It was rain, alternating with patches of sunshine, as the forecast indicated the day before, that characterized the start of the celebrations in honor of the Patron Saint Maria Santissima della Bruna this morning in Matera, now in their 635th edition.
The celebration, as per tradition, began with the Holy Mass, celebrated at dawn by Monsignor Giuseppe Antonio Caiazzo on the steps of the church of San Francesco d’Assisi, and the start of the Procession called “of the shepherds”.
The painting of the Madonna, preceded by devotees and figures dressed as shepherds with sheep and a donkey, and with the participation of about 15 thousand people, reached the neighborhoods to the sound of the festive bells and the roar of fireworks. The procession also included tourists wearing t-shirts with the theme of the festival, depicting the Madonna, the Knights of the Bruna, the triumphal chariot and with phrases also in dialect referring to July 2. The program continues with the gathering of knights in costume, led by “general” Angelo Raffaele Tataranni, riding “Valentino”, a ten-year-old Friesian horse. The knights, 77 in total and including eight Amazons, will escort the Madonna della Bruna placed on the triumphal chariot in the evening procession, which will go from the Piccianello district to Piazza Duomo, for the classic “three laps”, a sign of the bond between the Protector and the city. Then the papier-mâché artifact, created by the artist Francesca Cascione and inspired by the evangelical theme of the disciples of Emmaus, will reach Piazza Vittorio Veneto for the assault and destruction as a good-luck sign. A fireworks display on Murgia Timone will close the party after midnight.
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