The feast of Larino's patron, Saint Pardus, is held from 25 to 27 May and well-known experts count it among the most beautiful in Italy. Tradition dates its origin to 842, when a few inhabitants who had survived the Saracen invasion found the tomb holding the saint's body. They took the discovery for a miracle, chose Pardus as their protector and carried his remains into town on a cart covered in flowers, in procession.
That cart has since multiplied. Some one hundred and thirty are prepared, drawn by sheep, calves, cows and oxen in finery, and covered with crepe-paper flowers made by hand by the townspeople. Each cart is the emblem of a family, handed down from generation to generation.
