...the origin of the town can be placed around the year one thousand. Traces of its existence are found, indeed, even before the year 1000, as evidenced by the frescoes found in the Grotta di Santa Barbara in the district of the same name.
There are various interpretations on the origin of the toponym Capurso, some of which are rather fanciful. The poet Torricella associated the name of the city with the polar bear, but certainly the most evocative and fascinating of the interpretations is the one linked to the legend of the bear which enjoys great acclaim on a popular basis.
According to this legend, the name of the city derives from the head of a bear (caput ursi), killed by the first inhabitants of the place, placed on a cart and pulled by oxen. The town would have arisen at the point where the chariot stopped its run. Beyond legends and suggestive interpretations, recent studies believe that the word Capurso derives from those names which, born as appellations, then acquire the value of a noun. So from locus caprutius (place of goats) would have derived Caprutius and therefore Capurso.
Capurso has passed through various foreign dominations, often suffering devastation and ruin. Over the centuries, in fact, the Norman, Swabian and Angevin dominations have followed one another. Only with the advent of the Aragonese and, above all thanks to the enlightened politics of Queen Bona Sforza, did the town acquire its civic dignity.
The French revolution also had its effects on Capurso in which liberal ferment supported a Neapolitan republic as opposed to Bourbon domination. This "revolutionary" spirit was also evident during the period of the Carbonari revolts with the presence of a secret association of a liberal nature.
With the unification of Italy, the town assumed its prestige among the Municipalities of the Province thanks to the work of many of its illustrious citizens. During the time of the world wars Capurso pays a heavy price by sacrificing many of his children.
THE FEAST
It is not yet morning, the first light of the day is struggling to dawn, at 4.00 on the last Sunday of August, the celebrations in honor of the Patroness of Capurso "Madonna del Pozzo" begin.
In the Basilica waiting and recollection around the words of the Rector of the Shrine. There are two signs of entrustment to the Virgin, the delivery, by the Friar Rector of the Sanctuary, of the keys to the City and the delivery of a golden rose donated by a Capursese family. Immediately afterwards, accompanied by evocative songs and supplications, the entrance of the company of pilgrims from Bisceglie.
It is one of the most beautiful and evocative moments of the feast of Santa Maria del Pozzo: and from here on tens of thousands of people visit the Virgin. At the end of the Eucharistic celebration at 9.00, the solemn procession begins which passes through the city streets and accompanies the Sacred Image of Santa Maria del Pozzo with hundreds of candles.
A long procession characterized by the numerous presence of devotees and faithful, arriving from different towns of Puglia, with colored banners demonstrating the country of origin. During the procession, Marian chants and moments of prayer follow one another and, in some stretches of the road, people pay homage to the Statue with fireworks, colored rose petals and with balloons left to fly as it passes as a sign of joy and gratitude.
The Statue returns to the Basilica in the late afternoon, among a crowded crowd of faithful who have been waiting for the Madonna del Pozzo since the early afternoon, despite the strong heat that has always distinguished the day dedicated to her. Entering the Basilica is moving, both in seeing the people who greet the Virgin Mary waving white handkerchiefs, but above all in seeing those who, amidst screams and tears, ask for the healing of their sick relatives.
As usual, on the Sunday of the feast of the Madonna del Pozzo the nocturnal procession of the Triumphal Cart dedicated to her also takes place, accompanied by almost two hundred extras in eighteenth-century clothing. The company of pilgrims of Bisceglie with ever renewed vigor pulls the cart by hand.
To accompany the majestic advance of the Virgin Mary on her throne sparkling with lights, there are many little girls dressed in white and the Rector of the Sanctuary on the Chariot: the imposing progress is marked by the Marian melodies played by the band, placed on the back of the Chariot and by the rhythm pressing of the musicians.
An active scenography is the immense crowd that looks at the passage of the Chariot whose return, in the churchyard of the Basilica, is usually marked by the rising to the sky of a majestic aerostatic balloon.
To visit:
Sanctuary of the Madonna del Pozzo, Convent of San Francesco da Paola, Church of the Carmine, the medieval village
Photo by N. Taranto
