The “Santuna di San Pietro” are back. And the first, Pietro, from a height of 4 meters and more, made his triumphal entry into the Modica cathedral dedicated to him on Sunday evening, stopping near the altar as if to pay homage to the parish priest, Don Giuseppe Stella, and to two of his mentors: Pierpalo Ruta and Walter Buscema, the founders of the “Kalikantun” Association, named after the first rock settlement in the area of the Cava Ispica castle. “We want to look to the past – say Pierpaolo and Walter – also to honor the memory of our parents, Franco Ruta, the father of chocolate from Modica, and the journalist Giorgio Buscema. Both share a passion for the popular traditions of the County of Modica and for their valorization. We try to follow in their footsteps, looking to the past to cultivate the memory of a city like Modica which, unfortunately, often forgets its roots”.
Here, then, is the first step towards recovering the tradition of the “Santuna” procession during the feast of St. Peter, interrupted in the mid-1950s by the decision of the bishop, Monsignor Calabretta, according to whom the santons had become an occasion of mockery at the party itself. Other times and other sensibilities.
Now, more than 70 years later, they will return, from 2025, the year of the Jubilee, to travel through the center of Modica. And they will certainly be the main attraction of the next Patron Saint’s Day, inspiring
enthusiasm and wonder like Sunday evening in a church packed with faithful and the public who could not hold back their applause when the large simulacrum of St. Peter appeared between the naves.
The parish priest Don Giuseppe Stella retraced the stages of the ancient Modican tradition which saw the papier-mâché statues of the twelve apostles, more than four meters high, join the procession of celebrations in honor of Saint Peter.
Ruta and Buscema specified how the project is the result of a long study and recovery of traditions. The Santoni, in fact, are part of a broader historical trend of Catalan and Spanish traditions of the so-called “Gigantes” in which papier-mâché statues up to 6 meters high are paraded on the occasion of particular religious events. The Modican tradition was probably a tradition that arrived with the Spanish and which can also be found in other cities in Sicily. The work of the craftsman Giorgio Cicero – who created the saint of St. Peter and who will also create the others – was also highlighted, as was that of the seamstress Rita Alasso for the making of the original costumes.
The aim of the project is to ensure that next year, on the occasion of the Jubilee Year, all the statues of the apostles can be taken out in procession, plus that of Jesus: therefore, 13 statues in total. To achieve this, joint work is necessary and to ensure that this project can involve as many people as possible and be a point of attraction for all those who want to actively engage in the city’s cultural activities.
The Kalikantun Association, for the realization of the event on Sunday evening, made use of the collaboration of the parish of San Pietro and the “La Via delle Collegiate” Association.
Now it is up to the healthy and lively forces of the city to collaborate to achieve an objective worthy of the cultural fabric of Modica.
In the photo, from left: Walter Buscema, the dressmaker Rita Alasso, the craftsman Giorgio Cicero, Pierpaolo Ruta. Behind, Paolo Segreto, of Via delle Collegiate.
