The patron of Rocca Imperiale is the Madonna della Nova, celebrated on 1 and 2 July in the church dedicated to her, Santa Maria della Nova.
According to tradition, the 2 July solemnity became patronal right after the 1644 Turkish raid: on 29 June of that year a large Turkish fleet appeared, and the town emerged unscathed. In years of severe drought, it was also customary to carry the sacred image in procession from the Cesine chapel into town, for a rain-invoking novena. The town also holds the Castello Svevo and the Museum of Greek Mythology.
