What the Covo is

"Covo" is the name given in peasant tradition to a tied bundle of wheat ready to be taken to the threshing floor.

For the “Festa del Covo”, this name is given to a cart, a "monument dedicated to wheat" made with 2 to 3 million ears skilfully intertwined to form a real rural work of art which each year depicts a different theme, from the symbols of Christianity to perfect reproductions of sanctuaries and cathedrals from around the world. In fact, in the last editions of the feast, the Covo has depicted the most important sanctuaries in the world, such as Fatima, Lourdes, Santiago de Compostela, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris and Saint Basil’s in Moscow. In addition, of course, to places of faith that are particularly dear to Italians, such as St Peter's Cathedral in Rome, the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua, St Mark's Basilica in Venice, the Sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina in San Giovanni Rotondo and Orvieto Cathedral, to cite a few.

Most of the inhabitants of Campocavallo participate in the construction of the Covo. There are those who take care of the choice of the wheat, those who collect and arrange the sheaves and select the ears, those who coordinate the work of the women making the braids of wheat, those who carry out surveys and technical calculations of the structure to be built, those who deal with the building of the iron template and those who see to the creation of the wooden part, those who take care of properly placing the ears on the cart and those who organise all the other initiatives related to the feast.

The art of making the Covo has remained the same since its origins, but over the years the technique has become increasingly refined and each Covo looks more and more like a real work of art with elegant, light and harmonious shapes, in which every aspect is taken care of down to the smallest details.