Luminara: June 16th Festival of Lights in Pisa
The evening of June 16th an exciting festival of lights "Luminara" will take place in the nearby city of Pisa! It is easy to reach Pisa from Siena by train, less than 2 hours door-to-door. (find train schedules at http://www.trenitalia.com/
Luminara's celebrations are in honor of Pisa's patron saint, Ranieri, whose saint's day is the following day (June 17).
The culminating event is a big fireworks show (starting around 11:30pm) which are launched from the Citadel and (in recent years) also from barges in the Arno River. In addition, thousands of lights and candles light up Pisa's main canal and bridges on the evening of Luminara. The city's municipal street lights are turned off creating an enchanting, flickering atmosphere in the historic city center. Because of it's historic and cultural importance, the City of Pisa has included the celebrations of Lumina in the city's UNESCO listing of "patrimonio immateriale" it's intangible heritage.
For more info:
http://www.comune.pisa.it/it/default/14654/luminara-san-ranieri.html
Luminara images c/o wikipedia
Lisa Nonken
Drawing Teacher
