Festa di San Vito

Saint watches over dancers, entertainers, and pet dogs

A statue of San Vito, with dogs at
his feet, at Paternò in Sicily

Celebrations are held throughout Italy every year on this day to celebrate the feast day of San Vito (Saint Vitus) . Although it is not a national public holiday, June 15 is the day when many Italians remember San Vito, a young Christian martyr from Sicily, who died during the persecutions carried out in the fourth century by successive Roman Emperors, including Diocletian.

Many Italian towns, particularly those in southern Italy, honour San Vito with processions through the streets, theatrical events and religious ceremonies.

Vito was thought to have been born towards the end of the third century in Mazzaro del Vallo in Sicily. Little is known about his life, but according to legend, he was the son of a senator. As he grew up, he resisted his father’s attempts, which included various forms of torture, to persuade him to renounce his faith. He fled with his tutor and his tutor’s wife, who was also Vito’s nanny, to Lucania, in what is now Basilicata.

When he was about 12 or 13, he was believed to have been taken to Rome to drive out a demon that had taken possession of the soul of one of the sons of the Emperor Diocletian. He successfully performed the exorcism, but was then tortured, along with his tutor and nanny, for staying faithful to Christianity.

According to the story, an angel brought the three of them back to Lucania by a miracle, but they all died from the wounds they had suffered. After Vito had been dead for three days, he appeared to a local woman, who later discovered the three dead bodies and buried them where they lay.

During the Middle Ages, San Vito was counted among the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a group of saints who are venerated by Catholics because they believe their intercession can help against various diseases.

In the sixth century, Pope Gregory the Great referred to a monastery dedicated to San Vito in Sicily and later popes wrote about a shrine and a chapel dedicated to him. His relics were taken to Pavia, France, Germany, and Bohemia. The bones from his hand are kept as a sacred relic in St Vitus Cathedral in Prague.

The Cathedral of Saint Vitus in Prague, where
bones from his hand are kept as a sacred relic

In Germanic and Latvian cultures, the feast of Saint Vitus was once celebrated with manic dancing before his statue. After this dancing became popular, the name Saint Vitus Dance was given to the neurological disorder, Sydenham’s Chorea, which is characterised by involuntary jerking movements.

This also led to San Vito being considered the patron saint of dancers and entertainers. He is also supposed to protect people against lightning strikes, animal attacks and oversleeping.

Vito is the patron saint of the towns of Ciminna and Vita in Sicily, Forio on the island of Ischia, the town of Sapri in Campania, the contrada of San Vito in Torella dei Lombardi in Avellino, and the town of Rapone, in Basilicata.

On June 15, which Italian regard as the beginning of summer, towns with San Vito as their patron have his statue carried through the streets, accompanied by brass bands.

Because legend claims that the Emperor Diocletian set rabid dogs on Vito, only for the dogs to be cured and calmed by him, some regions historically tie his feast day in with the blessing of animals.

San Vito Lo Capo in Sicily, which sits at the head
of a promentory 34km (20 miles) north of Trapani

Travel tip:

San Vito Lo Capo, a town in northwestern Sicily named after the Saint, hosts some of the most spectacular celebrations with locals performing a dramatic, torch-lit re-enactment of the Saint's arrival by sea, culminating in a midnight firework display. On the afternoon of June 15, locals participate in a traditional game on the water. Competitors try to walk across a 10-metre-long wooden beam that is suspended over the sea and heavily coated in slippery soap. The goal is to grab a flag at the far end. At dusk, a flotilla of local fishing boats sails out to sea and returns carrying actors portraying young Vito, and his tutor and nanny. The shore erupts with flaring rockets and the blare of boat sirens. A solemn night procession features a heavy statue of San Vito carried on the shoulders of the faithful. The statue is wrapped in a cloak covered in gold ex-votos, offerings that have been given by people in exchange for miracles. San Vito can be found about 34km north of the resort of Trapani.

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Positano, looking from the beach towards the
Church of Santa Maria Assunta

Travel tip:

Because San Vito is also the patron saint of dogs, on June 15 in Positano on the Amalfi coast, the area near the Church of Santa Maria Assunta and the pier of the Spiaggia Grande is filled with local people bringing their pet dogs to receive a blessing from a priest. The town's main beach is taken over by market stalls selling traditional Italian sweets, street food, and toys. The celebration closes at midnight with a big fireworks display over the sea that illuminates the entire cliffside town. Positano is one of the most glamorous towns on the Amalfi coast and became fashionable with artists and writers after the Second World War. Positano’s villas, shops and hotels spill down the hillside to the beach, so that seen from further round the bay, the resort looks as though it is covered by a cascade of pink, cream and yellow houses.