Prizzi – April 23
Patronal Feast of St. George
Mass sung in the mother church dedicated to him and procession of the simulacrum, culminating in the traditional fireworks: this is how Prizzi celebrates its patron saint, to whom it dedicates the traditional St. George’s Fair, the first of the three livestock fairs of the year.
St. George, the fearless knight, in the province of Palermo is the absolute patron saint of Prizzi and Piana degli Albanesi; he is co-patron of Caccamo, Vicari, Castelmola, Modica, Manforte San Giorgio, Ragusa, and Sambuca di Sicilia.
He was also of Castronovo di Sicilia until 1680, when he was preferred by fellow citizen San Vitale. The spread of the cult to Sicily came with the Normans around the year 1100, who, after elevating him to the protector of England, chose him as a symbol and protector against the Saracens.
The wooden statue at the main altar of the mother church depicts him as a good-looking Roman officer, in a resting position and wearing a splendid red cloak. In the official iconography, which is widespread in Ragusa, he is instead riding an imposing white steed.
