The patron saint of Palazzo Adriano is Saint Nicholas of Myra, celebrated on 5 and 6 December according to the Byzantine liturgy with a procession through the streets of the town and the traditional «Virgineddi» festival. His statue is kept in the church of San Nicola, of Byzantine rite, the oldest in the town, built by the Albanians after their arrival in the 16th century: it also holds the «vara» of the Holy Crucifix, carved by Marabitti in 1639, and the building was recently reopened after about half a century of closure due to structural problems.
Founded by Greek-Byzantine-rite settlers, the town produced ordaining bishops for the Albanians of Sicily, such as Francesco Chiarchiaro and Giuseppe Crispi, and for those of Calabria, such as Giovanni Barcia, as well as Basilian monks of the exarchic monastery of Grottaferrata; its religious calendar still weaves together the two traditions today, from the Byzantine Epiphany with the «vulata da palumma» (flight of the dove) in Piazza Umberto I to Saint Lucy of the Latin rite, on 13 December, with the blessing of traditional bread and cuccìa. It is precisely the mother church of Maria Santissima Assunta, of Byzantine rite and dating from the 16th century, that housed the cinema hall of Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso (1988): the town's Piazza Umberto I, portrayed in the film, and Totò's house on Via Molinello are still among the most visited spots today.
