Christ Stopped at Eboli - Grassano and 'Gagliano'

Grassano and 'Gagliano'

The villages of Grassano and 'Gagliano' were extremely poor. They lacked basic goods because there were no shops in the village. A typical though meagre diet consisted of bread, oil, crushed tomatoes, and peppers. The villages did not have many modern items, and those they did were not often utilized. One working bathroom in the town stood as a retreat for animals rather than people. Also, only one car was found in the area. Homes were sparsely furnished; the most frequent decoration consisted of an American dollar, a photo of the American president Roosevelt, or the Madonna di Viggiano displayed on their walls. Healthcare was atrocious. The two doctors in town were invariably inept. The peasants simply did not trust the in-town physicians and therefore counted on Levi's medical skills instead. Malaria took the lives of many villagers; it was merciless and rampant. Education was available, but as Levi stated, the mayor who taught class spent more time overlooking the balcony than educating the children.

The religious values of the villages Levi visited were a mixture of Christianity and mysticism. While the people were pious in the sense that they were moral and kind, they were not exactly religious. They did not avidly attend church, and in fact ostracized their priest, who was a drunk and allegedly had sexual relations of a profane nature. The priest, however, had just as much dislike for the people, as evident by his statement "The people here are donkeys, not Christians." It seems that Christianity was not fully embraced; this is shown by the multitude of priests begetting illegitimate children and the licentious sexual relations that were often overlooked. Superstitions, gnomes, and spells seemed to shape day-to-day tasks, not Christ and the belief in God. People did, however, attend church on holidays like Christmas, and did respect the Madonna. When reading this it becomes apparent that Christianity was an idea introduced but never completely adopted.