The Festa di San Nicola di Bari (the feast of the patron saint of Bari. May 7-9 every year, with the specific sea procession on the Saturday evening) is the most historically grounded single southern Italian port festival and the one whose specific historical narrative (the 1087 maritime raid by the Bari merchants who removed 87% of the bones of Saint Nicholas of Myra from the Byzantine church in Myra (the modern Demre, Turkey) and transported them to Bari, establishing the Basilica di San Nicola as the most important single pilgrimage destination in southern Italy after Rome) gives the festival the most specifically adventurous and historically specific single Italian festival backstory. The specific Saint Nicholas data: the historical Nicholas of Myra (born approximately 270 AD, died approximately 343 AD, the Bishop of Myra in the Roman province of Lycia (the modern Turkish coast)) is the same historical person who became the Russian patron saint, the patron saint of children and sailors, and, through the specific Dutch Sinterklaas tradition, the origin of the Santa Claus cultural figure.
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San Nicola Bari: The Festival, the Basilica, and the Sea Procession
The Saturday Sea Procession
The specific Festa di San Nicola sea procession (the processione in mare, the Saturday evening event that reenacts the specific 1087 arrival of the Saint's relics in Bari): the specific program (the silver statue of San Nicola, the patron's image created in the 18th century, is transported on the specific decorated boat (the barca votiva, the votive boat decorated with flowers and the specific Bari civic insignia) from the Molo San Nicola (the specific port pier named after the saint) across the Bari harbor in a procession of approximately 200-400 boats (the Bari fishing fleet, the private boats, and the decorated historical vessels) while the Bari waterfront crowd (estimated 50,000-100,000 persons on the Lungomare Nazario Sauro) watches from the shore): the most specifically maritime single Italian festival moment and the one whose specific combination of the sea, the boats, the crowd, and the sunset light (the Saturday evening procession timed to coincide with the golden hour on the Adriatic) produces the most cinematic single Bari annual photograph.
San Nicola Bari: tours & tickets
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See availability & prices →Compare tours on Viator →We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.The Basilica di San Nicola
The Basilica di San Nicola (Piazza San Nicola, Bari Vecchia, the oldest quarter of Bari): begun in 1087 (the specific year of the relic translation from Myra), consecrated 1197, the most important single Romanesque church in southern Italy and the most specifically historically significant single building in Puglia. The specific architectural features: the 3-nave basilica plan with the specific striped Romanesque facade (the alternating white and gray limestone bands typical of the specific Apulian Romanesque (the Romanico pugliese) architectural school). The specific crypt (the cripta, the underground church beneath the main basilica where the specific relics of Saint Nicholas are conserved in the specific altar reliquary (the 12th-century marble ciborium over the saint's tomb)): the most visited single underground Italian church in southern Italy and the one whose specific manna (the specific oily liquid (the manna di San Nicola) that seeps from the tomb of the saint and is collected annually on the feast day by the Basilica administration, approximately 1 liter per year, distributed as 1ml vials to the pilgrims) is the most specifically unusual single Italian pilgrimage relic phenomenon.
The Festival Food
The specific Bari festival street food: the sgagliozze (the specific Bari street food (the fried polenta squares, the specific rectangular slabs of pre-cooked polenta deep-fried in olive oil, sold from the specific triangular paper cone by the specific sgagliozzare (the traditional Bari street vendors of fried polenta) in the Bari Vecchia streets (particularly around the Basilica di San Nicola and Via Venezia Vecchia)): €1 per portion, the most inexpensive single Italian street food and the one most specifically identified with the Bari street food tradition. The orecchiette col ragù (the Bari pasta (the "little ears" shape (the specific handmade orecchiette whose production (the specific rolling of the small dough disc backward over the thumb to create the concave shell shape) can be observed in the specific casalinghe (the Bari housewives who make and sell fresh orecchiette from their front doorstep in the Arco Basso area of the Bari Vecchia) daily from approximately 9:00-13:00)). And the panzerotti fritti (the fried half-moon pastry filled with the specific tomato and mozzarella (the specific Bari panzerotto (the deep-fried version, the most specifically Barese) versus the Milanese panzerotto (the baked version, the format adopted by the Luini chain in Milan that has spread the panzerotto name nationally but with the specifically non-Barese baked technique))).
Q&A: Festa di San Nicola Bari
Is the Festa di San Nicola worth a special trip to Bari?
Yes, specifically for the Saturday sea procession, which is the most specifically visually extraordinary single southern Italian port festival moment. The specific Bari access: the Bari Karol Wojtyla Airport (BRI) has direct connections from London Stansted (Ryanair), Brussels Charleroi (Ryanair), and multiple German and Dutch cities. The Frecciarossa connects Bari to Naples in 3h15m and to Rome in 4h10m. The specific May 7-9 Bari accommodation: book 4-6 weeks in advance (the Bari hotel capacity (approximately 5,000 rooms) absorbs the festival without the specific overcrowding of the Catania Sant'Agata or the Venice Redentore, the May festival timing (the shoulder season) and the Bari accommodation capacity make this the most logistically accessible single major southern Italian festival).
