The legends

Appearance There are even three legends that are told in Matera on this feast. One of these tells of an unknown girl, He appeared to a worker of the land to return to the city of Matera. The girl asked the man a good ride on his wagon and these, after having driven her to the gates of the city, near the church Piccianello, She saw her become statue. The Virgin then greeted the disbelieving peasants whispering these words: "It is so, on a decorated cart, I want to go every year in my city ". A second legend about why the destruction of the Wagon triumphant, instead it tells of a probable attack of the Saracens. The materani, to avert the danger that the icons of their deep devotion and veneration from falling into the hands of the attackers, They destroyed them first wagon, avoiding the looting. The third legend tells instead that Count Tramontano, Lord of Matera, promised the residents of Matera everything needed for holding the festival in honor of the patron saint, even a new wagon every year. The materani to test the pain endured tyrant, They assaulted the triumphal Chariot forcing the Count to keep his promise.

Madonna della Bruna

Sacred Image Matera is rooted in the belief that the name Bruna comes from the brown color of the image of this Madonna in the Cathedral. But the restoration has denied this claim, In fact the color is quite clear and the haze was due to the smoke of candles lit in the Mother Church by believers through the centuries. The name was then probably instituted by Urban VI at the very moment in which he proposed the establishment of this feast (1389). Kittens instead attaches to the word "brown" (which means armor) the meaning of the name. For other "brown" would be a dialect reduction in Hebron, cities of Judea where the Virgin visited St. Elizabeth. Hence the other name not used "Visitation".

Institution of the Feast of the Visitation

Feast of the Visitation The archbishop of Prague John Jenstein instituted the feast of the Visitation in his jurisdiction and suggested to Urban VI (Pope's 1378 al 1389) to extend it to the whole Church, to avoid its definitive division. Bartolomeo Prignano, former bishop of the city of Matera, He proposed to the Cardinals in the consistory of ' 8 April 1389 the introduction of the feast "The Visitation of Holy Mary" with the intent to achieve peace in the political and ecclesiastical, the very restless time (Great Western Schism).However, it was Boniface IX to have his idea of ​​this festival and, as soon as you cross the papal throne, He published on November 8th 1389 la Bolla "Above the goodness of the Creator" redatta dal its predecessor. The date of 2 July Traditionally, in accordance with the evangelical facts of the Visitation described Luca (Lc. I, 39-56). It reads that Mary remains at her cousin Elizabeth until the birth of John the Baptist, probably waiting for another eight days to the rite of the name. Accepting this computation of the period elapsed, the feast of the Visitation, Franciscan origin (the Friars Minor of the celebrated early as 1263), It was celebrated on 2 July, ie at the end of Mary's visit. It would have been more logical to place its memory after 25 March, feast of the Annunciation, but he wanted to keep her from falling during Lent. The party was later extended to the entire Latin Church by Pope Urban VI to propitiate the intercession of Mary, peace and the unity of Christians divided by the Great Schism of the West. The synod of Basel, at its meeting on 10 July 1441, He confirmed the feast of the Visitation, initially it not accepted by the states that sided with the antipope. The current liturgical calendar, not taking account of the suggested episode evangelical chronology, He has abandoned the traditional date of 2 July (once the Visitation was also commemorated in other dates) to fix the memory the last day of May, as a culmination of the month that popular devotion dedicates to the particular cult of the Virgin. There continues to be on this date the Feast of Our Lady of the Visitation patron saint of Enna and this demonstrates the coincidence of this date with the octave of the feast of St. John the Baptist. Other thesis want to trace the Celebrations 2 July in Matera Visitation even before the establishment took place in 1389, but there are no documents to substantiate this claim or not. The Procession of the Shepherds The so-called "Procession of the Shepherds" is always left in the early hours from the Cathedral to get around town (the two Sassi districts). Starting the 1800 appear the first two drums and then two violins that accompany the Framework of the Madonna through the parishes and the main churches of the Caveoso and Barisano. Returning the procession in the Church Mother, the congregants and the musicians were offered breakfast. Among folk aspects that characterize the Procession, definitely worth mentioning the 'gunpowder batteries, that warn of the passage of the Virgin panel; Another feature is the display on balconies velvet white sign of celebration. Already in the nineties, the path traversed by the Procession, It was modified and lengthened. as one might expect, today, Bruna of the pastors through the older neighborhoods of the City, But without retracing the narrow alleys that characterize the Sassi. Profane elements The profane element that appears first, in 1605, It is the fireworks. From historical documents of purchase law of dust roll. The firing of a paper bomb as the festivities indicator was first used here than in any other event, and will be introduced in the party will not only of the people, but also of priests and gentlemen (that is, those who took care of the expenses). After the fireworks, the other profane element to mark a first in the festival are the lights. Following numerous renovations made over the centuries to the bell tower of the Cathedral, there are traces and evidence of the first lights and street lamps that enrich Piazza Duomo. After the lights were extended to the square of the Seat. For political and security reasons, the 10 December 1768 He was ordered from Naples (Matera in the eighteenth century belonged to the Bourbons) that all processions were to be held in the morning, in any case in the afternoon. After many vicissitudes in 1836 you allow processions after Vespers, provided that terminate within the 23.30 and major roads are lit cross.