Peregrinatio Mariae
The Marian week in Toritto: the statue of the Immaculate Conception travels through the town streets
About Peregrinatio Mariae
Faith walking through the houses of Toritto
The Peregrinatio Mariae is a devotional event that, every year at the end of May, involves the entire community of Toritto, a town in the metropolitan city of Bari, in the heart of Puglia. For one week, the statue of Maria SS. Immacolata leaves the Mother Church and sets out on a journey through the town's neighborhoods: a pilgrimage made of stops, vigils, itinerant rosaries, and evening Eucharistic celebrations that bring prayer right to the families' doorsteps.
A tradition rooted for generations
This is not a recent event: historical photographs from the fifties and sixties document crowded streets, celebrating children, and confreres in procession, testifying to how deep the roots of this Marian devotion are in Toritto and the nearby hamlet of Quasano. The Peregrinatio Mariae is today one of the most authentic expressions of Toritto's popular religiosity, preserved and renewed year after year.
Who organizes it
The initiative is promoted by the Confraternita Maria SS. Immacolata together with the San Nicola Parish. They are the ones who set the schedule for the stops, lead the evening processions, and involve the various districts, in a route that touches different streets and squares of the town every evening.
How it works
- Every evening, around 7:00 PM, Holy Mass is celebrated in a different district of the town.
- At the end of the celebration, the statue of the Immaculate Conception travels in procession through the streets of the neighborhood.
- The week begins at the Mother Church and concludes on the final Sunday with the most solemn procession through the main squares of Toritto.
- The celebrations are broadcast live on the confraternity's Facebook page, allowing the elderly, the sick, and emigrants to participate from afar.
A community ritual
More than just a religious event, the Peregrinatio Mariae is a moment when the town comes together: families decorate the streets, confreres accompany the statue, and popular devotion intertwines with the daily life of the districts. For those visiting Toritto during these days, it is an opportunity to grasp a defining trait of Apulian culture, where Marian faith continues to mark the community's calendar.
Peregrinatio Mariae — edition 2026
The 2026 edition of the Peregrinatio Mariae took place in Toritto from May 25 to 31, with evening Eucharistic celebrations and processions that touched the entire town, neighborhood by neighborhood. The statue of Maria SS. Immacolata departed from the Mother Church to conclude the journey on Sunday with the most solemn procession through the main squares of the town. All masses were broadcast live on the confraternity's Facebook page.
Programme Peregrinatio Mariae 2026
Monday, May 25
- 7:00 PM — Holy Mass at the Mother Church, followed by the procession through Piazza Giovanni Paolo II, vico I Cattedrale, via G. Pascoli, via F. De Santis, and piazzetta Guareschi.
Tuesday, May 26
- 7:00 PM — Holy Mass in piazzetta Guareschi, with a procession along via Maria Montessori, largo Stella, cantone Loizzi, and via Ettore D'Urso.
Wednesday, May 27
- 7:00 PM — Celebration on via Ettore D'Urso, with a procession along via Ettore D'Urso, corso Umberto I, largo Stella, via Rosario Livatino, via Favaro, traversa Alcide De Gasperi, and via dottor Antonio Scarangella.
Thursday, May 28
- 7:00 PM — Holy Mass on via dottor Antonio Scarangella, with a procession along via Scarangella, via Caduti di Nassiriya, via Favaro, via E. Morgese, via Carlo Collodi, via Antonio Fogazzaro, and via Ugo Foscolo.
Friday, May 29
- No procession in Toritto: the diocesan confraternities met in Noicattaro.
Saturday, May 30
- 7:00 PM — Holy Mass on via Ugo Foscolo, with a procession along via Galliano, via Antonio Fogazzaro, via Giosuè Carducci, via Alcide De Gasperi, and via Enrico Mattei.
Sunday, May 31 — Final Day
- 6:30 PM — First procession through the town streets, with Holy Mass at the "S. Giuseppe" Institute.
- In the evening — Final procession along Piazza Aldo Moro, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele III, and Corso Umberto I.
Highlights Peregrinatio Mariae 2026
Prices Peregrinatio Mariae 2026
Practical information — Peregrinatio Mariae
Where
The celebrations start from the Mother Church of Toritto (BA) and move every evening to a different district of the town, concluding in the main squares.
When
Last week of May. Evening masses around 7:00 PM, followed by processions through the neighborhood streets.
How to get there
Toritto is located about 30 km from Bari, along the route towards the Murgia hinterland. It can be reached by car via the SS96 and SP roads, or by train using the Ferrovie Appulo Lucane (FAL) Bari-Altamura line, Toritto stop.
Admission
Free and open to all.
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Where does it take place — Peregrinatio Mariae
Chiesa Madre e vie del centro di Toritto