A dazzling carpet of colored flowers transformed into portraits, religious images and abstract designs stretches along the main street in Genzano, Italy, one of Rome’s hill towns, June 13, 14 and 15, 2015.

The Infiorata is held for three days each year in June (the date varies depending on Easter) and encompasses the town’s main boulevard, 17th century Via Belardi, with a long “carpet” of 500,000 flower petals, blooms and seeds meticulously arranged in 15 brightly-colored panels that are connected to each other by frames of green leaves.

Many Italian towns hold an Infiorata, the festival of flowers that traces its beginnings in Italy to the 13th century but the one in Genzano is said to be the country’s largest.

The official year of origin of the Genzano festival is 1778, when it was started to celebrate Corpus Christi (Latin for “body of Christ”). It’s a high holy day in the Roman Catholic church celebrating the Eucharist, perceived by Catholics as the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Genzano is one of the historic towns that make up Castelli Romani, which literally means “Roman castles” but is the name that designates the area in the Alban hills to the southeast of Rome.

The official website is only in Italian, so Road Trips Gardeners may want to check out the Fest300 page on the event here.

Here’s a video of a previous “carpet”:

(Photo courtesy of Fototeca ENIT)