Tradition says that the Arbëresh, having landed on the coast and not knowing where to settle, let a pair of oxen choose: on the cart was the image of the Madonna, and where the oxen stopped the town was born.
Portocannone existed before that, and in 1137 they called it Portocandesium; but the earthquake of 1456 flattened it, and ten years later it was the Albanian exiles who refounded it. On Whit Monday they run the carrese: three factions, the Giovani, the Giovanotti and the Xhuvëntjelvët, compete for the right to carry the Madonna of Constantinople in procession. The 2,549 residents still speak Arbëresh.
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📅 Every year, on Pentecost Tuesday, with the «chariot race» the preceding Monday
Portocannone celebrates Our Lady of Constantinople on Pentecost Tuesday; the previous Monday hosts the famous ox-drawn «chariot race», recalling the arrival of Arbëreshë exiles led by Giorgio Castriota Skanderbeg in 1461.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Portocannone, but an easy day trip away.
