Chapel of Saint Lucia Festival

Mundimitar, the Croatian village of Molise

Montemitro, which in the local language sounds like Mundimitar, is one of the three municipalities of the Croatian-Molise linguistic minority in the province of Campobasso, along with Acquaviva Collecroce and San Felice del Molise. The community descends from Slavic refugees who arrived on the Adriatic coast in the 15th century and still preserves their language, songs, and traditions today.

The festival of Saint Lucia in Selo

The patron saint of the town is Saint Lucia, venerated in the small chapel in the Selo locality. The community gathers there in procession on two dates of the year: the Sunday after Easter (Quasimodo Sunday) and the last Friday of May. After the solemn Mass, blessed bread is distributed, and the evocative auction of artisanal cakes, the kolači, is held. These are cakes filled with jam and dried fruit from the Croatian tradition: a shared and engaging moment that brings the entire town together.

Remembering Slavic roots

The festival is linked to the memory of the arrival of Slavic ancestors in Italy and represents one of the most vibrant signs of the Croatian-Molise identity of Mundimitar, jealously guarded by a community of a few hundred inhabitants.