiglione delle Stiviene yearly. It is vital because many members from around the globe return to the origins as a refreshment of the movement's principles memory. The “fiaccolata” goes from Solferino (RC Memorial) to Castiglione delle Stiviere. It represents the way of the people who, after the battle of Solferino (2406/1859), brought almost all wounded soldiers from the battlefield to the “first aid places” in Castiglione. The “fiaccolata” is a recording of the rescue action from which the idea of the RC Movement was born. During the weekend, around the Fiaccolata, many RC activities were organised: concerts, visits to the RC Museum, courses, and meetings for the RC governance members.
This paper considers three parts:
A description of the tradition’s birth through the words of the inventor of the Fiaccolata
An analysis of the “number” of the Fiaccolata
An analysis of why people participate in the Fiaccolata?” This last part will be described through interviews with some participants.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21427/4scd-5f17
Included in
H3) The “Tradition” of the Torchlight Procession of Solferino (Fiaccolata di Solferino).
Palermo
This paper describes a case study of a “pilgrimage”: the Red Cross (RC) torchlight procession of Solferino. This “tradition,” born twenty years ago, represents a fundamental moment of the RC-RC Movement year after year, bringing thousands of members worldwide to Castiglione delle Stiviene yearly. It is vital because many members from around the globe return to the origins as a refreshment of the movement's principles memory. The “fiaccolata” goes from Solferino (RC Memorial) to Castiglione delle Stiviere. It represents the way of the people who, after the battle of Solferino (2406/1859), brought almost all wounded soldiers from the battlefield to the “first aid places” in Castiglione. The “fiaccolata” is a recording of the rescue action from which the idea of the RC Movement was born. During the weekend, around the Fiaccolata, many RC activities were organised: concerts, visits to the RC Museum, courses, and meetings for the RC governance members.
This paper considers three parts:
A description of the tradition’s birth through the words of the inventor of the Fiaccolata
An analysis of the “number” of the Fiaccolata
An analysis of why people participate in the Fiaccolata?” This last part will be described through interviews with some participants.