Penelope lives in Umbria

by Silvia Matricardi

All of you surely know who Penelope is. Just to remind: she is a character of Greek mythology, the wife of Ulisses, the symbol of conjugal faithfulness.

She left happily in Itaca island with her husband until he left her to go fight in the Troy War and she waited 20 years for his return.

During his long absence the island was occupied by Proci, some nobles who asked her hand in marriage; she avoided to give a response by assessing that she had to weave a shroud for her husband’s father and she wouldn’t take another husband until she finished her work. Therefore, for several years, she would weave during the day e un-weave at night; until her husband returned, killed the Proci and got back to his life with her.

But maybe not all of you know that Penelope lives in Umbria too. Better to say, there are many Penelopes in the world and some of them, with different names, of course, left in Umbria centuries ago, while some still do. We are talking about women who are deeply-rooted in their land, who remain faithful to the things they love, whether they are a man or a tradition their mothers and grandmothers have handed on to them; and they take care of these things, doing their best to cherish them and to keep them alive.
We found Penelope in Rasiglia, an hamlet in Umbria at about 18 km from Foligno. It is a pleasant spot indeed: protected by the mountain which contributes to its relative isolation, it stands on a spring at the base of a mansion that once belonged to the Trinci dynasty, when it used to reign over Foligno territory. Tons of water flow through the village with incredible strength, infiltrating through the ancient buildings, emerging and then disappearing, to emerge again somewhere else with all of their vital force. The atmosphere is truly medieval and the constant flowing of the water resounds all over the village, making it a really unique place.
The abundance of water has contributed, through the centuries, to the economic development of the village: the inhabitants, most of whom were millers, learned how to exploit this precious resource by creating watermills for wheat, fulling-mills and woollen mills. But they were also shepherds and they used to work wool; therefore, since ancient times, Rasiglia women dedicated themselves to the art of weaving. One of the two main woollen mills belonged to the Tonti family: their memories of ancient times are gathered in the book “Vita col padre Umberto Tonti” in which they tell their real-life experience as millers and the story and traditions of Rasiglia community.

Wool would be spinned, died and woven through complex and laborious steps, until cloth was ready to be sold or to be transformed into beautiful coverlets, decorated with traditional drawings.
Some of Rasiglia women use ancient methods of weaving still today and (which is really interesting!) they are ready to open their houses’ doors to whoever is interested in knowing more about this art, in order to show their masterpieces and their production methods. It’s the case of Tonti family which also this year, on April 24th and 25th, was the protagonist of the event 'Penelope a Rasiglia' , which represents a unique occasion to watch old hand looms at work and to witness the different phases of the ancient art of weaving.
Unfortunately we could not be there this year, but our friend Corinna Tonti told us what happened: “Our family owns 4 traditional looms dating back to the end of 19th / beginning of 20th century and on April 24th and 25th it has been possible to see one of them working; we also showed a wide private collection of original tools. All around the village the guests could watch several activities going on: photographic exhibitions, display of old blankets and linen sets, shearing of sheep and theatre performances. Many visitors came, especially on Sunday, and the event has been very successful, thanks also to the sunny weather”. The good news is that Tonti family is available to show their activity and tools to interested visitors all year long.

As we said, the art of weaving is deeply rooted in Umbrian popular tradition: it is said that the fairies who used to live in these woods were skilled weavers. We don’t know if these fairies ever existed, maybe they were just women with a “magic touch”; what we know, though, is that when you arrive in Rasiglia you enter a secluded place, protected by rocks and woods, made of stone, of water coming out amongst houses and disappearing again, lullabied by the constant sound of water flowing, which covers any other worldly noise. A sort of magic atmosphere where ancient traditions come alive.