SAINT BARTHOLOMEW AND THE WATERMELON

written by Sergio Caggìa with Paul Gwynne for © Nerone the Insider's Guide to Rome

 

The feast of Saint Bartholnmew, 24 August, is a double celebration. Not only in the saint remembered but he is linked, rather unusually you may think, with another festival: that of the watermelon or, as it is called in Italian, the Cocomero! On this day, in front of the church dedicated to saint Bartholomew on Tiber island, these weighty green fruits, whole or in grinning red/green slices were exhibited. It's easy to immagine the little piazza in times gone by full of people at this summer festival, with experts rapping on the fruit to test whether the fruit is fresh and then asking for a wedge. Some buy slices and eat them while sitting on the riverbank or on the steps of the church, while others, perhaps more devout, pay reverence to the saint whose remains are kept in the church. Children would be encouraged to dive into the Tiber to retrieve a watermelon that have been thrown in on purpose.    It was a dangerous game, not only because of the low level of the water, but also becouse of the rapidity of the current and the number of water mills that once stood along the banks. The marble enbankments which can be seen today were, in fact, only built at the end of the last century in order to stem the lood waters. Floods were indeed frequent. There are many signs around town on the walls of houses marking the level the water reached, together with the month and the year of the particular flood. The oldest record is incribed under the arch that can be found along Via del Banco di Santo Spirito. It recalls of the flood of 1277!! A more recent record of the last flood can be found in a wooden green kiosk in the shade of the tower at the northen extremity of the Ponte Milvio (or Milvian Bridge, which crosses the Tiber at the north of the city and which is famous for its remarkable age and for being the scenary of the famous battle between the emperors Constantine and Maxentius). In the little bar by the tower of Ponte Milvio you can find on the wall two black & white photographs of the surrounding area completely under water. There are many stories connected with the floods in Rome, enough probably for a book (see for example The Candelora's day of 1703). The church of Saint Bartholomew, built on the ruins of a Roman teple to the god Aesculapius, was also destroyed in the terrible flood of 1557.    Indeed only the Romanesque belfry has survived from the original church. There are a number of stories connected with the origins of Tiber island. Here's just one... In 293 B.C. a terrible plague broke out in Rome. As a result the Romans sent for an image of Aesculapius, the god of medicine, from Athens. The image came complete with a snake, a symbol associated with the god. As the boat was sailing up the Tiber towards Rome the snake escaped and disappeared onto Tiber island. This was taken as a sign that the god had chosen this place as his dwelling place and a temple was built in honour of the god. Since then the island has been associated with the cure of sick. This was also a way of keeping contagious diseases isolated. Later the church of Saint Bartholomew was constructed over the remains of the temple, thereby associating the saint with the god of medicine. Indeed the oldest hospital in London, St Bart's in the heart of "the City", is also dedicated to Saint Bartholomew. After many vicissitudes the flayed body of Saint Bartholomew was brought to Rome. Michelangelo depicts the saint holding his own skin in his Last Judgement in the Sistine Chaple. Indeed the tortured artist portrayed himself in the flayed skin held by the saint. Well, this watermelon has rolled on far enough. I'd better stop and leave you with your slice of Cocomero.