Festa patronale di San Bartolomeo

The Patron Saint of Gambatesa

In Gambatesa, a village in the Fortore area of the province of Campobasso (Molise), August 24th is the day dedicated to the patron saint, Saint Bartholomew the Apostle. It is one of the most important anniversaries in the town's religious and civil calendar.

The Church and the Procession

The heart of the celebrations is the Church of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, located in Largo Castello and restored between 1887 and 1891. The saint's statue is carried in a solemn procession through the streets of the historic center, accompanied by the community in a rite that is repeated every year. The same church is also the arrival point for the procession of the Madonna delle Traglie, at the end of July, testifying to its centrality in the devotional life of Gambatesa.

Religious and Community Festival

Alongside the religious rites — the solemn Mass and the procession — the patronal celebrations combine moments of popular festivity that also attract Gambatesa emigrants back to the town, for whom the patronal festival is an occasion for return and reunion. An event that tells the identity of a small Molise village through its faith and traditions.