Solemnity of Saint John the Baptist – Castanea delle Furie

A patronal feast with an ancient heart

Clinging to a ridge of the Peloritani mountains at an altitude of about 380 meters, some fifteen kilometers from the center of Messina, the village of Castanea delle Furie preserves one of the most authentic patronal feasts in the Messina hills. Every year, on June 24th, the Castanoti community gathers around its patron, Saint John the Baptist, in a celebration that weaves together faith, memory, and local identity. The village is part of the Municipality of Messina, in the Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily.

The novena and the rosary in dialect

The spiritual heart of the festival is not confined to the day of the solemnity alone. During the nine days leading up to the liturgical recurrence, the community gathers every afternoon at 2:00 PM in the mother church to recite the rosary in dialect. This custom testifies to the village's attachment to its religious and linguistic identity, passed down from generation to generation and rooted in the most genuine memory of the Castanoti people.

The procession of the statue

The highlight is the solemn procession of the recently restored statue of the Baptist, which is carried on the shoulders of the faithful through the narrow lanes and vanedde of the ancient hamlet. A gesture full of meaning accompanies the procession: the route also touches the homes of the elderly and the infirm who are unable to join the procession, so that they too may receive the saint's blessing in front of their own doors. Popular devotion, the participation of the confraternities, and the sound of bells frame a day that renews centuries-old rites and customs.

The village and its church

Castanea delle Furie, whose name recalls the ancient chestnut forest that once occupied the site, was one of the most important villages in the Messina territory during the Middle Ages and still retains a complex urban fabric. The mother church of Saint John the Baptist and the church of the Most Holy Rosary suffered severe damage during the 1908 earthquake that devastated the Strait, but the community has managed to rebuild and safeguard its traditions. The parish of Saint John the Baptist and Saint Mary of the Rosary, in the vicariate of Faro, is today the reference point for the village's religious life.

Why it is worth visiting Castanea

• A patronal feast lived by the community, far from mass tourism circuits
• The rosary in dialect, a rare example of Sicilian popular devotion
• The procession through the 'vanedde' of a village overlooking the two seas of the Peloritani
• The opportunity to discover a historic village in the Messina hills