Travel: Faith, food and tradition in Cleveland’s Little Italy

CLEVELAND — I was here last weekend for the Feast of the Assumption in the city’s Little Italy neighborhood.

The Feast of the Assumption, observed Aug. 15, is one of the great days on the Roman Catholic calendar. It commemorates the dogma that Mary — variously called Blessed Virgin Mary, Mary the Mother of God, St. Mary and yet other names depending on one’s theology and denomination — was taken body and soul into heavenly glory at the end of her natural life on Earth.

While most Protestants reject the belief, some Anglicans and Lutherans mark the day, though rarely with the kind of public display of faith that fills Cleveland’s historic Italian quarter.

Centered on Holy Rosary Catholic Church, an unremarkable brick baroque revival church built at the turn of the last century, the festival has been held every year since 1899.

The Feast, as it’s called, began as a simple religious celebration and has grown over the years into a major cultural festival lasting three full days, attracting thousands of visitors. Locals turn out, of course, but so do Italian Americans with family connections to Cleveland. Others, like me, come as curious visitors seeking an authentic expression of Italian American culture and Roman Catholic devotion.

Unlike better-known secular and more commercialized festivals or fairs, piety and cultural heritage remain inseparable. It reminded me of the patronal festivals still celebrated in provincial towns and cities across Italy and other corners of Roman Catholic Europe.

This year’s Feast officially opened with a 10 a.m. solemn high mass celebrated by the bishop of Cleveland, the Most Rev. Edward Malesc. Holy Rosary, the parish church, was packed to capacity with worshipers overflowing outside.

Following the liturgy, a statue of Mary was carried through the streets of Little Italy as hundreds, if not thousands, looked on as clergy and laity processed with prayers said partially in Italian. The statue was then placed in an outdoor shrine specially erected for the festival. There it remained throughout the weekend, surrounded by candles and flowers, as pilgrims paused to pray the rosary.

In addition to the opening mass, seven other masses were scheduled. This rhythm of worship made clear that even as the festival has grown, the Christian faith, as expressed through Roman Catholicism, is at its heart.

Eventually, devotion gave way to merrymaking.

Food stalls opened as the smell of garlic and grilled meats filled the air. Families with roots in Sicily and elsewhere in Italy sold sausage and peppers, pasta from recipes handed down through the generations, cannoli and refreshing lemon iced drinks. Much of the food was red-sauce Italian American — hearty and comforting, though not the refined cuisine that would pair with a glass of traditional method (or, in Italian, metodo classico) sparkling wine from Trento or Franciacorta.

As dusk fell, music filled the streets. Bands, including the aptly named Primavera Band, played into the night as festivalgoers mixed and mingled.

Outside the Feast, Little Italy is worth visiting year-round. There’s even an Italian American Museum.

Side streets lined with century-old rowhouses — the kind of architecture you see across the Rust Belt — lead to Mayfield Road, which is the main street in all but name. This is where Cleveland’s oldest restaurant, family-owned Guarino’s, has been serving food since 1918.

Holy Rosary was founded by immigrants who came to Cleveland more than a century ago to create new lives. Like their counterparts elsewhere, they built churches — some grand and some not so grand — at the center of their communities. Their faith and cultural traditions provided continuity and bound families together.

The Feast of the Assumption is also a reminder of what America’s religious and cultural life once looked like. Before suburbs boomed in the post-war years, big cities had different ethnic enclaves, each with distinctive traditions and cultures.

If you go

I’ve written about Cleveland before.

The city, once derided as the Mistake on the Lake, is vastly underrated. In fact, Cleveland is one of my favorite cities to spend a weekend.

Within walking distance of Little Italy is University Circle, which serves as Cleveland’s cultural capital. This is where the world-class Museum of Art and Museum of Natural History are located. Another must-visit Cleveland museum is the Sanctuary Museum, which features a collection of religious art, objects and other items sourced predominantly from shuttered Roman Catholic churches.

The one area where Cleveland disappoints is hotels. There is no real upscale or luxury hotel. Even the purported five-star Intercontinental, where I spent three nights, is one or two stars below the expected standard.

By car, Cleveland is about five hours from Chicago, six hours from Washington, D.C., and eight hours from St. Louis. For those flying, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is served by all the major airlines. You won’t need a rental car to get around.

Full trip planning resources are available through Destination Cleveland.

Dennis Lennox writes a travel column for The Christian Post.