In 214 days Patron saint festival

Saint Bernardine of Siena, patron of a town that remembers Saint Anne's earthquake

20 May 2027

Thursday 20 May

Vinchiaturo · Campobasso · Molise

May 2027Thursday 20 May
20214 days to go.

Vinchiaturo celebrates Saint Bernardine of Siena in the month of May; the earthquake of 26 July 1805, which struck on the feast day of Saint Anne, is remembered in local tradition as «lu tremmótte de Sant'Anna» and considered a divine punishment.

The patron saint of Vinchiaturo is Saint Bernardine of Siena, celebrated in the month of May with the patronal feast, one of the community's main religious and identity-defining moments, celebrated in the church dedicated to him.

The town also preserves the sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Macchie, also known as Santa Maria delle Fratte, at the entrance to the municipal cemetery, still a destination for pilgrimages and celebrations on the first Sunday of September; and the monastery of Santa Maria di Monteverde, attested at least from the 11th century as a Benedictine dependency, later reduced to a simple rural church after repeated medieval seismic damage.

The earthquake of 26 July 1805 devastated the foothill area of the Matese, causing severe damage also in Vinchiaturo: since it struck precisely on the feast day of Saint Anne, the event is remembered in local oral tradition as «lu tremmótte de Sant'Anna» and was considered a divine punishment, so much so that many homes still keep a votive image of the saint in its memory today.