Festa del Santissimo Salvatore della Trasfigurazione 2018

Festa del Santissimo Salvatore della Trasfigurazione (Feast of the Most Holy Savior of the Transfiguration) is the main feast of Cefalù, dedicated to the Patron Saint of the city, also the titular saint of the Cefalù Cathedral. The feast is held every year between 2 and 6 August, five days during which farmers, who have just finished the harvest, find themselves resting and rejoicing.

SHORT HISTORY

The Liturgy of the Transfiguration was established in the Western Europe in 1457 by Callistus III, who had intended to demonstrate, with the festivity of the Transfiguration, the gratitude of the Church for the victory obtained in Belgrade by the Christian army against Turkey. In the Eastern world, however, the solemnization of the Transfiguration is to be traced back to the fourth century, when Empress Helen had built a Basilica of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. In Sicily, the Transfiguration is celebrated since the 12th century and is closely linked to the Rogerian period.

The devotion of the city of Cefalù to the Most Holy Savior has begun with the construction of the Cefalù Cathedral by the Norman King Roger II, who depicts the great evangelical event of the Transfiguration of Jesus through the magnificent mosaic of Christ Pantocrator.

The first reference to the festivity of the SS. Salvatore can be found in a document from 1159, but the event that links Cefalù to its Patron Saint in an indissoluble way, is the violent earthquake of February 5th, 1783, which shook the entire Sicily. Cefalù will remain intact after the invocation of the Most Holy Savior.

Later, the festivities will be moved to the month of August, both for the most auspicious summer season and to make it coincide with the Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ.

FESTA DEL SANTISSIMO SALVATORE DELLA TRASFIGURAZIONE 2018 will be held, as usual, between 2 and 6 August, beginning on August 2nd with a moving and suggestive ceremony: the placing of the Flag of Christ Pantocrator at the center of the two towers of the Cathedral.

In the last day of the festivities, takes place a competition called Antinna a mari, organized by the fishermen, in which they try to conquer a white flag attached to the tip of a very long pole, made slippery by soap, which is placed horizontally at the sea and firmly fixed to the quay.

In the late afternoon, the solemn procession of the Santissimon Salvatore takes place. At the end of the procession, Piazza Duomo is crowded with believers and the Bishop’s speech concludes the celebrations in honor of the Savior.

The evening is closed by a fireworks display on the waterfront of the town.