THE TESTIMONIES OF GREAT TRAVELLERS

The Festino of Santa Rosalia was famous all over Europe for its spectacular nature and the active participation of the populace and it was seen and described by numerous eighteenth- and nineteenth-century travellers engaged in the Grand Tour. Here are some extracts:

Dominique Vivant-Denon
from Voyage Pittoresque ou Description des Royaumes de Naples et de Sicile, 1781-86

The fifth day was celebrated with a never-ending procession that began around sunset and ended one hour after midnight. Here you can see the Palermitans’ predilection for “pageants” and their extreme devotion to their Saint. Each congregation brings its own pageant with a representation of scenes from the Old or the New Testament acted out by means of life-sized images or by children. The convents have the task of dressing these figures and they always take great pains to ensure that Giuditta and the Virgin are attired and combed according to the latest fashion. These figures are carried along on long poles borne on the shoulders of some thirty or thirty-six men who race their fastest to make their saint run faster than the others, scurrying to and fro with wild cries of triumph. Santa Rosalia, advancing more sedately, brings up the rear, arousing great jubilation. The people kneel before her, and the Festino is over.

Patrick Brydone
from A Tour though Sicily and Malta, 1773

The Feast began around five in the afternoon, with the Triumph of Santa Rosalia, who was carried with great pomp around the city from the seafront to Porta Nuova. The triumphal chariot was preceded by a party of men on horseback, with trumpets and drums, and by all the high officials of the city in full regalia. The “machine” is truly enormous: it measures seventy feet in length, thirty in width and over eighty in height; as it passes through the streets, it towers above Palermo’s tallest houses. The lower part looks like a Roman galley, but it widens towards the upper part. The front part is broader and shaped like an oval amphitheatre, with seats all around: this is the great orchestra, thronged with musicians in several rows, one above the other. At the back of the orchestra rises a great cupola, supported by six Corinthian columns and adorned with numerous figures of saints and angels, with a gigantic silver statue of Santa Rosalia on the top. The entire “machine” is covered with orange trees, vases of flowers, and artificial coral branches.

The chariot stopped every 50 or 60 yards for the orchestra to play hymns in honour of the Saint. It looked like a moving castle, occupying as it did the whole street from one side to the other. This created something of a problem because the space available was scarcely sufficient considering the great size of the machine, which truly dwarfed the houses as it passed. It was drawn by 56 huge mules, two abreast, covered with bizarre saddlecloths. The mules were ridden by 28 postilions dressed in gold and silver garb, with long ostrich plumes in their hats. Every window and balcony on either side of the street brimmed over with elegant ladies and gentlemen, while the triumphal chariot itself was followed by thousands of ordinary people.

Jean-Pierre Louis-Laurent
from Voyage Pittoresque des îles de Sicile, de Malte et de Lipari, 1782-87

The Chariot, which is customarily the main attraction of the Festino, leaves Porta dei Greci, proceeds slowly along the Marina seafront, reaches the Porta Felice city gate and finally enters the city. It is drawn by forty richly harnessed mules ridden by twenty postilions clad in long red Spanish-style costumes and hats surmounted by waving plumes. The chariot, mules and postilions are preceded by a company mounted dragoons, eight trumpeters, six officers on foot, and some sort of a corporal with eight liveried footmen in the service of the Senate, as well as banderole and eight more mounted dragoons.

The Master of Ceremonies, on horseback, swathed in a great black coat and wearing a wide-brimmed hat adorned Spanish-style with white plumes, follows immediately behind at the head of the mules drawing the triumphal chariot. He has a bell in his hand, which he rings every now and then as a signal to stop and to start, and for any other reason. The chariot is eighty feet high, forty feet long and twenty feet wide, a mobile triumphal ark carrying an incredible number of musicians. The base is similar to a great shell, borne on four wheels. At the centre of this ark is the simulacrum of the Saint, presented as a young woman dressed in the finest of raiment, suspended over a cloud and surrounded by rays of glory; the figures of soldiers all around appear to watch over her.

A cannon gives the starting signal at five or six o’clock in the evening. The chariot advances so slowly that everyone has ample time to observe it. Eight mounted grenadiers follow behind, keeping back the people who follow along crying “Viva”. There are strict orders preventing the passage of all carts and carriages along the elegant Marina seafront during the five hours of the Festino. The chariot enters the city through Porta Felice and proceeds along the Cassaro until it reaches the square in front of the Viceroy’s palace; the balconies, packed with people and especially with splendidly dressed women, make a splendid sight.

Amid such a throng the chariot can make but slow progress, and it is not until late at night that it finally reaches the Viceroy’s palace near Porta Nuova. The Cassaro is then all illuminated - both sides of the street seem afire. There are so many firelighters that the street is lit up in a trice. The splendour of the city walls overlooking the Marina, the beauty of the surroundings, the crowds of people, the elegance of the clothes, and the steady glimmer of the countless torches create all together an enchanting harmony, a delightful spectacle that inspires a common sentiment of pleasure and consolation and a general feeling of joy.

A great fireworks display, designed to create the impression of the façade of a great building, was held in the square in front of the Viceroy’s palace. This display started two hours after sunset and lasted for half an hour. The Viceroy’s palace and that of the Archbishop, as also the houses and convents that embellish the square, were crowded with people; the joyful voices and loud applause resounded this way and that, and the echo of the celebrations in the square was heard far afield.