MedFest, in Lecco the Middle Ages are staged: from monks’ songs to period banquets

A step back in time, a journey into the past that retraces more than a thousand years of history. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the discovery of America: the hymns of Saint Ambrose, the construction of the Milan Cathedral, the invention of Gothic, Gregorian chant. Boccaccio and Christine de Pizan, architects, monks, warriors, common people. An immersive experience in the Middle Ages thanks to the first edition of the MedFest, scheduled in Lecco and in the most evocative places in the Larian area from 8 to 20 September: 12 days, 15 appointmentsmoments dedicated to schools, music, theater, cinema and cuisine.

The songs of the Cistercian monks will resonate to Villa Monastero of Varennawhile the convent of Santa Maria Nascente di Sabbioncello in Merate will be the stage of the national premiere of “A city all to itself” with Elisabetta Vergani and Sara Calvanelli, freely taken from “The city of ladies” by Christine de Pizan, the first woman writer, whose story was discovered and enhanced by Alessandro Barbero.

The leitmotif of the program, at the center of this first edition, the abbey of Cluny, the largest of Christendom, the remains of which arise in Mâcon in Burgundy, a city twinned with Lecco. The song, the priory system, the figures of Abelard, Eloisa and Peter the Venerable, and, almost in contrast, the new spirituality of the Cistercians, born as an alternative to the Cluniac model: these are the themes that echo in the stages of the festival, organized by Res Music with the contribution of the Municipality of Lecco and the Live Art Support Fund, the collaboration of the Lecco delegation of You dothe provincial administration and the patronage of the Lombardy Region.

«A multifaceted event that rediscovers the hidden places of our territory – he explains Ancilla Oggioniartistic director of the Festival, together with Gerolamo Fazzini and Angelo Rusconi -. MedFest2022 wants to be the number zero of a great project: to systematize the extraordinary heritage of the Romanesque Larian through a program of initiatives that enhance it, making words, music and gestures resound that illuminate the era and the function for which these places were built “. “An initiative that looks beyond borders and takes shape thanks to the activation of networks between institutions”, the words of deputy mayor of the Larian capital Simona Piazza.

It begins Thursday 8 September at 9 pm at the Palazzo delle Paure in Lecco with the conference by Glauco Maria Cantarella «The Knights of Heaven-The monks of Cluny». Therefore, Friday 9 September the first of many concerts: at Villa Manzoni the protagonist will be theEnsemble Sensus with the songs of the Jewish communities of the Mediterranean. Always a Villa Manzoni is on schedule on September 15th a medieval dinner. Scheduled events at the Casa del Pellegrino in Civate (il Decameron rewritten by Aldo Busi, with Mino Manni, edited by the FAI of Lecco), and in the he asked for Olcio and Galbiate. The entire program is available on www.medfestlombardia.com. Events are free with reservations required.