Votive Feast of the Holy Cross

A festival born from a vow

The Votive Feast of the Holy Cross is one of the oldest and most defining celebrations of Bagnone, a medieval village nestled among the chestnut groves of Lunigiana, in the province of Massa-Carrara, in the far north of Tuscany. The festival is rooted in a solemn vow: in 1854-55, when a cholera epidemic spread terror through the valley, the people of Bagnone gathered in prayer at the altar of the Holy Cross to invoke help and protection. Believing they had been miraculously spared from the contagion, the municipal administration established the votive feast in 1856 as a perpetual act of thanksgiving.

The Relic of the Cross

At the heart of this devotion is the Relic of the Holy Cross, a small cross containing, according to tradition, fragments brought from Jerusalem, kept in the Prepositural Church of San Nicolò. During the 1854-55 cholera epidemic, the people who prayed for grace donated a larger silver cross, which encases the more ancient one. In 2020, the City Council officially recognized the Holy Cross as the primary patron saint of the Municipality of Bagnone, legally cementing a bond the village has lived for nearly two centuries.

The Triduum and the May 3rd Solemnity

The festival includes a preparatory triduum in the days leading up to the event, featuring the recitation of the Rosary, Solemn Vespers, and Holy Masses celebrated by various priests from the valley. The highlight is the Sunday of the festival, May 3rd, when the Relic is exposed for the adoration of the faithful from the early morning hours. In the afternoon, a solemn Pontifical Mass is celebrated, followed by an evocative procession through the narrow streets of the historic center. Before the final blessing, the Bishop solemnly raises the Holy Cross in the church square, invoking protection from evils upon the community.

Bagnone and Lunigiana

The festival is also an opportunity to discover Bagnone, a jewel of Lunigiana dominated by its castle and crossed by the stream of the same name. The village preserves a dense network of alleys, medieval porticoes, and the ancient square, which serves as the stage for the procession. Municipal authorities, volunteer associations, civil protection, and the entire citizenry participate in the celebration, in an event that intertwines popular faith, historical memory, and Lunigiana identity.

The 170th Anniversary

The 2026 edition held special significance, marking the 170th anniversary of the vow established in 1856 by the Council of Elders of Bagnone. It was an anniversary that brought the entire valley together around its patron saint, testifying to a devotion that, through the centuries, has never lost its vigor or freshness.