BARI – The most awaited day. The historical procession of San Nicola which plunges spectators into the Middle Ages. In that 1087 during which 62 sailors accomplished the feat: from Bari to Myra (on the coast of present-day Turkey) to steal the bones of a saint who probably didn’t even know where Bari was while alive.
Since then, not only an entire city has gathered around those bones, but a community of faithful and pilgrims, thanks also to the intuition of a Benedictine monk, Abbot Elia, who managed to erect one of the most beautiful relics around those relics. Romanesque basilicas of southern Italy.
It was a custom at the time to take possession of saints from other countries: none of the Apulian patron saints are local, they are all “foreigners” and perhaps this is also why they love foreigners.
So the sailors set off, stole a part of the body and after a long voyage arrived in Bari on 9 May 1087. A part of the body, given that at the moment other bones of the saint are in the church of San Nicoletto on the Lido of Venice, in Rimini , in Saint-Nicolas-de port (France), in Bucharest, in Volos (Greece).
But this matters little to the faithful. From that distant 1087 Saint Nicholas became the protector of Bari, a protagonist of absolute veneration. And this is why every year starting from 7th and then again on 8th and 9th May, the “translation” of the relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra to Bari is commemorated with a historical procession, fireworks, illuminations but above all with an evocative ceremony: the statue of the saint being loaded onto a fishing boat and taken out to sea, escorted by other boats full of devotees, where it stops in the harbor of the old marina to guard the city and its citizens.
The departure at sunset And then the procession starting at 8.30 pm, from Piazza Federico di Svevia it will cross Via San Francesco d’Assisi, Piazza Garibaldi, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, Largo IV Novembre, Lungomare Imperatore Augusto, Largo Papa Urbano II to end in the square Saint Nicholas. A show this year where the man Nicola merges with his story of the saint who raises fragilities and ennobles them upwards, who brings minorities with him, upwards, to make them greater. Not the usual procession but a route that aims to arouse emotions and reflections in the public on ancient and at the same time contemporary themes, using traditional stories and the life of the Saint.
Some paintings will be more festive, others dramatic, in the perennial duality between which humanity moves: good and evil, joy and sadness, benevolence and tragedy. It will not be a simple parade of figures in historical costume, but a sequence of moving paintings alternating with historical groups. Each painting will be staged by actors and dancers, together with figures in historical costume, adults and children, who will interact with the scene and the audience.
And above all this aerial dancers, a symbol of transcendence.
There will be three paintings that will be represented by the participants and which tell three stories of the saint: «The Cretan boys», «The three girls», «The painting of peace».
THE GIANT While this year’s authentic novelty is a giant Saint Nicholas, a stylized and imposing creation that will stand out majestically along the route, arousing wonder and emanating an aura of protection. A statue that will start bare and then be covered during the procession route.
«For the people of Bari and for the whole world of devotees of Saint Nicholas, the procession is one of the most important moments of the year, around which the entire community of Bari gathers and at the same time it becomes a moment of cultural promotion of our city», explained Francesco Valenzano, representative of the ATI who put together the show.
Now all that’s left to do is get excited.
