ENGLISH

Saint Rosalia was probably born in 1130 and died on 4th September 1170. She belonged to a noble family. Having saved Palermo from an outbreak of Plague, that had spread in 1624, Rosalia became the patron saint of the city.

One day, when Rosalia was fourteen, the Virgin Mary appeared to her. She asked her to keep her virginity and to live as a hermit. So, Rosalia left secretly her home and started to live between the woods of Palazzo Adriano and the mountains of Quisquina. In the end, she arrived at a cave near Palermo, in Mount Pellegrino. There, she dedicated herself to a life of peace, prayer and contemplation until she died.

Saint Rosalia is famous for her miracles. In 1624, Palermo was hit hard by the Plague. Rosalia appeared to a dying woman who survived by drinking some water dripping from the rock, inside the cave. After a while, Rosalia appeared to a soap seller, disguised as a hunter, who had gone to Mount Pellegrino to kill himself. On that occasion, she revealed to him the place where to find her remains and ordered him to carry them in a procession through the town. So, Rosalia’s remains were brought back to Palermo and carried around the city three times, freeing it from the Plague. The first procession took place at the beginning of June 1625. The plague ceased on 15th July. On the same day of the previous year, Saint Rosalia’s bones were found in the cave where she had lived. In honour of her miracle, Saint Rosalia became the patron saint of Palermo and a sanctuary was built next to Rosalia’s cave.

Every year, in honour of Saint Rosalia, nicknamed “la Santuzza” (the Little Saint), people from Palermo organise a special feast, “U Fistinu”, that takes place from 11th July to 15th July. It celebrates the end of the Plague (occurred in 1625) thanks to Saint Rosalia. On the evening of July 14th, a statue of Rosalia is paraded on a large and decorated boat-shaped float from the Cathedral to the sea, along Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the oldest street in the city. The route that crosses Porta Felice symbolizes the passage from death (the Plague) to life (the sea that is lit up by fireworks). People, who march in procession, sing, dance and shout “Viva Palermo and Santa Rosalia!”  “Long live Palermo and Santa Rosalia!”

Every year, “the Festino” attracts thousands of tourists and believers. On 4th September, Saint Rosalia’s death date, people observe the tradition of walking barefoot from the base to the top of Mount Pellegrino (“the acchianata”) to go to mass to Rosalia’s sanctuary.