The Night of Fanóve

CASTELLANA GROTTE (ba) stands on the limestone plateau of the Murge and belongs to the tourist area of the caves and trulli.

Near the town are the famous Grotte di Castellana, karstic cavities discovered in 1938 by Professor Franco Anelli, assisted by Vito Matarrese (who discovered the wonderful Grotta Bianca the following year), which are the area's main tourist attraction.

Among the popular traditions that characterise the town, the first one is the Night of the Fanóve. Burning every year on the night of 11 January are more than 100 majestic stacks of wood scattered throughout the town, all the way to the most remote district of the city.

The Night of the Fanóve has been lighting up the City of Caves since 1691. The most impressive Fanóve are now made by young people full of enthusiasm who almost compete to surpass the art and skill of the traditional Fanovisti, who have always been masters at building grandiose bonfires in the small square of the Chiesa Matrice and in Largo Porta Grande. Tons of wood are burned here under the astonished gaze of the people of Castellano and those arriving from neighbouring towns. As in every popular festival, the gastronomic part is not missing.

It is difficult not to be tempted by the samples of taralli, chickpeas and roasted broad beans, olives, focaccine, pizzas, fritters, bruschettas, meat, fish and a glass of generous primitivo, all offered by the fanóva organisers. Since 2019, thanks to the intervention of the Apulia Region, the 'Fanóve' of Castellana Grotte, the 'Focara' of Novoli and the 'Fracchie' of San Marco in Lamis have formed the 'Network of fires of Apulia'.

THE FANÓVES. Documented by historical sources, the story tells of the liberation of the citizens of Castellana Grotte from the plague. It was the year 1690 when a terrible plague epidemic spread through the area. It is said that, on the night of 11 January 1691, two priests prayed incessantly under the altar of Our Lady of the Angels placed in the Church of St. Francis of Assisi so that, through her intercession, the people of Castellana would be cured of the plague.

One of the two priests dreamt that Our Lady of Vetrana, worshipped at the time in a small church, would free Castellana from the plague, while the other dreamt that the small church would be enlarged and become a place of worship where the end of the epidemic would be celebrated. By anointing the boils of the sick with oil from the lamp that burned perpetually next to the painting of the Virgin, the citizens of Castellana were cured of the plague.

In this way, and by setting fire to everything that had been in contact with the disease, from that 12 January no one in Castellana died of the plague any more. From that day on, no more deaths were recorded, as attested by the diary of the doctor of the time, Dr Giuseppe Valerio De Consolibus, and everyone attributed the miracle to the Virgin of Vetrana. Since then, the town of Castellana Grotte has dedicated the Fanóve to its patron saint.

To visit: in addition to the marvellous caves of Castellana, the Chiesa Matrice San Leone Magno with Renaissance-era works by Aurelio Persio, the Santuario Maria SS. Della Vetrana and the Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi with the stupendous sculptures by Fra Luca Principino.

Photo: Mimmo Guglielmi, Giandomenico Laera, Pasquale Ladogana, Gaetano Armenio