The patron of Picerno is Saint Nicholas, celebrated on 9 May and 6 December in the mother church dedicated to him.
In that very church, in 1799, some rebels from Picerno took refuge after a heavy defeat, but were caught and killed by the men of the brigand Gerardo Curcio, known as Sciarpa: around seventy victims were counted, nineteen of them women, followed by arson and looting throughout the town. For that fierce resistance, Picerno earned the name Lioness of Lucania; every year, on 10 May, a commemorative day recalls the massacre and the citizens who sacrificed their lives for freedom and democracy.
