Festival of Sant’Antonio, Amalfi

 

 

Last Sunday was the festival day for Sant’Antonio di Padova (St. Anthony of Padua), which is one of the most unique religious celebrations in Amalfi. The church of Sant’Antonio in Amalfi is located between Amalfi and Atrani, and because of this location the religious procession takes place between the two cities. But what is even more unusual, the procession takes place both on land and on the sea. The boat procession is really a sight to see! Earlier this week I linked to my posts from last summer about the elaborate procession from the church in Amalfi and the videos and photos I took while riding on the first boat with the statue of Sant’Antonio for the water procession from Atrani to Amalfi.

This year I watched the procession from another vantage point high above near the Hotel Luna in Amalfi. Here is a video of the boat procession leaving Atrani and heading to Amalfi. You can see the main boat with the statue of Sant’Antonio in the front. Just behind is the boat with the band, which is absolutely my favorite part of the procession. It makes me smile even thinking about it! On the right you can see the Amalfi regatta team rowing the boat used for the annual Regatta.

 

 

Here is the boat procession as it approached the Amalfi watchtower that is now part of the Hotel Luna.

 

 

Here’s the procession as it passes by and approaches Amalfi. I love hearing the music coming from the band boat!

 

 

Once around the corner, the procession heads to Amalfi for a quick pass by before continuing on to Conca dei Marini to sat hi to the church there dedicated to Sant’Antonio.

 

 

After the pass by at Conca dei Marini, the whole procession turns around and returns to Amalfi where the statue is removed from the boat and carried on a procession through the streets before returning safely back home to the church of Sant’Antonio.