A Solemn Procession for the City

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On July 15, after a day of masses, prayers, and concerts at the Cathedral, at 7 PM from the Cathedral on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, the Archbishop and Mayor of Palermo will lead a solemn procession featuring the silver urn containing the sacred relics of Santa Rosalia.

With the intention to reenact the purification of the city that Santa Rosalia instructed in 1624, civil and military groups, clergy, seminarians, and various parishes and confraternaties of Palermo, in addition to a number of marching bands, will accompany the sacred urn. They will walk from the Catthedral down Corso Vittorio Emanuele to Quattro Canti (the main intersection of the city), down Via Maqueda to the Discesa dei Giovenchi, then to Piazza S. Onofrio, and on to Via Panneria, Piazza Monte di Pietà (the first location of a shrine dedicated to “la Santuzza,” the Saint), and then return to the cathedral by way of Via Judica, Via Gioiamia, and Via M. Bonello.

At 10:30 PM, once the relics return to the Cathedral, in its piazza, there will be a fireworks display. And thus concludes the 392nd Festino di Santa Rosalia, the Patroness of Palermo.

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About the author

Allison Scola is founder, owner, and curator of Experience Sicily and the Cannoli Crawl. Named one of the experts for the 2019 New York Times Travel Show, Scola writes and lectures on Sicily and leads immersive tours and designs custom itineraries that delight discerning travelers. She has been featured on Rudy Maxa’s World with the Carey’s, America’s #1 Travel Radio Show and as the cannoli expert in the documentary Cannoli, Traditions Around the Table. Scola has lectured about Sicily at University of Pennsylvania, The New School, LIU Post University, Queens College, Westchester Italian Cultural Center, at high schools in the New York City metropolitan area, and at events in New York City.

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