Founding day of Rome (21/04)

Founding Day of Rome (Natale di Roma) — April 21, a civil holiday that is not a public holiday. But this is a very interesting and colorful festival. On Rome's birthday, a symbolic opening of the city's gates is made so that both the inhabitants of Rome and numerous tourists can enter them. The celebration usually lasts several days.

According to legend, Rome was founded by Romulus on May 11 (April 21), 753 BC.

Since 2004, as part of the holiday, the «Goddess of Rome» competition has been held, in which contestants from 18 to 30 years old who live in Italy or countries that were once part of the Roman Empire can participate. Girls must try to embody the ideal of Roman female beauty and spiritual qualities.



After the election of the «Goddess of Rome», a ceremony is held to light the sacred fire at the Temple of Hercules. The ceremony itself is called Palilia. The performance begins with a story about the origin of Palilia: «vestalks were the priestesses of the goddess Vesta, the keeper of fire and the hearth...».

The purpose of the Vestals was to maintain the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta, which was located on the Roman Forum and was a round sanctuary. Unfortunately, now you can only see a fragment of the building and several statues on pedestals. Therefore, the Temple of Hercules, which is also called the Temple of Vesta due to their similarity, was chosen for presentation.



One of the most important rites of the Vestals was Palilia —, a celebration dedicated to the goddess of cattle breeding and agriculture Pales. Subsequently, this was joined by the celebration of the anniversary of the founding of Rome, and then Palilia was completely forgotten, and on April 21 only the «Birth of Rome» began to be celebrated.

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