The Feast of San Giacomo

The Feast of San Giacomo

The Feast of San Giacomo

The Feast of San Giacomo in Caltagirone takes place in the province of Catania. "Viva Diu and San Jacupu" cried one time, carrying the heavy fercolo of St. James the Apostle, patron saint of Caltagirone by 1109 at the behest of Count Roger the Norman, who wanted to erect a temple in his honor. From the XI to the XVI century the festival was held only in church, where he was a venerated statue of the apostle made in 1518 by Vincenzo Archifel, goldsmith and sculptor of Catania, the same which is still carried in procession by a coffin from the original architecture, by the Neapolitan sculptor Guido Scipione, which it merged in perfect balance the sumptuous Baroque lines with those of classical sober. The coffin has, in fact, the shape of a temple, that in the six angels supporting the roof is reminiscent of the Erechtheion in Athens with its caryatids. The first outdoor festival, celebrated with huge pomp and solemn religious ceremonies and artistic events, occurred in 1591.

Brought to shoulder, fercolo, accompanied by the Civic and the Senate by a mass of cheering people, walked the city's main streets from dawn until midnight on July 24, 25, a day dedicated to the apostle. The fercolo was preceded by a precious silver case, made from 1599 to 1701 by the most famous silversmiths of the time, containing a reliquary shaped like a hand in blessing, a part of the arm bone of St. James in 1457 donated to the town by John Burgio, bishop of Siponto. It was a unanimous show of faith with some digression hedonistic, who was folklore but does not break the fervent devotion felt, and maintained over the centuries.

For years, no more is heard the cry "Viva Diu and San Jacupu" lifted up by the people. On the evening of July 25 fercolo the case of the relic and go around the city on mechanical means with the same ritual of the past and some variation in the performance. In exchange, the anniversary program s'articola and enriches every year a number of artistic, cultural, sport and folklore. First of all, in chronological order, the "evening at the villa, day 23, marked by a ghostly band concerts and fireworks. Following is "Civic Parade of the Senate" (XVII century) which accompanies the civil authorities in religious rites in the evening of 24 and 25 July. In costumes of the seventeenth century, bears witness to the parade, dressed in the splendor of its components, the prestige it had in the United Universitas Caltagirone for the vastness of the assets owned. In the evenings of 24 and 25 July is made lighting Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte in oil lumiere by polychrome tiles, arranged in a pattern along the one hundred forty-two steps, making a tapestry teeming with lights. There are, usually, art exhibitions of all kinds, traditional folk dances like the puppet theater, musical events involving all age groups and the most diverse interests.

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