The snails with sauce are a traditional dish of the evening of June 24, feast of San Giovanni, when in Civitavecchia is organized “la lumacata”, with large tables and large pots of snails prepared by cooks and people. The snail, lunar symbol, known since ancient times, indicates regeneration, rebirth and therefore is the protagonist of one of the shortest nights of the year. Eating snails, whose horns represented discord and worry, meant destroying adversity.
The feast ended at dawn, when the pope went to Saint John to celebrate Mass, after which he threw gold and silver coins from the loggia of the basilica, to the delight of all present.
