In the month of December, every year since time immemorial, the Portico dei Servi becomes crowded with stalls in the traditional Santa Lucia Fair
In the beginning, at the fair you could find figurines and nativity scene decorations, as well as typical Bolognese Christmas sweets such as the legendary mistocchine recalled by old chronicles.
Riccardo Bacchelli describes them in his memoire Ritorno sotto i portici, in a nostalgic mood:
Do they still prepare mistocchine in Bologna? They were a sort of small round buns, made with a mixture of wheat flour and chestnut flour, if my memory serves me. I say if my memory serves me because I didn't like the taste at all and I never ate them. The fragrance, however, was extremely pleasant and tempting, and a large part of the porticoes of Bologna were invaded and cheered by them. In fact, a tasty mistocchina has to be just taken off the charcoal stove…
Ten years of modern stalls
In 2012, to modernise and give a more homogeneous imprint to the stalls, the Order of Architects of Bologna, on the initiative of ASCOM (Association of local traders), organised a competition for the creation of a standard stall. The contest was won by Rome-based architect Roberto Bianchi who designed modular stands thanks to the aggregation of wooden modules. The closing system consists of a perforated panel with a decoration that slides upwards. The same decoration is also present on the back of the stall in order to create an attraction for people passing by on Strada Maggiore, who formerly were bound to face a poorly maintained rear side.
Since 2014, therefore for 10 years now, the Fair has been enriched with this added value.
Today the merchandise categories one can find at the fair have expanded and the mistocchine are no longer there, but a stroll to the Fiera di Santa Lucia remains a very lively tradition for both Bolognese and tourists.
Sources
Image credit: P.Bondi per BW - bwelcome.it/creditsit
For the contest of the Order of Architects: https://www.archibo.it/news/santalucia