Résumé:
The Principality is preparing to celebrate Saint Devote, patron of Monaco, with two days of festivities on January 26th and 27th.
Histoire complète :
Monaco is preparing to celebrate Santa Devota, the patron saint of the Principality of Monaco, with two days of festivities on January 26th and 27th. These celebrations are rooted in the religious, historical, traditional, cultural, and philatelic aspects of Monaco. According to a medieval document, Santa Devota, a young Christian woman from Corsica, was martyred by the prefect Barbarus under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, around 303 or 304 AD. Her body was stolen by faithful followers and placed on a boat, which was then taken to Monaco and buried in a chapel in the valley known as “des Gaumates” near the port on January 27th of the same year. In the 17th century, under Honoré II, Santa Devota became the patron saint of Monaco. Another legend states that in the 11th century, her relics were taken away on a boat by criminals who were eventually caught and the boat was burned. Since 1874, this tradition has been carried on every year with a boat burned on a pyre in the presence of the Sovereign and his family. The festivities on January 26th will include the procession of the saint’s relics from a boat to the Quai Kennedy, followed by a procession to the Church of Santa Devota where the Archbishop of Monaco will welcome the Prince and his family. After the celebration, the procession will head to the port to burn the boat on a wooden pyre. The evening will culminate in a drone show at 8:15 pm.
Source:
montecarloin
