Patronal Feast of Saint Sylvester Pope

The patron saint of Sacco celebrated on December 31st

In Sacco, a town of just under four hundred inhabitants in the province of Salerno, Campania, the patronal feast falls on the last day of the year: on December 31st, the town celebrates Pope Sylvester I, the 4th-century pontiff whom tradition links to the transition between the ending year and the one to come. This timing makes the event unique compared to almost all other festivals in the Cilento region, as devotion to the parish's patron saint blends with the festive Christmas atmosphere and the return of those who live and work elsewhere.

A village at 600 meters in the Cilento hinterland

Sacco stands at an altitude of about 600 meters, within the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, in the upper Calore Valley. The municipal territory, covering just under 24 square kilometers, protects the source of the Sammaro stream and forests that descend toward limestone gorges. The current town descends from the fortified settlement of Sacco Vecchia, abandoned in the Middle Ages; the memory of the 1656 plague, which killed much of the population, remains at the heart of the other major local event, the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels in early August.

The parish church of San Silvestro Papa

The heart of the festival is the church of San Silvestro Papa, overlooking Piazza del Popolo. The current building was constructed in 1756 over a much older, early medieval church and the adjacent cemetery. It is considered the largest church in the Diocese of Vallo della Lucania: three longitudinal naves intersected by a transept, six massive quadrangular columns, barrel vaults, a dome inspired by Michelangelo, and Baroque-style stucco decorations. Inside, it houses a restored 17th-century wooden choir and three terracotta sculptures depicting Saint Nicholas of Myra, Saint Sebastian, and Saint Sylvester himself. The entrance is at street level and accessible to people with disabilities.

How the festival unfolds

• The solemn liturgy in honor of the patron saint in the parish church, the central moment of December 31st.
• Musical moments hosted in the church nave, which in recent years have brought sacred music and gospel groups to Sacco.
• The community gathering in Piazza del Popolo to bid farewell to the passing year.
• The connection to the village's Christmas calendar, which accompanies residents from Christmas Eve until Epiphany.

«Christmas in the Village» and roots tourism

For several years, the patronal feast has been part of a broader program created by the Municipality of Sacco together with other towns in the upper Calore Valley—Castel San Lorenzo, Piaggine, Laurino, Valle dell'Angelo, and Roscigno—as part of the project Terre Ritrovate. I Viaggi delle Radici nella Valle del Calore (Rediscovered Lands: Roots Journeys in the Calore Valley), funded by the Campania region. Markets, food workshops, storytelling evenings, and meetings dedicated to the memory of emigration complement the religious events, making the period between Christmas and Epiphany the time when the village truly comes back to life.

Why it's worth the trip

Those who arrive in Sacco on December 31st will not find a massive event, but an authentic village festival: a few hundred people, a monumental church almost disproportionate to the size of the town, the silence of the surrounding mountains, and Cilento hospitality. It is also a great opportunity to discover a side of the Cilento rarely visited by beach tourists, characterized by stone villages, chestnut groves, and rustic cuisine, and to understand how patronal feasts remain the glue of communities in the Campanian hinterland today.