Every year, during the last two weekends of July, the old city of Castel Sant’Elia and its visitors and inhabitants are immerged in a magic atmosphere.
Medieval and Celtic music opens the celebrations, while visitors can enjoy local food and attend traditional games, with the most iconic being the Palio of the ring in the queen’s honor.
But only once it’s night we enter in the heart of the celebration, with the parade commemorating the extraordinary meeting, which happened in the monastery of San Leonardo, a settlement of hermit monks upon the rocks.
The location would have granted the anonymity that Pope Gregory needed in order to meet queen Teodolinda.
The facts represented in the historical commemoration happened between 592 and 593, years in which the queen got closer to the Christian religion. Thanks to this meeting, a sacking of Rome by the barbaric populations was prevented.
