Festa di San Gennaro 2023

Festa di San Gennaro 2023 will take place on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, in the beautiful city of Naples.

San Gennaro (Saint Januarius) is the patron saint of Naples, and the feast held every year on September 19, commemorating his martyrdom, is the most important religious celebration of the city.

SHORT HISTORY

Saint Januarius, also known as Januarius I of Benevento, was Bishop of Benevento in the 3rd century AD. Acording to tradition, he was martyred in Miseno on September 19, 305, during the persecution of Christians by Emperor Diocletian.

The cult of San Gennaro started long before his sanctification, which took place only in 1586. The devotion to the saint is closely linked to the cult of his relics, kept in a crypt of the Cathedral of Naples.

The relics consist of two ampoules, one empty, and the other with his blood collected by devotees on the day of his beheading. On September 19, in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, the devotees witness the miracle of the liquefaction of his blood.

The extraordinary event is repeated three times a year – on the Saturday before the first Sunday of May, at the end of a procession in memory of the transfer of his remains from Pozzuoli to Naples, then on September 19, the anniversary of his martyrdom, and finally on December 16, which recalls the dramatic eruption of Vesuvius of 1631, when Saint Januarius protected the city from the lava.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

On September 19, the cathedral will open at 7.30 am and will close around 9.00 pm. Between 9.00 and 10.00 am, the Cardinal will go to the Chapel of the Treasury, where the relics of San Gennaro are kept, to pick up the ampoule.

Then, the mass will begin, and the religious service will culminate with the liquefaction of the blood, greeted by the bells of the cathedral.

The ampoule will remain on display for the following 8 days, during which the streets of the historical center of Naples will be crowded with food stalls, and all kinds of concerts and shows will take place.