The word Saffron derives from the Arabic zaha-farān (زعفران), which means “sunshine”.

Saffron has been known since the most remote times: Virgilio, Plinio and other authors of classicism allude to it in their writings. Ovidio mentions Saffron in the ‘Metamorfosi’ when he describes the love of Croco (human) and Smilace (a nymph) strongly opposed by the gods, who punished the two lovers by transforming him into the Saffron plant and her into that of Sarsaparilla (Smilax aspera). The intense orange colour of the pistils represents Croco’s loving passion. Mentioned also by Omero in the Iliade, Saffron served as bed for Zeus, while ancient writers explain how Saffron was dissolved in wine to be sprinkled in theaters, on pyres, in thalamus and in hair.

In Roman mythology, the origin of Saffron is linked to Mercurio, who accidentally killed his dear friend Croco during a discus throw game. To remember his friend, he dyed a plant with his friend’s blood and named it Croco: the colour of the pistil represents the spilled blood of Croco. The Romans used Saffron to pave with flowers the streets when princes and emperors passed, to colour with yellow the veils of brides, while priests and sacrificers used to gird their heads with Saffron flowers during propitiatory rites and religious ceremonies. In ancient Egypt it was used as a dye for clothes (also to dye the bandages of mummies), to produce medicinal ointments and perfumes: it is said that Cleopatra herself used Saffron to give a golden touch to her skin.

The origin of Saffron is presumed in distant countries, most likely India and neighbouring areas, where Saffron was used for dyeing, cosmetics and as a medicine. Later the Arabs introduced it in Europe, specifically in the Mediterranean countries most suited for climate and soil conditions, where it is still cultivated today: Italy, Spain and Greece.

In the fourteenth century, a monk from Abruzzo, Father Santucci – inquisitor at the time of Philip II – introduced the spice from Spain to Italy. When the flower arrived in Abruzzo, the town named Aquila found in Saffron the fulcrum of its economy, to the point that a product with a higher quality than the Spanish one started to be harvested in the area. At the same time, cultivation in Sicily, Sardinia and some central Italian countries expanded thanks to the strong demand from the markets that praised the product and favoured its trade.

Saffron was no longer just a bargaining goods, rather it became a reliable substitute for gold and money.

In recent decades, the cultivation of Saffron has greatly reduced. The lack of manpower, the evolution or involution of consumption, the abandoning of the countryside, the antagonism of foreign products and the inadequacy of trades reduced the cultivation of this ancient flower to the role of integrative cultivation, secondary to other productions.

TradizioneEvoluzione chooses to boost an Italian excellence and to stand by the many small farmers of the peninsula who still believe in this spice, keeping alive a millenary tradition with the strength of their passion.