FEAST OF SAINT PETER AND PAUL - GALATINA

The patron saint's feast of St. Peter and St. Paul in Galatina takes place between June 28 to 30 and it is one of the biggest Salento festivities, together with St. Oronzo Feast in Lecce and St. Anthony in Novoli. They have been appointed as protectors of Galatina since, according to tradition, they stopped in Galatina during their evangelical missions and, grateful for the warm hospitality received by a pious Galatina inhabitant in his own palace, where the chapel is now located, gave him and his descendants the power to heal those who were bitten by poisonous spiders, called "tarante" in dialect. It would have been enough drinking the water of the well inside the house and mark the sign of the cross on the wound.

The church of St. Paul, a few steps from the main town square and the Mother Church, from the Middle Ages until the end of the 50s of XX century has been the scene of mysterious events associated with the "tarantism". A big party is being celebrated on the beautiful streets of Old Town and squares, the lights stretching over a few kilometres and amusing people with their play of light. Besides the usual "stalls", here people can taste local products, stroll around the main pizzica dance spaces and enjoy great fireworks.

Info: http://www.comune.galatina.le.it/