Sant'Arduino Festival

A patronal feast in the heart of Ciociaria

The Sant'Arduino Festival is the most cherished event on the calendar of Ceprano, a town in the province of Frosinone overlooking the Liri River in southern Lazio. Every year, around July 28th, the town gathers around its patron saint with a celebration that intertwines the religious and civic dimensions, renewing a devotion rooted for centuries in the Ciociaria community.

Who was Sant'Arduino

Tradition tells of Arduino as a pilgrim priest, whose liturgical memorial falls on July 28th. Having arrived in Ceprano upon returning from a pilgrimage, he died and was buried there: his veneration quickly spread deeply among the population. The cult was officially approved by Pope Clement VII in 1531, cementing the unbreakable bond between the saint and the town, which elected him as its protector.

The procession and religious rites

The heart of the festival is the solemn procession, which winds along the streets of the historic center starting from the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, where the saint's relics are kept. At the end of the evening mass, the bust of Sant'Arduino is carried in a procession among the faithful, accompanied by the town band. For the occasion, the Municipality orders the closure of the affected streets to traffic, allowing the procession to pass in an atmosphere of reflection and popular participation.

Music, band, and popular festivities

The religious aspect is accompanied by civic celebrations, spread over the evenings leading up to the patron's day. Concerts, performances by the «Città di Ceprano» band, and entertainment in the squares enliven the center, while the town fills with families, visitors from neighboring towns, and Ceprano natives who have returned for the occasion. It is a moment of gathering that unites generations and strengthens the community's identity.

Ceprano and its devotional tradition

Located along the ancient Via Latina, on the historic border between the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples, Ceprano preserves a strong identity linked to its history and faith. The Sant'Arduino Festival is its most authentic expression: a fixed appointment that every year brings the patron saint back to the center of city life, a living testimony to the popular and religious traditions of the Lazio Region and the entire Ciociaria.