Memories from the Grand Tour on the Appia Unesco. In Morcone the Grand Ball of the Hydrangeas

by Fiorella Franchini

The Regina Viarum, the first and most important of the great roads built by the Romans to connect Rome to Capua and Southern Italy, returns to the forefront thanks to numerous initiatives that celebrate its immense cultural value. On July 5 and 6, the village of Morcone, in the province of Benevento, will host historical dances, workshops and shows between history, customs and psycho-physical well-being as part of the 2nd Edition of the “RaRo Festival of Creative and Cultural Work” . The event is part of the experiential tourism project “Memories from the Grand Tour on the Appian Way Unesco”, conceived by the associations ISIDIS ROUTE & AEMDanza . Active in a network from Rome to Puglia, they promote social physical activity in historical settings, with the aim of combining psycho-physical well-being, sport and identity formation, enhancing good practices for personal health and the protection of heritage. The Appian Way represents a brilliant intuition: cutting-edge engineering solutions, construction and management expertise made it a crossroads of civilizations, rich in monuments and knowledge, without equal. Bridges, viaducts, tunnels ensured a rapid route, through numerous natural obstacles and many works are still passable today. Its legal status was also innovative: via publica, exempt from tolls and at the service of the entire community. Equipped with sidewalks and milestones and regular post stations, these roads were the conduits of Roman civilization and continued to unite cultures even in modern times, after the papal and Bourbon restorations and the inclusion among Napoleon's strategic itineraries.

It was the travellers of the Grand Tour who rediscovered its charm and beauty. In Morcone, Petronilla Liucci, president of ISIDIS ROUTE , an Experiential Tourism Operator, will read extracts from Mariana Starke's travel reports, and chronicles of customs from 1843 and 1846, taken from ancient texts exhibited thanks to a private collector. History will be intertwined with the reading of some letters by JF Champollion, the scholar who deciphered the hieroglyphic writing of the ancient Egyptians and the obelisks of the Temple of Isis in Benevento.

This will be followed by the presentation of period dresses, replicas of the 19th century models “Tenues de soirée”, and the AEMDanza Tutor Staff who will guide visitors in experimenting with historical dance on the morning of July 6. A workshop on the art of “Silk Flowers” ​​will be curated by Professor Ada Rossi , President of the Pink Stone Association, fashion teacher at the ISGC Falco di Capua. Grand finale on the evening of July 6th with the “Gran Ballo delle Ortensie”: a collective dance in historical costume, embellished by the beautiful singing of the Roman ensemble “ I Cimbali ” with the soprano Olimpia Pagni and the tenors Marco Ciardo and Yari Molinari. For 2300 years the Appian Way has welcomed writers, painters, poets and travellers, conveying ideas, works, testimonies and memories. A cultural, material and immaterial experience, open to all, which supports Benevento's candidacy as " Capital of Culture 2028 ", a driving force for economic and social progress. As Robert Anson Heinlein wrote: "a generation that ignores history has no past... nor future".