Festivities in Honor of Maria SS. della Rotonda

The festival that defines the identity of Parete

In Parete, a small town in the province of Caserta in the heart of the Aversa area, Campania, the calendar year does not begin in January, but at Easter. This is when the Solemn Festivities in Honor of Maria SS. della Rotonda, co-patron of the town alongside Saint Peter the Apostle, begin: an entire week during which streets, squares, and courtyards are filled with illuminations, brass bands, worshippers, and families. Those who have emigrated return specifically for this, because the Rotonda festival is much more than a religious recurrence—it is the moment when the Parete community truly comes together.

The Flight of the Angels, the most anticipated moment

The moment everyone waits for is the Flight of the Angels. Two girls between the ages of eight and ten, chosen by lottery months in advance and dressed in white with golden wings and flower crowns, descend from the castelletto—an eighteen-meter tower erected in front of the parish church—sliding along a steel cable to the bell tower. Once they arrive in front of the sacred effigy, they recite poems to the Madonna, while the square holds its breath before erupting into applause.

There are four flights in total: they are repeated at the start and return of the two main processions, on Easter Monday and the Sunday of the Octave, in both daytime and nighttime versions. It is a tradition passed down through generations in Parete that draws visitors from across the Caserta and Naples provinces every year.

Processions, the field mass, and the Octave

The religious program accompanies the entire Easter week: the descent of the sacred effigy from the altar, sung masses, and moments of communal adoration and prayer. Among the most characteristic events is the field mass, celebrated in the countryside surrounding the town and followed by a long procession that brings the Marian image back to the town center, creating one of the most beautiful and popular scenes of the festivities.

The festival, which historically began on Holy Saturday and culminated on Easter Monday, has gradually extended to the following Sunday, with further processions: today, the cycle concludes with the Octave, which extends the festive atmosphere by an entire week.

Spring Fireworks and brass band concerts

• Spring Fireworks: the pyromusical shows that close the evenings are among the most popular in Campania and attract pyrotechnics enthusiasts from all over the region.
• Brass band concerts: historic bands are invited for the occasion and animate the evenings with the great operatic and symphonic repertoires of the southern tradition.
• Illuminations: these are the modern evolution of the myrtle arches and colorful fabrics that farmers once brought from the fields to decorate the streets.
• Flag-raising and opening moments that mark the official start of the festivities.

An ancient cult and a Marian sanctuary

Devotion to Maria SS. della Rotonda is documented at least as far back as the 16th century: documents from 1542 and 1565 attest to the plenary indulgence granted to the faithful during the Easter days, which have remained the peak of the festival ever since. The bond between the town and its Madonna was sealed on Easter Monday 1920, when Cardinal Oreste Giorgi presided over the solemn coronation of the sacred effigy on a stage set up in the churchyard before an immense crowd. In subsequent anniversaries, other gems were added to the crowns, and in 2025, the community experienced a second coronation with new diadems crafted from gold spontaneously donated by devotees.

The image, restored for the first time in 1919-1920 and again between 2017 and 2018, has regained its original colors, from the azurite mantle to the green drapery. In 2024, the parish church was elevated to a Marian sanctuary, a recognition that has further strengthened the flow of pilgrims.

Parete, the strawberry capital

Those arriving for the festivities discover a town of just over thirteen thousand inhabitants, born at the intersection of two ancient Roman roads, the Via Campana and the Via Antica. The center preserves the Mother Church of Saint Peter the Apostle, with its Romanesque layout, and the Ducal Palace, a national monument that has housed Italy's first museum dedicated to the strawberry since 2017: Parete has indeed been one of the Italian capitals of strawberry farming for decades. A detail that makes the visit even tastier, as the festival falls right in the middle of the harvest season.