Feast of Sant’Ubaldo – Piagge Market fair | Pisa

The feast of Saint Ubaldo has ancient and solemn origins to the point that in the past it was held in the presence of the highest ecclesiastical authorities with a crowd of pilgrims arriving in Pisa to receive a blessing. St Ubaldo is in fact still invoked today to intercede and ward off the devil and evils of the mind.
Dates 2023: 19-21 May

For 43 years, in mid-May, the Piagge avenue has come alive with a thousand colours for the Fair dedicated to him, also known as ‘Piagge Week’. The tree-lined avenue from the Ponte della Vittoria to the Church (about 2 km) is closed to traffic to make way for more than a hundred stalls and stands displaying mainly in prepared areas: FOODS, CRAFTS, GENERAL TECHNICAL AND SERVICES, EXTERIOR

This year the event has been further enriched. The locations that will host the event will be the Church of San Michele degli Scalzi, the amphitheatre of the SMS exhibition centre, the green space of the SMS municipal library, Mau Park, the Fire Brigade barracks, Lanteri Cinema, and the Church of San Jacopo e Filippo. Alongside the cultural events, the main protagonists of the event will remain the horticultural and nursery-gardening companies that will exhibit plants, seeds, equipment and publications for gardening and vegetable growing.
See full programme on page

Who was Saint Ubaldo: Ubaldo Baldassini was born around 1085 into a family of German origin in Umbria. When his father Rovaldo died, the young Ubaldo was entrusted to his uncle who initiated him into religious life, which he undertook with such fervour that he was appointed bishop of Gubbio. He distinguished himself for his constant fight against corruption and his prayers were credited with stopping the fury of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa who had arrived at the city gates. Patron saint of the city of Gubbio, Saint Ubaldo became a reference point of faith far beyond the Umbrian border. In popular tradition, the saint is attributed with the ability to heal ills of the mind and intercede to ward off the devil. The Saint’s devotion in San Michele degli Scalzi in Pisa dates back to the late 18th century.