CIVITAVECCHIA – Maria Cristina Ciaffi is the “Woman of the Palio Marinaro” 2024. The proclamation of the “Woman of the Palio” promoted by the Mare Nostrum 2000 association took place yesterday afternoon at the Cittadella della Musica. This honor was awarded to Maria Cristina Ciaffi “for her strong organizational skills and for her engaging social commitment, in the support and valorization of the city’s historical traditions, in the food and wine, tourism and cultural development of the city and, in particular for having succeeded with hard, incessant and effective work of recovery to “restore credibility and trust in the Pro Loco of Civitavecchia which has once again become an important resource for the territory which, in fact and with very high merit, places it among the excellent figures who give prestige to the city”.
The successful event started at 7pm in the presence of the mayor Ernesto Tedesco always present and close to the Palio Marinaro, the “Woman of the Palio 2023” and president of the Cariciv Foundation Gabriella Sarracco, the councilor Francesco Serpa, the colonel of the Roan della Guardia of Finance of Civitavecchia, the General Director of ASL Roma4 Cristina Matranga, of the members of Mare Nostrum, of part of the Junior and Senior crews who will participate in the Palio Marinaro and the Palio dei Tre Porti Open.
During the evening, the excellent and very young musicians Riccardo Ciurlanti (on piano) and Francesco Caramia (on trumpet) from the Liceo Musicale Galilei entertained the audience with their sweet music. The performances of the exceptional Latin American dancers (Vice Italian Champions 2023) Matteo Cianfoni and Aurora Abramia of the Latin American dance school “Royal Talent Academy” of Tarquinia were exciting.
The moment of the proclamation of the “Donna del Palio Marinaro 2024” was very heartfelt and emotional with the passing of the scepter from the Donna del Palio 2023 Gabriella Sarracco and that of 2024 Maria Cristina Ciaffi and the award ceremony to Ciaffi by the president of Mare Nostrum 2000 Sandro Calderai and all members and participants. Before the proclamation, the video was screened with all the excellent women that Mare Nostrum has crowned “Woman of the Palio” since 2015. The president of the president of the Pro Loco and new “Donna del Palio” Maria Cristina Ciaffi was very excited and rightly proud and satisfied: «Thanks to Sandro Calderai and the entire Palio Marinaro 2024 for awarding me the title of “Donna del Palio 2024”. A recognition, the reasons for which flatter me and commit me to do more and always better, especially for having inherited the “crown” from Gabriella Sarracco, a great woman in every respect and a positive example for everyone. Thanks again for the demonstrations of affection and esteem received at the end of the event.” The afternoon then closed with a rich buffet prepared by Lady chef Patrizia Manunza and the third year students of the IIS Stendhal Hospitality School in Civitavecchia.
Maria Cristina was born in Rome, into a Roman family of many generations. However, he moved to Civitavecchia for love in 1994 and settled in the district that we would like to call “Rione Centro Storico”, where he immediately participated in numerous initiatives that fostered his interest in the city, in the culture, traditions and social aspects of the citizens. Thus began her life as a commuter to Rome where she carried out her work with great professional rigor as a permanent official of the Lazio Region until she reached retirement age in 2020. Always passionate about the wine product, she undertakes in parallel with her work in-depth training in the world of wine and gastronomy. As an expert, she coordinates the working groups for the organization of various events aimed at promoting regional agri-food products (Vinitaly, Salone del Gusto, Vinòforum , Cibus, Culinaria, Sial Parigi, Vini nel Mondo etc.). In 1999 he had the idea of establishing the Route of Wine and Typical Products of the Etruscan Roman Lands and became its president until 2014. He collaborates in various local editorial offices and was a correspondent for Agrocamera formerly Roma In Campagna of Azienda Romana Mercati (independent company of the Rome Chamber of Commerce. She (she is currently Honorary President of the Wine Route). From 2007 to 2012 she was appointed Provincial Delegate of the Italian Sommelier Association. In your role as Director of the AIS training courses, you managed to graduate numerous young people who were able to find employment in the restaurant world. From 2012 to 2017 she was the Lazio Delegate of the National Women of Wine Association, thus contributing to enhancing the professionalism and peculiarities of the producers and female figures who operate in the fantastic universe of wine. She is currently still a member.
Committed to social issues, since 2016 she has also been very active in the most representative associations of the city fabric such as the Rotary Club and the FIDAPA BPW Italy Section, where over the years she has held top roles, such as vice-presidency of the Rotary Club in the 2018 Rotary year/ 2019 and the presidency of the Fidapa Section in the two-year period 2021/2023. For the current two-year period you are the Past President of the Section and at the same time holds a position in the Central District. But it is as President of the Pro Loco of Civitavecchia, a role she has held since June 2013, that Maria Cristina best expresses her strong organizational skills and her vocation for promoting the territory. You assume the top position in a difficult moment for the association which in that period was experiencing strong economic negativity inherited from the previous management which had in fact impoverished the city of events with negative repercussions on the credibility of the role of the city’s Pro Loco. Always a lover of challenges, she accepted the assignment with full awareness of the arduous task that awaited her. He was able to find people who believed in his abilities and with them from the beginning he launched a rigid recovery plan and at the same time oriented the initiatives towards the valorisation of the traditions and the entire historical-archaeological and cultural heritage of the city, with the involvement of institutions, cultural-sports-voluntary-social promotion-business associations and individual figures of culture and the arts who were able to raise awareness. Despite the limited economic resources available for the inherited events, many initiatives and events have been put in place in these ten years, aimed both at giving value to the territory and primarily to the archaeological area of the Terme Taurine and therefore initiatives of strong value tourism, both as an enhancement of traditions, in the historical and gastronomy fields. In this context, the strong collaboration and strong bond established with the ASD Mare Nostrum 2000 for the organization of events such as the Traditions Week and the restoration of the Historical Parade of the Palio Marinaro in which they parade through the streets of the city cannot be overlooked. together with the athletes the Pro loca figures in period costumes. Thanks to Maria Cristina, the Historical Procession of Santa Fermina, which returned to the solemn procession in honor of the Saint with her as president, was registered in 2021 in the regional register of historical re-enactments of Lazio.
Just as in February 2022 the traditional fish soup was included in the list of PATs of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies. Two truly important awards at regional and national level.
