United and still unites all the towns and hamlets that once competed with Erice. The faithful from the Agroericino would gather in processions in the last week of August, reach the sanctuary of Custonaci, which is a small jewel perched on the highest point of the town, and, following the effigy of the Madonna nursing her child, climb the path that connects Custonaci to Erice.
The path is no longer beaten entirely along its original route , but there are still traces of the paved road, watering troughs and a few rocky little churches, where the faithful stopped and rested. In ancient times the picture was carried by the faithful themselves inside a sort of covered vara; when it reached the fountain of Apollo it was displayed and a first mass was celebrated after which, again in procession it was carried to the Royal Cathedral.
On the last Wednesday in August, even today, the effigy of Our Lady is followed in procession along the streets of the ancient city of Erice and celebrated by bands, fireworks, light and water games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The people of Erice, on this occasion, decorate the courtyards of their houses and display images of Our Lady on flowering altars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
United and still unites all the towns and hamlets that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n