Four Holy Crowned Martyrs Festival

A celebration of faith and craft

The Four Holy Crowned Martyrs Festival is the annual celebration that the Stonemasons' Guild of Calatafimi-Segesta, in the province of Trapani (Sicily), dedicates to its patron saints. The four martyrs—Carpoforus, Severus, Severianus, and Victorinus—were killed in Rome in 304 AD during the Diocletian persecution and are venerated as the patrons of stoneworkers. Their image is kept in the Mother Church of San Silvestro Papa, the heart of the festival day.

The Guild, the Coppu, and the Administration

The festival is organized by an Administration that serves for one year, consisting of a president and twelve members, all stonemasons. The symbol of the office is lu Coppu, a cylindrical metal container featuring a silver plaque depicting the Four Holy Crowned Martyrs: at the end of the night, the outgoing president hands it over to the newly elected one, renewing a chain of responsibility passed down through generations.

Mufuletti, the stars of the night

The delicious and devotional heart of the festival is the mufuletti, votive bread rolls prepared by local bakers and hand-topped with sieved, sweetened ricotta or fresh-pressed olive oil. Preparations take about a month: in recent editions, over ten thousand mufuletti have been produced, using around a thousand kilograms of ricotta and involving about a hundred people, including families, friends, and supporters of the Guild.

How it unfolds

• On Saturday afternoon, a procession of Guild members and their families, followed by Holy Mass at the Mother Church.
• In the evening, the blessing and first distribution of mufuletti and sweets.
• At midnight, the door-to-door distribution of the votive bread begins along the streets of the historic center.
• The procession is accompanied by live serenades featuring accordion, guitar, and saxophone.
• At dawn, as the town wakes up, the festival concludes with the installation of the new Administration.

A living tradition

Blending the sacred and the profane, the Four Holy Crowned Martyrs Festival tells the story of Calatafimi-Segesta better than any guidebook: the solidarity of the Guild, the value of manual labor, and the hospitality of an entire town that, for one night, opens its doors to anyone knocking with a mufuletto in hand. Admission is free and visitors are welcome.