Throwback at the Festa di San Marcellu 2024 with pictures
We talked about it last week and we had the pleasure of attending it last Sunday. The “Festa di San Marcellu 2024” took place in Aleria on January 27-28. It has been, as expected, a great festivity.
A brief resume of the day
Many people gathered in the lower part of Aleria. Waiting for the horse riders to arrive and accompany the crowd to the church of Saint Marcel, situated in the upper part of Aleria. Led by the members of the Brotherhood of the “Pieve di a Serra” and representants of other confraternities, surrounded by the traditional religious songs, we all followed the road to the church. It must have been some sort of surprise to encounter this crowd for the people driving around! It is nonetheless the second most important road in Corsica (T10).
When we arrived at the church, it was time for the horses to be blessed by the priest. A wonderful moment, followed by the traditional service. In the afternoon we, like hundreds of other people gradually joining the fest, enjoyed good food in a nice atmosphere. Easy like a Sunday afternoon! The weather was wonderful, even if it was somehow scary to feel the warmth of the sun on a January afternoon… But that’s another story.
The main attraction of the San Marcellu 2024 was inevitably linked to horses. The riders tested their skill with the course named “Magna”, but what we enjoyed the most was seeing them compete in the “Stella” game. We posted a short video of it on our Instagram account, so you can see what it looks like to try to catch a suspended star with a blade while riding a horse! All of the riders showed great skills. By the way, we prefer to talk of “riders” instead of “horsemen” for the San Marcellu 2024, as the group was mainly composed of women (and sometimes young girls). We must do justice to their incredible talent!
Sant Marcellu 2024: the pictures
Here are 20 pictures we took during the event. You can see a little of every part of this wonderful day, from the procession to the blessing of the horses, and then the games. Hope you will enjoy it.
