Lett7

LETTOMANOPPELLO

(Pg. 7)

FESTA 1999

Page 25 (people/places 2003)
Page 26 (new hotel - La Noce)
Page 27 (people/places 2003)
Page 28 (people/places 2003)
Page 29 (Nino Di Pietrantonio)
Page 30 (people/places 2003)
Page 31 (Anagrafe / Stato Civile)
Page 32 (people/places 2004)
Page 33 (people/places 2004)
Page 34 (people/places 2004)
Page 35 (Church of S. Nicola 2005)
Page 36 for future construction

Page 13 (Marcinelle)
Page 14 (Marcinelle)
Page 15 (people/places 2001)
Page 16 (people/places 2001)
Page 17 (people/places 2001)
Page 18 (people/places 2001)
Page 19 (people/places 2001)
Page 20 (sculpting school)
Page 21 (fonte)
Page 22 (old photos)
Page 23 (history)
Page 24 (street map)

Page 1 (history/photos)
Page 2 (history/photos)
Page 3 (history/photos)
Page 4 (photos)
Page 5 (photos)
Page 6 (photos)
Page 7 (photos: festa)
Page 8 (stone-sculpting)
Page 9 (Iconicella)
Page 10 (people/places)
Page 11 (people/places)
Page 12 (festa 2000)

Each year in October, starting on the first Saturday of the month, Lettomanoppello has a four day saints' festival, honoring S. Emidio, S. Rocco, S. Nicola di Bari, and Maria SS. di Costantinopoli. The festa is a wonderful mix of religious and secular celebrations which go on day and night for four days. The activities include daily processions of one or more of the saints' statues around the town, accompanied by the town band, masses at the church, a street fair-carnival in the center of town, with vendors of souvenirs and food and with rides for the kids, nightly entertainment by the town band and various performers, nightly fireworks, and on the final day a town-wide feast. The festa begins with a procession bringing the statue of Maria SS. di Costantinopoli down from the Santuario dell'Iconicella, where it is kept, to the new church in the town, the Chiesa dell'Assunta. Although she is not the patron saint of Lettomanoppello (S. Nicola di Bari is), she seems to be special to the Lettesi (see Lu Lette Page 9, which is about her, and also the Stories Page 3, which contains a dialect story in verse involving her and Roccamorice's patron saint, S. Donato).

Below are some photos of the October 1999 festa at Lettomanoppello. Photos of the procession were provided by Cindy Addario--thanks Cindy!

On Corso Vittorio Emanuele, in the center of town, vendors are setting up booths for the festa, and further up the street lights have been hung. The new A-frame church, Chiesa dell'Assunta, overlooks the activities.

In Piazza Umberto I, a bandstand has been set up for the nightly entertainment during the festa. The town hall is visible behind the bandstand in the picture on the right.

On the first day of the festa there is a procession to bring the statue of Maria SS. di Costantinopoli from the Santuario dell'Iconicella, down via Maiella to Chiesa dell'Assunta in town. The procession is led by altar boys, shown in the photo above, followed by the priest--see the photo on the right.

Next comes the statue of Maria SS. di Costantinopoli, carried by four men and with a police honor guard, followed by the town band. Money is pinned to the ribbon that trails from her right hand.

At the Chiesa dell'Assunta, the statue of Maria SS. di Costantinopoli was joined by the statue of S. Emidio, and the procession then wound its way through the center of town and back to the church.

At night the lights, the street fair-carnival, the vendors of food (especially porchetta!) and the music take over on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, in the center of town. See the Rodeo Disney ride below right - Mickey and his friends are as popular there as here!

Lu Lette Pg. 6

Lu Lette Pg. 8