The patron saint of San Benedetto del Tronto, who also gives the town its name, is Saint Benedict the Protomartyr, celebrated on 13 October, the day in the year 304 when the Roman soldier, having refused to abjure the Christian faith, was beheaded near the Menocchia stream. According to local hagiographic tradition, the body was thrown into the sea and carried by the currents southward, until it washed up on the shore of today's town: recovered by a farmer, it was buried on the hill overlooking the area, around which the primitive rural parish arose, the Plebs Sancti Benedicti in Albula, the town's historic nucleus.
The historical re-enactment of the martyrdom, celebrated for many years on the last Saturday of May, has returned since 2008 to its original date of 13 October: it includes celebrations in nearby Cupra Marittima and a subsequent sea procession, with the saint's statue embarked on a fishing boat that lands at the port of San Benedetto, before being carried in procession to the church of San Benedetto Martire. Since 1997 the feast has also been celebrated in Mar del Plata, Argentina, where numerous sailors from San Benedetto settled, having emigrated along with many fellow townspeople to various Italian regions, particularly to Viareggio.
