On 19 January Marsala takes an official day off for its principal patron, Maria Santissima della Cava, with a civic ceremony running alongside the religious one. The date marks the finding of her small statue, which tradition places in 1518 in a stone quarry — hence the name. For the 500th anniversary in 2018 the city proclaimed an extraordinary Marian jubilee and closed the feast with a musical fireworks display.
The ritual barely changes from year to year: the statue leaves its sanctuary and is carried in procession to the cathedral, where the bishop of Mazara del Vallo leads a solemn mass with the town's clergy, before the Madonna is brought home again. She is also the patron of Marsala's municipal police, who celebrate their corps on the very same day.
