July Festivals – Madonna di Montallegro

The patronal feast of Rapallo

In Rapallo, in the Gulf of Tigullio in the province of Genoa, the July Festivals celebrate the Madonna di Montallegro, patron saint of the city. Devotion dates back to 1557, the year of the Marian apparition on the mountain above Rapallo, where the renowned Sanctuary of Montallegro stands. Religious celebrations have been intertwined for centuries with a popular festival of extraordinary intensity.

The challenge of the six sestieri

The secular heart of the festival is the fireworks competition between the six sestieri — San Michele, Seglio, Borzoli, Cerisola, Cappelletta, and Costaguta — who take turns organizing and compete for the fireworks supremacy. Unique traditions of the festival include the lumetti, small floating lights on the water, and the mortaletti, characteristic iron cylinders that mark the key moments with their bangs.

The procession and the burning of the castle

On July 2nd, at the midday bells, the panegyric is lit; on the evening of July 3rd, the procession with the Ark of the Madonna di Montallegro crosses the city and culminates in the evocative burning of the castle by the sea, accompanied by a fireworks display. The preparatory novena begins on June 23rd. An identity event that draws thousands of visitors to the city.