Singletons flock to Italy
Palestrina -
12 June 2006, 12 June 2007, 12 June 2008
Considering some of the measures single women will try to find a husband (speed-dating anyone?), there are worse techniques they could choose than good old fashioned prayer.
On the 12th June every year, the Italian village of Palestrina holds a procession of unmarried women to show devotion to Saint Anthony of Padua, with the hope that he'll send a few willing would-be husbands their way in return.
Historically, the village appealed to the patron saint of singletons by rounding up all the local spinsters and forcing them to walk in a line through the village while praying to Saint Anthony.
The festivities nowadays are a little less humiliating, with the participants being white-clad girls who have received their first Eucharist during the preceding year.
The parade on the 12th takes place one day before St Anthony's actual feast day.
Palestrina is described by fans as a "cute, scenic little village" and, predating Rome by some 700 years, it offers plenty of history and attractive sites for passers-through.
