The “Vidua Vidue” festival is back: the events scheduled for Saturday 21 October have been presented

The “Vidua Vidue” festival is back: the events scheduled for Saturday 21 October have been presented.

Bari, the planned initiatives were presented this morning at Palazzo di Città Saturday October 21 on the occasion of the feast of “Vidua Vidue”, promoted by the association of Knights of St. Nicholas.

Established in the year 1003 AD to celebrate the liberation of Bari from the Saracen siege, started on May 2, 1002 and ended on 18 October of the same year thanks to the intervention of a Venetian fleet, the celebration of the "Vidua Vidue” has been celebrated for centuries, until the mid-900th century and then, again, in 2014 and 2015.

To illustrate the events, which will see the participation of a delegation from the city of Venice, linked to the Apulian capital in the name of San Nicola, the president of the Knights of Saint Nicholas Joseph Maximus Goffredo together with Marina Faraguna, president of the association “Together for San Nicola – Venice”, and to Marcella Taurino, director of the ancient music and dance ensemble "The Chirintana”, in the presence of the Councilor for Culture Ines Pierucci. The journalist moderated the meeting Enrico Tedeschi.

“I am pleased to present this beautiful initiative today - Said Ines Pierucci - because it offers us a story of the city's past that represents our cultural identity. This is a distant historical event, which not all the people of Bari know about: a time that saw Bari invaded by the Saracens and then liberated by the Venetians. For a long time there was talk of a dispute between the two cities over the relics of Saint Nicholas, but in reality, thanks to the sharing of cultures and knowledge consolidated over time, today we can talk about two twinned communities. And precisely through this common history we transmit the message of peace represented by the Vidua Vidue, the cry of the people of Bari who thus greeted the arrival of the liberators who came from the sea, just as Saint Nicholas had arrived from the sea. Over time, other peoples with their wealth of cultures, knowledge and traditions have arrived in the city by sea, and Bari has always welcomed them, because here no one is a foreigner. The administration thanks the Knights of St. Nicholas for organizing an event with cultural, historical and informative significance which contributes to preserving a tradition and memory that is still alive in our community".

“The association The Knights of Saint Nicholas is a re-edition of the ancient chivalric institution of “The Order of the Ship and the Knights of Saint Nicholas”, founded in Naples in 1381 during the Angevin period by King Charles III of Anjou Durazzo - has explained Giuseppe Massimo Goffredo -. The sovereign, driven by strong devotion, placed the Order under the protection of the Patron Saint of Bari. Today the Knights of St. Nicholas is a cultural association with religious purposes, whose objective is to bring to light the historical events that have affected the South. We collaborated with Venice by creating the "Traslatio Sancti Nicolai" and organized various conferences on Saint Nicholas. For the city of Bari we thought about the history of Vidua Vidue. This year we are proposing the party which will take place on Saturday in two distinct moments. In the morning there will be a walk through the ancient village which, starting from the cathedral of Bari, will stop on the balcony of the Fortino di Sant'Antonio, from which we will witness the arrival of the boats which will commemorate the arrival of the Doge Pietro Orseolo II. We will end with a festive dance that will involve the audience. In the afternoon, at the Civic Museum, a conference will be held on the History of the Liberation of Bari in the year 1002".

"As an administrator and devoted to Saint Nicholas - has explained Marina Faraguna - I enthusiastically joined this project, also because we understood how the true protagonist of this moment of sharing between communities is the sea. The sea, in fact, has no limits and precisely because of this characteristic it can cancel all boundaries. Venice is a city of peace, as demonstrated by the pilgrimage of the relics of Saint Nicholas which last year left from the Bocche di Porto di San Nicolò, a blessing which, moving from the lagoon, goes out into the open sea towards the ends of the world".

This is the program of the Vidua Vidue celebration on October 21st:

· 9.30 am - Nicola Pignataro and the countess Matilde Aurora Tanzi from Blevio lead a walk through the alleys of the ancient village, to discover the beauties of the Old City. Meeting in the square in front of the Bari Cathedral.

· 12 am – Three bass drum hits announce the arrival of the Venetians led by Doge Orseolo II on boats of the Sailing Club and, shouting "vidua vidue…vid…vid”, begins the farandola of the dancers who involve the audience, ending in celebration.

· 17.30 am – historical conference at the Civic Museum of BariThe vidua vidue"free entry"History of the Liberation of Bari in the year 1002". After the institutional greetings, speeches are scheduled James Rosenthal, president of the St. Nicholas Society UK, and of Alfredo Castelli, Bonelli columnist and expert on Nicolaian history. Reports will follow Enzo Varricchio – The “Vidua Vidue” the liberation of Bari in the year 1002, Luigi Antonio Fino – Ten centuries of friendship between Venice and Bari, Francesco Ciriolo – Commercial relations between the two Adriatic cities, and of Marina Faraguna – On the side of the Venetians.