santuario, diocesano, Santuario Diocesano di San Leo

The Santuario Diocesano di San Leo rises from the ruins of an earlier church, built in the late eighteenth century. Inside, a single nave is flanked by side chapels, the walls decorated with fine nineteenth-century stucco work. One of these chapels holds the reliquary; the bones of the saint’s hand, feet and skull remain in Bova, while other relics were moved to Africo after the flood of 1951.

The festival of San Leo, patron of the town and co-patron of the archdiocese, runs from late April into May. A novena begins with early morning mass on the 26th. On the afternoon of the 4th, the silver bust of the saint is brought from the chapel to the main altar, then carried in procession to the co-cathedral for a vigil. The following morning, the archbishop presides at mass, and later the simulacrum is borne back to the sanctuary on a silver vara surrounded by flowers. From the 5th to the 8th, evenings are given to rosary, dialect hymns and prayers recounting the saint’s life.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.