The Madonna of Cultivation – Parabita

May 25th to 27th 2024, a traditional religious feast in the province of Lecce.

On May 25th, 26th, and 27th, 2024 – the last weekend of May – the city of Parabita, in the province of Lecce, celebrates the Matonna ta Cutura (The Madonna of Cultivation).

According to the legend, while plowing a piece of ground, a farmer discovered a mass on which an image of the Virgin Mary and her Child was depicted.
Enthusiast of his discovery, he ran to the village to announce the issue by bringing the stone to the village’s church. The next day, the inhabitants went to the church to pray in front of the stone, and they noticed that the mass disappeared and that it miraculously returned to the place where it was found by the farmer. From that moment then the adoration of the Madonna also became a ritual to ask for a healthy and rich harvest.

During the Madonna of Cultivation feast, the Church and the streets in Parabita are decorated with lights and in the evening the sky is enlightened by huge fireworks.

The main celebration of the Madonna of Cultivation feast takes place at Noon on Sunday when the “Curraturi” (runners) recall the running of the farmer towards Parabita to announce the discovery and they stop in front of the Madonna under the “Gate of Gallipoli” (“sutta a porta“), one of the 3 gates of the city’s wall.
The path where the farmer ran, by time, became longer: until 1800 the departure was from the “Sanctuary”, then from the “Paradise”, an old manor farm. Today this race is also called “La Gara del Chilometro” (The race of the Kilometre).

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Enjoy to taste the traditional dishes>>> and the excellent wines of Puglia>>>

(photos: event’s Facebook page)