PROCESSION AT THE SEA OF BONARIA: A festival that repeats since 150 years

Each summer, on the first Sunday of July, the summer festival of the Madonna di Bonaria takes place, with the ritual procession at sea of the statue of the Madonna. The tradition began in 1866, when a group of young Sardinians, returning from the battle of Custoza (III War of Independence), wanted to thank Our Lady of Bonaria for having saved them.

In the afternoon, after attending mass, thousands of devotes depart from the Basilica accompanying the statue of the Madonna to the port. Here the statue is loaded on a boat and, with a procession of dozens of boats, the procession on the sea reaches the small port of Su Siccu, where, in front of the Basilica, a crown of flowers is thrown into sea in memory of the sailors who lost their lives during the war. After returning to the port, the statue is brought back to the Basilica, whose facade is illuminated by day.

Photo: https://www.chiesasarda.it