Delivery Friday 22 March
A tradition that has been renewed for 5 years
For the fifth consecutive year the Famija Sanremasca organized the purchase and transport of the PARMURELI di Sanremo to Rome as a tribute to Pope Francis
and to the Cardinals.
Thus the tradition that dates back four centuries and which originates from the privilege granted by Pope Sixtus V to the maritime captain Benedetto Bresca of
Sanremo. The story is well known. Having to raise the Egyptian obelisk brought from Alexandria to Rome in 37 BC in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope, in the summer of 1586, commissioned the architect Domenico Fontana, and imposed strict rules to allow the difficult task to be carried out as best as possible operation: “anyone who made the slightest noise would be punished with death”, so as not to disturb the transmission of operational orders to the 900 men dealing with 327 tons of granite. It took four months to set up the construction site with wooden frames, winches and ropes powered by 150 horses.
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Encouraged by this, the Famija Sanremasca took the initiative to make a pilgrimage trip to Rome to escort the parmureli. For the second consecutive year
these were presented to Bishop Suetta during a mass on Saturday 16 March 2024. A rite that recalled the blessing that pilgrims asked for in ancient times
before embarking on the journey, as underlined by president Leo Pippione.
Having reached Rome on the evening of Friday 22 March by bus, the group entered the Vatican and delivered a parmurelu for the card. Mauro Gambetti, vicar of
Pope for the Vatican City, and then visited the basilica and the Vatican tombs with a guide. During the morning, a delegation made up of Costanza Pireri, vice mayor of Sanremo, Leo Pippione, Giancarlo and Francesco Rilla and Ornella Moraldo, vice-prioress of NS della Costa on behalf of the ancient and venerable Confraternity, was received by Mons. Leonardo Sapienza, Prefect of the Papal Household, who was given the finely woven parmurelu for Pope Francis, over two meters high. On this occasion, Monsignor Sapienza handed out tickets for all pilgrims to access the seats located in the churchyard of the Basilica, a few meters from the altar: an unexpected privilege. From the favorable position the group was able to witness first the great procession which left from the obelisk and ended in the churchyard, then the Holy Mass and finally the recitation of the Angelus. At the end of the prayer, unexpected, surprising and emotional words arrived addressed to the Sanremo group. In his greeting message broadcast worldwide, His Holiness Pope Francis said among other things: “I greet the delegation from the City of Sanremo. This year too, faithful to the tradition of four centuries, he offered the woven palm leaves for this celebration. Thank you Sanremesi, the Lord bless them”
The group then left the station with in their hearts the joy of having participated as co-protagonists in a grandiose event, the awareness of having rendered a service to Sanremo, the pride of having kept the tradition alive and the satisfaction of having spread the knowledge of the art of parmurelu sanremasco.
