Saint Ambrose Festival - Patron Saint of Buccheri

The Patronal Festival of Buccheri

The Saint Ambrose Festival is the main religious event in Buccheri, a small village in the province of Syracuse, Sicily. Nestled at an altitude of approximately 820 meters on the slopes of Monte Lauro, the highest peak of the Iblei Mountains, Buccheri honors Saint Ambrose as its patron saint. Every year on December 7th, the entire community comes together to celebrate.

The Patron Saint and the Mother Church

The heart of the festival is the Mother Church, dedicated to Saint Ambrose. Built on the site of the former Church of the Trinity, the building was completed in 1798 in an elegant neoclassical style and dominates the village with its scenic staircase. Inside, it preserves the exquisite wooden statue of Saint Ambrose, a work created in 1779 by the sculptor Gaetano Franzese, which is carried in procession and honored during the patronal festivities.

A Celebration of Faith and Tradition

The day of December 7th is marked by the solemn mass in the Mother Church, the central moment around which the local faithful gather. For the small community of Buccheri, the Saint Ambrose Festival represents a deeply rooted identity event that intertwines religious devotion with a sense of belonging to the village.

Buccheri, a Village of the Iblei Mountains

Buccheri is one of the most characteristic centers of the Iblei plateau in Syracuse. In addition to the December patronal festival, the local calendar of traditions includes the Saint Anthony the Abbot Festival in January, the participatory rites of Holy Week with the dialectal Via Crucis, the MedFest medieval re-enactment in August, and the Festival of Mary Most Holy of Graces in September. The territory, rich in forests and typical Iblei products, makes a visit to Buccheri an authentic experience of inland and mountainous Sicily, far from the more crowded tourist circuits.

The dates for the 2026 edition have not yet been officially announced: the festival traditionally follows the liturgical date of December 7th.