Rome’s historic bakery to the popes closes

Published July 7, 2023
Angelo Arrigoni, owner of the historic bakery, closes the store’s shutter on Thursday.—AFP
Angelo Arrigoni, owner of the historic bakery, closes the store’s shutter on Thursday.—AFP

ROME: The Arrigoni bakery has made bread for the popes for almost a century, from rosetta rolls to wholewheat loaves — but mass tourism has proved deadly and no prayers can save it now.

“We turned the oven off on Tuesday,” said Angelo Arrigoni, 79, whose father opened the little shop in 1930 during Pius XI’s papacy, and who would hand-deliver bread to the papal household.

Each time a new head of the Catholic Church was elected, the “Panificio Arrigoni” on Borgo Pio, just a five-minute walk from St Peter’s Square, would get ready to cater to the new pope’s tastes. Polish Pope John Paul II, elected in 1978, “said he wanted the bread his workers ate”, Arrigoni said.

“The workers ate both the ‘ciriola’, that big, classic Roman loaf that hardly anyone makes anymore, and rosetta rolls,” he said.

“So for his whole papacy, which lasted almost 27 years, we gave him five ‘ciriola’ and five rosetta rolls.” When his successor Benedict XVI was elected, Arrigoni rang the papal household but was told by a nun that the new German pope would be sticking with the baker he frequented as a cardinal. “But I am that baker!” he told her, for Benedict had already been getting cheese and unleavened bread from him as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

Pope Francis has also been served by Arrigoni — but will now need to look elsewhere for his daily bread, after the baker found himself squeezed by a drop in loyal local customers and steep energy prices. “The district has changed,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2023

Opinion

Editorial

Climate reckoning
Updated 30 Dec, 2024

Climate reckoning

Pakistan cannot afford to wait for global consensus to act. We are indeed living in what scientists describe as “a dangerous new era”.
SOE burden
Updated 30 Dec, 2024

SOE burden

PAKISTAN’S state-owned enterprises are haemorrhaging, putting a tremendous burden on the debt-ridden ...
Unlearning hate
30 Dec, 2024

Unlearning hate

THE problem of xenophobia and intolerance are deep-rooted in our society. An important study conducted some years ...
Stocktaking
Updated 29 Dec, 2024

Stocktaking

All institutions must speak in unison against illegal activities in the country.
Ceasefire mirage
29 Dec, 2024

Ceasefire mirage

THERE was renewed hope that Israel would cease its slaughter for the time being in Gaza as Tel Aviv’s negotiators...
Olympic chapter polls
29 Dec, 2024

Olympic chapter polls

A TRUCE has been reached, ensuring Monday’s elections of the Pakistan Olympic Association will be acceptable to ...