The Fair in San Casciano,

The fair is held from 9 to 16th August in San Casciano, in Via Barbaiano on the square of the beautiful Romanesque parish church. It is dedicated to the martyred saint Cassiano, who taught grammar, rhetoric and shorthand to the pagan students of Imola and was killed by them for the evangelical activity he carried out through his skills and commitment to education. His students used his teaching tools, tablets and stencils, to beat him to death.

From the Middle Ages until the post-war period, the St Casciano Fair (13 August) was a milestone for the farming world. It is the oldest fair in the Pisan plain, the occasion for the exchange and sale of animals, agricultural tools and vegetables. In particular, the seasonal price of onions was fixed during the fair. It is from this peculiarity (and from some refreshing rain at the time) that the fair’s motto was born: ‘San Cascian delle cipolle, ci vai asciutto e torni molle’ (San Cascian onions, you go dry and come back soft).