FESTA DELLA MADONNA DI CUSTONACI

 

The Madonna di Custonaci, patron saint of various municipalities separated from Erice, holds today the identity of the population of the Erice area. The Sanctuary was for centuries a destination for pilgrims coming to pay homage to the Madonna who, according to tradition, arrived by sea on a Venetian of French boat, which had avoided shipwreck and landed at Cala Buguto. This legendary event is re-evoked on the Monday before the last Wednesday in August during the celebrations in honour of Madonna, with the arrival of a sailing boat and the carrying ashore of a copy of the famous painting in the bay illuminated by fireworks and numerous worshippers many of whom follow the sacred image in a torch lit procession to the Sanctuary.