PhD Program in Historical studies
The Scamiciata of Fasano (Brindisi)
The memory of a legendary victory imposed upon a handful of Turks by the inhabitants of Fasano on 2 June, 1678 is the historical background of a representation known as the Scamiciata. Similar to what happens in the towns of Abruzzo of Tollo (whose representation is twinned with that of Apulia) and Villamagna (the Feasts of the Moors and Christians in the province of Chieti), the defeat of the Ottomans at the Battle of LepantoWas a naval battle that took place on 7 October, 1571 and that pitted the Holy League (Spanish Monarchy, the Duchy of Savoy, the Papacy and the Republics of Venice and Genoa) against the Ottoman Empire. The victory put a stop to Ottoman expansion in the Christian West. (October 7, 1571) is a backdrop to the commemoration also in Fasano in Apulia. Only, in this case, the success of the Holy League does not follow but precedes its repetition on a reduced scale. The event was picked up only a few decades ago, and today is held in mid-June (the Saturday before the Feast of the Patron Saint John the Baptist and the Madonna del Pozzo, “of the Well”), enriched by a calendar of events that evoke the cultural atmosphere of the Apulian Baroque. The procession brings seventeenth century Fasano to life, parading with theatrical gestures mimicking the old conflict around an impressive stage machinery: the boat as the symbol of the ancient triumph over the Turks (but now the organizers present this as a metaphor for peace). In the past, the Scamiciata, so called because during the staging the actors take off their shirts, took place on the Feast of the Madonna del Pozzo Faceto: the patron saint of the city whose miraculous aid the people of Fasano attributed the resolution of the battle to. Lost in the mid-nineteenth century, the tradition is now firmly anchored in the future of the city.