The village of Steriglio introduce
itself as you enter the municipal territory with a sign defining
it: "village of hygiene and cleanness", even
if the charming introduction is completed by the sentence: "Are
you sure you're really worthy to get in?".
Actually many visitors complained for the intrusiveness of the
Local Police in checking nails, teeth,
shirt collars and breath of the passers-by, but the measure is
deemed as necessary to assure the microbiological purity of the
country.
The visitors should better adapt themselves to the Sterigliese
lifestyle, in order to avoid unpleasant consequences: in particular
it's advisable to remind that in Steriglio every litter must be
washed and sterilized before being thrown away, in order to avoid
heavy penalties. Moreover smoking is forbidden to everyone, except
to the persons submitted to the sterilizing
burning, applied to those being suspected to be bearers of
pathogen germs.
Handicraft
In Steriglio few typical products can be purchased, even if each
of them is really original: the most characteristic are the marzipan
little animal, which in reality are made of antibiotics in paste
and vacuum packed in sterile bags. Are also typical the hospital
tyle bearing witty puns like: "Did you wash your hands?"
or even: "Put your hand before your mouth when you sneeze!".
What to see
On the main square of the village, called after Louis Pasteur,
stands out the monument to the fighters
against the enemies of hygiene, with the touching epigraph "against
the dirtiest dirt". On the same square lies the Mr.
Clean native home, destination of pilgrimages.
The Steriglio Cathedral is entitled to Saint
Hypochlorita, founder of the religious Order of Sacred Bleaching
Immacolate nuns; the precious fifteenth century frescoes decorating
the walls are unfortunately almost unreadable, due to the repeated
cleanings with abrasive detergents, while the wide Flemish tapestries
decorating the apse are today reduced to the size of handkerchiefs,
due to the weekly wash at 90 centigrade degrees.
The visit of the church anyway is not easy since, for hygienic
reasons, at the masses the attendance of not more than one person
at a time is allowed, and that's why they are celebrated for 24
hours a day.
Festivities and
popular traditions
The patronal festivity of July
22nd
commemorates the avoided danger of 1630 when, in order to escape
the Black Plague, the whole village was put on fire, and in the
burning all the villagers died, so nobody was reached by the illness.
The mass of thanks to the Virgin of Charcoal ends with the symbolic
burning of all benches and confessionals of the church, that traditionally
involves also the more aged faithfuls, the less quick to clear
out the temple.
Carnival is another traditional festivity of the village, when
all the villagers disguise themselves, wearing anticontagion masks
(but all of different colours) and latex gloves and surgeon's
white coats. The animation of the festivity is trusted to the
thrown of bags full of chlorine bleach and, instead of the usual
confettis, of coloured capsule of antibiotics.
Gastronomy
In Steriglio the following foods are not consumed: beef for fear
of Mad Cow, sheepmeat for fear of Scrapie, poultry for fear of
Avian Influenza, tunny for fear of quicksilver, herrings for fear
of Anisakis, dairy products for fear of Brucellosis, fruit and
vegetables for fear of pesticides, corn for fear of mycotoxins,
farinaceous foods for fear of the ergot, grapes for fear of mildew,
bananas because they come from Africa (and you never can tell).
The only typical dish, anyway very healthy, of Sterigliese gastronomy
are the Lysoform spaghetti: the pasta
is cooked in autoclave per 30 minutes, and not everyone finds
it of his own pleasure.
In the restaurant's kitchen the chefs wear surgeon's white coats
and masks and are helped by assistants handing them the kitchen
utensils, but they are anyway periodically brought down in order
to reduce the risk of food contamination.
Entertainment
The favourite entertainment of the Sterigliese people is to submit
themselves to specialist's medical examinations, clinical analysis
and diagnostic procedures like Computed tomography, Nuclear magnetic
resonance or X-rays. In spite of the great number of analysis
laboratories, the intense flux of patients impose long waits,
not leaving then enough time to the villagers for further occupations.
Welcome
Before entering the Steriglio territory everybody must submit
himself to a cycle of vaccinations against 34 different infectious
diseases, and it's necessary to make sure to be in good health,
since even a simple sneeze leads to a precautionary deportation
in a decontamination center to be submitted to a sterilizing treatment
with Gamma-rays.
How to get there
The "Neat & Clean" bus lines carry out the line
service to Steriglio. It can be admitted on board under submission
of a medical certificate and after a short visit by a infectiologist
doctor. During the trip special sprinklers spray on the passengers
a pesticides' mist.
Contacts
The Sterigliese Tourist Office
doesn't allow a direct contact with the public, in order to avoid
infections; the letters are boiled 24 hours before being handled,
and then they usually become unreadable; the e-mails, in order
to avoid the risk of informatic viruses transmission, are cancelled
before being opened; the phone calls are allowed, even if some
operators, deeming them as a possible vehicle of infections, use
to answer just holding the receiver with tongs with a 1 meter
extension, and then often the conversation cannot be understood.
page
created: September
20th 2008 and last updated
(and sterilized):
June
10th 2009