Feast of Maria Santissima di Valverde

A patronal feast in the heart of Mount Etna

The Feast of Maria Santissima di Valverde is the most important religious and popular celebration in the town of Valverde, a small center in the province of Catania nestled on the southeastern slopes of Mount Etna, in Sicily. Every year, on the last Sunday of August, the entire community gathers around its Sanctuary to honor the Madonna of Valverde, the town's patron saint and the destination of an ancient Marian devotion that attracts pilgrims from across the Etna region and beyond.

The legend of the 1038 apparition

The origins of the feast are rooted in one of the most evocative Marian legends in Sicily. It is said that in June 1038, a brigand named Dionisio, while about to kill a traveler, was stopped by a mysterious voice that urged him to lay down his arms and abandon his life of banditry. After converting, Dionisio promoted the construction of a place of worship. Tradition tells of further apparitions of the Virgin and the so-called "miracle of the pillar," with the image of the Madonna remaining imprinted on the stone and venerated as acheiropoieton, meaning not painted by human hands.

The Baroque Sanctuary

The heart of the feast is the Sanctuary of Maria Santissima di Valverde, belonging to the Diocese of Acireale. Consecrated in 1296 under Frederick III of Aragon, the building was severely damaged by the 1693 Val di Noto earthquake and rebuilt during the 18th century in an elegant Baroque style, with the portico and facade that still characterize the Sanctuary square today.

Three days of celebrations

The festivities take place over three days, from Friday to Sunday. The religious program includes moments deeply felt by the community:

• floral tributes and pilgrimages to the Sanctuary in the days leading up to the feast;
• the solemn "unveiling" of the Madonna's image, accompanied by fireworks and a brass band;
• the procession of the fercolo through the city streets, the central and most emotional moment of the feast;
• numerous Sunday Holy Masses, culminating in the solemn celebration with civil and military authorities.

Between faith and popular festivity

Alongside the devotional dimension, the feast also takes on a joyful popular atmosphere: brass band concerts of lyrical-symphonic music, musical entertainment in the square, market stalls, and the unmissable pyromusical shows that light up the Valverde sky on the final evenings. It is an occasion where religious tradition, local identity, and conviviality merge, revealing the authentic face of an Etna community deeply connected to its patron saint.