PhD Program in Historical studies
The Parade of the Turks of Potenza
The Parata dei Turchi (Parade of the Turks) of Potenza takes place every year on 29 May, on the eve of the celebrations in honour of the Patron Saint Gerard of PiacenzaThe Bishop of the city of Potenza in the twelfth century, Gerardo La Porta was a noble origin of Piacenza who carried out his apostolate in this town of the Lucania region. He was canonized in 1224, five years after his death.. The ancient rite of the IaccaraThe ritual of the Iaccara involves the insertion of a huge bundle of reeds and wood which is 12 metres long and weighs a ton, on which a jester is placed who mocks the crowd with knavish and carefree behavious and gestures. At the end of the parade the Iaccara, that is carried on the shoulders of 20 men, is burned. In the past it was customary to offer impressive vertical structures made of wax and adorned with flowers (the Cinti) to the saint, similar as to what happens today in Nola, Catania and Sassari. is revived during the procession.
The origins of the Parade of Potenza are uncertain. The explanations have proliferated and have varied over time, producing an intricate mosaic of stories and legends, some plausible, some quite far-fetched. There is a unique historical document attesting to the existence of a symbolic representation of the battle between Moors and Christians in power in the Early Modern period: the chronicle of the triumphal entry in the town of Lucania by Count Alfonso de Guevara, which occurred on 24 June, 1578. After which the parade of the Turks only began anew in the early nineteenth century. For some years now, the parade of the Turks is governed by a protocol. The current event is set in three different eras, as if to encompass, in a single act, all historical scenarios in which the battle between the Moors and the Christians has taken place: the period of Gerardo’s bishopric, the Crusades and the Norman conquest of southern Italy (twelfth century); the time of the Battle of Lepanto and the siege of Vienna (sixteenth century); the years of the rediscovery and reinvention of tradition (XIX century). The most widespread legend links the origin of the feast to an episode that allegedly took place in the twelfth century, when the inhabitants of Potenza warded off a Saracen attack through the miraculous intervention of the then bishop from Potenza, Gerardo La Porta.
Today, the parata involves over 500 actors and recalls the three different historical periods in which it can trace its origins.