I’ve written a lot about Emperor Augustus. This time it’s about a holiday he created. Ferragosto is actually another example of the Church taking over a pagan institution.

August 15 has been when Italians historically desert the cities and head to the mountains or beach. The typical thing has been to take the rest of the month off, or at least a few days. A common mental image exists of work projects pausing, city streets and piazzas emptied out, and beaches flooded with people. However, the influence of international trade and tourism has shortened the family holiday. Nevertheless, it’s still a normal question to ask when someone is returning from the holiday.

If you visit a beach town, there will certainly be lots of people enjoying the sun and Summer recess, but the old days of swaths of city stores and business closed for the second half of August are pretty much gone now. If you visit much of Italy — certainly Rome — you will have no trouble finding shops and restaurants open.

As a kid, I thought the name Ferragosto was due to the holiday taking place during the month of Agosto. Instead, it’s named after the person who created the holiday (and after whom the month is named too) — Emperor Augustus. He decreed the holiday to start on August 1. Centuries later, the Catholic Church exercised its overwhelming political power and moved the holiday to August 15 to coincide with the major feast day celebrating the Assumption of Mary.

So don’t worry about coming to Rome in August. It’s still open for business.