Feast of Our Lady from the Sea – 2026

Feast of Our Lady coming from the sea

TheFeast of Our Lady coming from the seacelebrates the104th anniversaryof the coronation of an ancient icon kept inchurch of St. Augustine, Marian Sanctuary in the historical center of the city of Salerno.

The tradition – reported in the writings of the historian Antonio Mazza (1681) – tells that in 1453 the icon was found on a beach in the waters of Salerno, following a shipwreck of a merchant boat escaped from the fall of Constantinople in hand to the Turks, which took place on May 29 of the same year. The same tradition tells us that a bricklayer retained the table, while he was intent on obtaining the reindeer for his work: he struck the table with the shelter and suddenly remained paralysed, his screams made many people come, who worked to dig in the sand, until the icon of Our Lady was delivered, which was immediately brought to the nearby Church of Saint Augustine (https://upcentrostoricosalerno.it/santuario-maria-ss-di-costantinopoli).

Every year, on the first Sunday of August, the icon, placed on a fishing boat, crosses the coast of the city, accompanied by a procession of boats. The citizens of Salerno, on the lido citizens and on the seafront, welcome the sacred icon that “comes from the sea” with a suggestive ceremony that has the most solemn moments in the landing in Piazza Cavour and in the Holy Mass presided over by the archbishop in Piazza S. Agostino (Sunday 2 August at 20.00).

Saturday 1 August in Piazza S. Agostino La Compagnia dei Mercanti presents: “I, Alfredo and Valentina”, comedy in two acts of Oreste De Santis, directed by Brunella Di Pasqua. Free entrance.