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" ON PERSEPHONE’S ISLAND" The extract from a "A tour through Sicily and Malta", by P. Brydone , reports the " Festino" of St Rosalia in Palermo, a festivity that takes place in July the 12th . During his tour in Sicily , the writer was present at the celebration and he describes the main events of the day dedicated to the patron saint of Palermo, beginning with the procession and ending with the spectacular fire-works. First of all he describes the triumph of St Rosalia, who was drawn with a graeat pomp through the centre of the city, preceded by a troop of horses and followed by numerous band of musician marching in rows. Brydone is astonished by the size of the triumphal car that is dressed out with orange-trees, flowers-pots and trees of artificial corals. Moreover Brydone notes the massive participation of the citizen: at every window and balcony there are lots of well-dressed people and the machine is followed by many thousands of the lower folk. When the triumph ended it was followed by the beautiful illumination of the Marina; everywhere there were ligths arranged in arches and pyramids so that at a little distance it looked like a fire. Another thing that surprised the visitor was the large quantity of fire-works and the show they produced representing the front of a palace, adorned with columns, arches and every ornaments of architecture. When the fire-works broke out the illumination of the palace was estinguished, and on its front appeared suns, stars and wheels of fire, which in a short time reduced it to a perfect ruin. But, if this explosion was an admirable entertainment for the nobility that was well under cover, it caused a terrible havoc to the clothes of the poor people who weren’t protected at all. The elegance and the luxury of certain people remained impressed in Brydone’s mind; it seemed that it was their festivity and not St Rosalia’s, but he remarks that that is a peculiarity of Sicilians people and he was happy to see their deep devotion. The only part of the Festino that he regarded unfavorably was the horse race ( corsa dei barbari), a barbarian manifestation not pertaining, in Brydone’s opinion, to that special day. On the contrary he was fascinated by the Vesper service in the cathedral that he describes as " the most splendid scene in the world" because of the beauty of the church that appeared a flame of ligtht and because of the splendid statues of saints and angels, in front of which he stopped to bow as a good Catholic. Surely this tour through Sicily left and indeleble memory in the poet’s heart that for the first time in his life saw something so peculiar as St Rosalia’s Festino.
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