The Fòcara of Novoli: roots and secrets of the largest pyre in the Mediterranean

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On January 16, in many parts of the boot, it is customary to light large bonfires that illuminate the night in honor of St. Anthony the Abbot, guardian of the fire and healer of the “burning skin” (Herpes Zoster, also known as “St. Anthony’s fire”).

A unique bonfire of its kind is the Fòcara di Novoli, in the province of Lecce, now famous far beyond the borders of Puglia for the mammoth size of the pyre, “the largest in the Mediterranean”. And yet for the impressive fireworks displays and concerts that take place on the fire-lit stage, which revisit the traces of tradition with a decidedly contemporary approach.

But beyond the great spectacle burns the heart of the festival that has very ancient roots, in which the apotropaic rites linked to fire, the devotion to the Saint, patron saint of Novoli, and the peculiar identity of the town linked to the cultivation of the vine are grafted.

All this will be told to you in the Fire Museum, freshly set up, which we visited in preview guided by the director Elvino Politi.

The history of the Fòcara

The history of the Fòcara is lost in time, however its impressive size is linked to the luck in the production of blending wine that “kissed” the town from the end of the nineteenth century, while Phylloxera devastated French vineyards.

The structure of the pyre as we know it rests on as many as 25 thousand, formed by dry vine shoots, linked together in a peculiar way.

All the bundles are strictly donated in honor of the Saint: once, when even these “wastes” from the processing of grapes were vital for cooking as well as for heating, participating in the gift was an authentic sacrifice and was a sign of deep devotion to the Saint.

Fòcara di Novoli, flag ceremony

Even the construction of the Fòcara respects a precisely codified ritual, which involves the passage of the bundles from hand to hand, with the devotees climbing high wooden coves, held together by complicated knots of which only the people of Novoli guard the secret.

The rites of the people of Novolesi

We recommend that you take part in all the rituals of this great festival that lasts three days, even the less spectacular but more “intimate” and felt by the inhabitants of the town. Among these, the ceremony of the “flag” which consists of the harness of the Fòcara with the effigy of the Saint, which is hoisted on top by a human chain of faithful on the morning of January 16. Or again, the blessing of animals that is celebrated in the churchyard of the Church of Sant’Antonio, whose “protagonists” were originally stable animals, but which in recent decades have been replaced by the “domestic animals” that are more common today: dogs, cats, hamsters and goldfish.

Finally, get lost in the colorful stalls to the sound of the band.

Here you can find our story of the festival, with interviews with Elvino Politi, director of the new Fire Museum, and Alessandro Maria Polito, artistic director of the Fòcara 2025.