Crescia Oven

Documents tell us that a public oven had been in operation in Stacciola since the 1700s, which the community used to bake the basic necessity: bread.

The bakery has existed since 1795 when the “Podestà” of Stacciola entrusted it for use to a baker to provide bread for the villagers. Subsequently, the bakery was given to the families who, in turn, and according to a precise calendar, bake bread, roast meat, sweets and - since 1987 - the famous “Crescia d'la Stacciola” during the August festival. At this time, the village was self-sufficient and, due to the small size of the community, since the baker's trade would not have ensured a family's livelihood, a public oven was provided. The use of the communal oven continued until 1970/72. Once a week, all the families in the village baked bread according to a precise schedule. The 1970s also marked profound changes in the small village of Stacciola: housewives started working, bakers from neighbouring villages delivered fresh bread several times a week, so the bakery fell into disuse except for a few special moments in village life: the baking of Easter Crescia, religious ceremonies and little else. The Citizens' Committee, set up in 1986 with the aim of enhancing the village's traditions, history and culture, took up the original recipe handed down over time and, to prevent it from being lost, reproposed it with ‘La Sagra della Crescia’. For some time now, the ingenious idea of having promoted a crescia school course where participants, at the end of the course, taste the crescia they have prepared and thus become custodians and disseminators of this ancient technique.