Thousands of tourists and faithful admired the colors, sounds and costumes linked to the culture and history of Sardinia for the 370th Feast of Sant'Efisio with the procession that wound through the streets of Cagliari where 4 thousand figures on foot and on horseback paraded from around a hundred municipalities from the north to the south of Sardinia.
This year, as in five other memorable editions, including those of 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, it was a different kind of celebration, marked by circumstances beyond one's control: bovine dermatitis prevented the presence of oxen yokes for the Saint's carriage, carried on the shoulders of the brothers of the Archconfraternity of the Gonfalone, and the festively decorated floats. The procession, therefore, became more intimate, also because the recently restored statue was not enclosed in the carriage's case, allowing for a closer view , albeit under the watchful eye of the Superintendency.
This morning, at the start of the day, there was also mourning for the death of 55-year-old Elena Siddi from Sarroch, who was supposed to participate in the religious ceremonies.
"We will dissolve the vow for her too ," said the president of the Archconfraternity, Andrea Loi, "and, as I said in recent weeks, neither the bombs of '43 nor the floods of the 19th century nor Covid stopped us, so not even bovine eczema or anything else will stop us from dissolving the vow."
"Our first thoughts go to the family of the woman from Sarroch who passed away this morning and to the Archconfraternity of which her husband is a member," remarked the mayor of Cagliari Massimo Zedda during the investiture of the young city councilor Giovanni Porrà at Alter Nos, who received the tricolor sash and the "Golden Fleece" .
"A thought for Gaia Costa ," the mayor also remembered, "the young woman hit by a car in Porto Cervo who always marched during the feast of Sant'Efisio and whom we remembered today at the Town Hall, along with her family." The "Golden Fleece" award was given in Gaia's memory , and presented to the girl's parents this afternoon in Piazza del Carmine.
After leaving Stampace and the procession through the streets of Cagliari, the simulacrum left the city and began its journey to the beach of Nora , in Pula, the site of the martyrdom which occurred in January 303 AD. This year, without the oxen, the simulacrum, once it left the city, was transported on board a pick-up truck.
This evening , the statue arrives in Sarroch , where it will spend the night. Tomorrow morning, it departs for Nora. The faithful on the pilgrimage and the mayor of Sarroch remember Elena Siddi , but also the difficult period facing farmers affected by bovine dermatitis.
(Unioneonline)