Photo: Reuters-
Metropolis Desk-
From rosetta rolls to wholewheat bread, the Arrigoni bakery has produced bread for Popes for almost a century. However, mass tourism has proven fatal, and no prayers can now save it.
The modest shop was founded in 1930, during Pius XI’s pontificate, by Angelo Arrigoni, whose father would hand-deliver bread to the papal family. “We turned the oven off on Tuesday,” he recalled.
The “Panificio Arrigoni” in Borgo Pio, only a five-minute walk from St. Peter’s Square, would prepare to suit the new Pope’s preferences each time the Catholic Church elected a new leader.
Pope John Paul II who was elected in 1978, “said he wanted the bread his workers ate,” according to Arrigoni.
He told that “the workers ate both the ‘ciriola,’ that large, traditional Roman loaf that is hardly ever made anymore, and rosetta rolls.”
“So we gave him five ‘ciriola’ and five rosetta rolls for his entire papacy, which lasted almost 27 years.”
When Benedict XVI was chosen as his successor, Arrigoni called the papal home but was informed by a nun that the new German Pope would be sticking with the baker he frequently visited as a cardinal.
As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he had already started providing Benedict with cheese and unleavened bread, so he remarked, “But I am that baker!”
Pope Francis has also received service from Arrigoni, but he will now need to find another baker for his daily bread after the businessman found himself struggling due to a decline in repeat local clients and high energy costs.
“The district has changed,” he declared.
“All the houses that used to be full of people have become rentals for tourists,” the majority of whom prefer to eat out at the restaurants in the Eternal City rather than go grocery shopping every day.
The remaining frequent clients of Arrigoni are disappointed by the news that the property has been sold.
Francesca Pantusa, a tour guide, carefully consumed her final sandwich from Arrigoni.
While there, she observed, “You can find wonderful things, at the appropriate price, and with Angelo who is incredible — kind, kind… it makes me want to cry.” In Borgo Pio, she claimed, “There are only tourist eateries.
The bakery stood out on the street, especially because there were no tables outside that were suitable for tourists. This was a sensitive matter for Arrigoni because he had sought and failed to persuade the town to permit him.
Iacopo Scaramuzzi, a Vatican reporter, criticized the council on Twitter and questioned why a city “drunk with nostalgia was unable to preserve its heritage” and save “the Pope’s baker… a piece of Vatican history”.
Source- NDTV
