• BARI
• BITONTO (BA)
• FASANO (BA)
• OSTUNI (BR)
• GIOVINAZZO (BA)
• BOVINO (FG)

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FIGURES AND FLAG-WAVERS

AWAKEN MEMORIES OF A BYGONE ERA

Parading in sumptuous costumes, on harnessed horses, among angels dancing in the streets or jugglers lighting up the festivities, beggars from a bygone era and noble families meet side by side to revive a history that mixes the civil and the sacred. These are the historical processions, one of the most genuine and at the same time scenic events of patronal festivals in Apulia.

During the Feast of St Nicholas every year in BARI, it feels like going back in time, to the year 1087 to be precise, one of the most important dates in the history of the people of Bari and their religious beliefs. Every year, exactly on 7 May, the streets of the Apulian capital are the scene of the imposing historical procession commemorating the translation of the Saint's relics from Myra.

An enterprise among the most present in the historical documentary sources that comes to life again thanks to thousands of figurants: prior, mace-bearers, knights, flag-wavers, traditional masters and the sixty-two sailors who returned from the enterprise and were rewarded by Abbot Elias animate the streets of the city centre with grandiose moving sets and an artistic direction that becomes more important every year for a marvellous spectacle.

In Bari and throughout the Bari area, it will also be a feast for your palate: don't miss out on a 'tiella' of rice, potatoes and mussels or the steaming panzerotti, one of the symbols of 'pugliesità' in the world.

If you wish to continue your journey back in time, let yourself be enchanted by the typically medieval lines of the monumental Romanesque Cathedral of BITONTO (Ba) and the maze of narrow streets in the Old Town of the 'olive oil capital', stroll among ancient stone arches, hidden towers, palaces and churches. Faith, devotion, tradition, colours, music, and history are the ingredients of the events that unfold during the days of the feast in honour of Maria SS Immacolata, with the re-enactment of the miracle performed when the Spaniards failed to storm the city with the historical procession in which the noble families of Bourbon origin parade.

Moving towards the south of Apulia, lose yourself in the splendid hills of the Itria Valley, in a unique gastronomic itinerary rich in genuine flavours of the land, arriving at FASANO (Br) for the festival in honour of Maria SS di Pozzo Faceto and Giovanni Battista, where the victory of the people of Fasano over the Turks in 1678 is re-enacted. "Salva, salva, chè vengono i Turchi" ("Save, save, for the Turks are coming") was the cry of alarm and escape among the peasants of Fasano to escape the Turkish attack, and it resounds powerfully in the great historical procession "la Scamiciata", a historical re-enactment held on the Saturday of the third week of June with a travelling show and dramatisation of the battle between the people of Fasano and the Turks.

Just a few kilometres from Fasano, the 'Knights of Saint Oronzo', in the magical white city of OSTUNI (Br), accompany the silver statue of the patron saint who, according to tradition, is the first Christian, the first bishop and the first martyr from Salento. The sixty-two horsemen, with the elegant grandeur of their Murgia horses, the magnificence of their handcrafted trappings, the harmonious chromatic outcome of their multicoloured clothing (red tunic, white trousers, cylindrical hat with a red and white plume), recall distant echoes of the styles and cultures of the many peoples who have lived in these lands.

It will be easy to be captivated by the beauty of the city and the view, especially at sunset, sipping a good glass of wine and nibbling on taralli and friselle and enjoying a good plate of orecchiette pasta with brasciole sauce. 

GIOVINAZZO (Ba) is called 'the pearl of the Adriatic', a small coastal town in the province of Bari but with great charm and tourist attractions where you can enjoy some of the best fish specialities, such as the traditional 'frittura di paranza' with the catch of the day.

On the occasion of the festivities dedicated to the Madonna of Corsignano, the historical procession commemorates both the translation of the miraculous painting from the Casale di Corsignano to the Cathedral, and the miraculous rain invoked back in 1188 after a long period of drought that had brought the giovinazzesi farmers to their knees and dried up their land. The first episode, which took place in the midst of Spanish domination, is highlighted in the costumes of the participants, polychrome and baroque; the second in the next part of the procession with the clothes becoming more austere and chastened, re-proposing all the drama of the event.

From the sea, continuing your journey towards the gentle hills of the Dauno Apennines, along the only consular road between Naples and Apulia, you can reach the ancient village of BOVINO (Fg) and watch the 'historical cavalcade' in honour of Maria SS di Valleverde.

Musicians, flag-wavers, dancers, nobles and commoners, and horsemen on beautiful horses are the protagonists of this centuries-old and unique historical procession. A magnificent composition of 'paintings' with figures in period costume re-enact the most important moments in the history of Bovino from 1266, with the moment of the apparition of the Virgin Mary to the woodcutter Niccolò and the request to found a church in her honour to defend the whole of Apulia, to the early 1900s.

The fireworks display inside the castle at the end of the patronal feast was breathtaking.

Cheerfulness and abundance also colours the tables with 'pizzelle e fiorilli', fresh pasta, local cured meats and fried corn pizzas.

photo by Michelangelo Marseglia, Gaetano Armenio, Gaetano Loporto