Located 32 km northwest of Bari, the territory of the city of BISCEGLIE (bat) is characterized by the presence of many blades, beds of ancient rivers, and about eight kilometers of coastline. Bisceglie, also known as the "City of Dolmens and Normans," has as its city emblem a red shield with a golden oak tree in the center.
The city is positioned in an inlet of the Adriatic coastline, has a well-equipped marina, picturesque white pebble beaches that are a vacation destination for tourists from all over the world, and specializes in the production and trade of agricultural products, such as vegetables and cherries, as well as fishing and trade in fish products. These productions also result in typical dishes of great flavor.
In addition to typical Apulian dishes, such as strascinati with turnip tops or its variant of calzone, a flatbread stuffed with sponsali, of great charm are colve, an autumn fruit salad that is prepared on November 2, with boiled wheat, chopped almonds, walnuts, chocolate chunks, and pomegranate seeds washed down with vin cotto, and the most renowned sospiri, sponge cakes filled with custard and covered with a very light glaze.
Legend has it that the Poor Clares had prepared these sweets on the occasion of the wedding between Lucrezia Borgia and Alfonso d'Aragona, Duke of Bisceglie, but the bride never arrived and the guests, sighing, ate these goodies.
The old town, located in an elevated position, preserves numerous historical and architectural relics, such as houses and palaces from the 15th and 16th centuries, such as the famous Palazzo Tupputi, known for hosting meetings of the Risorgimento Carbonari in 1820, the splendid Cathedral (1073) dedicated to St. Peter and containing the remains of the three patron saints Martyrs, Maurus, Sergius and Pantaleon, the ancient church of St. Adoenus (1074), the church of St. Margaret (1197) and the remains of the Castle complex built by the Normans and the Swabians and later enlarged and fortified by the Angevins.
The city of Bisceglie is remembered in all archaeological itineraries for the presence in its countryside of several funerary constructions dating back to the Middle Bronze Age, the Dolmens : the most important and best preserved is the one called "La Chianca."
Suggestive, during the Easter period, the rites of Holy Week with the Good Friday procession of "l'incontro."
THE FESTIVAL
The patronal feast takes place over three days around the second Sunday in August in the forms that have been handed down for several centuries. This feast has its roots in the "Translation of the Saints" from the hamlet of Sagina, located in the countryside, within the walls, in the seaside village Tradition has it that the Translation took place in a peculiar way: as they were disputed by different cities, the relics of the saints were loaded onto a wagon pulled by two mighty oxen.
Leaving the wagon without a human guide, it would be the oxen that would choose a destination and the onlookers would accept the assignment of the relics to the first city visited by the animals. The moment the oxen headed for Bisceglie, it became clear that St. Maurus, Sergius and Pantaleon would become its patrons.
Even today, every hundred years, devotees and local residents gather to observe the full rite of the Translation, recreating the typical atmosphere of the event that took place centuries earlier, complete with cart and oxen. Formerly held on July 30, the day people currently go to the co-cathedral to visit the sacred relics, today, it is held annually between Saturday and Monday that include the second Sunday in August.
It is a tradition that unites friends and families, decorating the city with festive and striking decorations. The festival begins on Saturday morning. At eight o'clock, the prolonged signal of the siren of the main tower and the ringing of the bells of all the churches, combined with the bursts of grenades, open the festivities. Also on Saturday morning, u tamburre, a low band consisting of a few cymbal players, drummers, one flute player and one bass drum player, goes around the streets of the city playing some marches.
On Saturday evening, people flock to the Palazzuolo, the center of the festival, where, among other things, a market is also organized with stalls of all kinds. On the facade of the Garibaldi Theater, an altar adorned with illuminations, drapes and flowers is erected in which an image of the patron saints, called "the picture," is placed.
A sound box is arranged in the center of the Palazzuolo, around which people listen to music performed by the various bands that follow one another. On Sunday, at ten o'clock, people pour into the co-cathedral where the statues of the Three Saints are exposed to the faithful. After the bursting of fireworks, the solemn procession of the Three Saints begins.
When the procession returns around midnight, people crowd on the wall and all along the harbor to watch the fireworks launched from the new pier. On Monday, the last day of the festival, a group of the faithful accompanies the saints to the cathedral, heralding the end of the celebration. The harbor basin launches fireworks for the last time and finally seals the three acts of the patronal feast.
Don't miss:
Old Town, Co-cathedral, Church of Santa Margherita, Palazzo Tupputi, Dolmen "la Chianca," Caves of S. Croce, Castle and Torre Maestra.
Text by: Loredana Acquaviva
