Tuesday June 2, 2015

Photo: The festival procession of San Nicola the Pilgrim. June 2nd is his feast day in Trani and it is also Italy’s Republic Day. This photo was taken during the procession of San Nicola’s statue thru the streets of both the old medieval city and the new city. It began at about 2015 and probably covered 3 miles.

At 0800 cannons or artillery shells were fired from outside the breakwater—for about 5 minutes. I initially thought they were fireworks until I realized the sound was much too loud. We normally check our guidebooks for special events, but we neglected this detail today. Not only is it Italy’s Fourth of July but is the town’s major saint’s day and festival.

There are thousands of people in town. They are strolling thru the parks, sunbathing, filling the restaurants and in the evening participating or watching the procession.

We visited a beautiful park along the sea wall. It has a magnificent canopy of trees that provides very welcome shade. We walked along part of the waterfront breakwater. Hundreds of people were sunbathing on the rocks or swimming.

Our visit to the cathedral, which was founded in the late 11th century, was more than the usual church visit. The building is monumental in height. The original, extensively decorated bronze doors are preserved inside the cathedral after restoration. In the crypt, many people were making a special pilgrimage to see relics related to San Nicola and of course the statue that will be carried in the procession. At 1230 just as we were leaving, the crypt closed to visitors presumably to prepare for the evening events.

The castle or fortress or prison—over the years it has been all of those—has been extensively restored. We toured with an audio guide.

After food and a siesta, we heard a band in a nearby square. It was 1915 and we figured they were going to parade to the cathedral for the procession so we followed along. They stopped multiple times along the waterfront, and once outside a tiny church that was first a stable and is reported to be the place where San Nicola came when he arrived in Trani in 1094 and died just 18 days later.

The plaza in front of the cathedral gradually filled with people. It is also the perfect spot for watching the sunset. At the head of the procession was a banner held on a very tall pole topped with red and white plumes. Lots of “dignitaries” followed before the statue appears which was then followed by a red canopy and more people wearing white robes and a short red cape. There was no music and the procession was very quiet—thousands of people reverencing the statue and other parts of the procession.

We timed our dinner wrong and missed an extraordinary fireworks display. Paul and Jon left the table & got glimpses.