The patron of Pisticci is Saint Roch, and his feast, together with that of the Madonna Assunta and Saint Vitus, lasts four days: from 15 to 18 August. On the evening of the 17th a triumphal chariot drawn by horses passes through the streets of the town.
The bond between Pisticci and the saint has a precise origin: in 1656 the town was spared from the plague that was raging through the Kingdom of Naples and had already devastated neighbouring towns, and many people of Pisticci saw Saint Roch above the highest part of the settlement, in the act of blessing it. For having been spared, they proclaimed him their patron. The church dedicated to him was built between 1930 and 1934 to a design by the architect Ernesto Lapadula, over the pre-existing church of the Purgatorio: it has three naves, a 1940 fresco cycle on the saint's life, and his statue, laminated in gold. Closed in 2011, it was reopened for worship on 10 October 2024.
