If your stay at Blue House falls in early August, you might come across one of Gaeta's most evocative traditions: the Feast of the Madonna di Porto Salvo, patron saint of seafarers, celebrated on the second Sunday of the month in the neighbourhood of the same name (the Borgo, just outside the walls of the historic centre).
The statue, kept in the Church of Santa Maria di Porto Salvo — known to locals as the "Chiesa degli Scalzi" — is covered in gold and the finest fabrics for the occasion: tradition holds that in 1655 the Madonna appeared to sailors during a storm, guiding them safely back to shore.
🎺 The procession through the neighbourhood
The celebrations open with the statue carried on shoulders through the streets of the neighbourhood, accompanied by the city's marching band: a deeply felt moment for local residents, who decorate alleys and balconies for the occasion.
⛵ The procession at sea
The high point comes with the procession at sea: the statue is hoisted onto a boat, followed by dozens of other flag-decked vessels, in a flotilla that reaches Punta Stendardo. There, a wreath of flowers is cast into the water in memory of all those lost at sea — a deeply meaningful gesture for a city that has always lived in symbiosis with the gulf.
🎆 Music and fireworks
When the procession returns, the celebrations continue along the Lungomare Caboto with live music, stalls and street food, building up to the grand finale: a fireworks display that lights up the whole Gulf of Gaeta, watched by residents and visitors gathered along the coast.
📅 Gaeta's other traditional feasts
The Feast of the Madonna di Porto Salvo is the most heartfelt of Gaeta's "sea feasts", but it isn't the only important date on the city's calendar:
- Santi Erasmo e Marciano (1-2 June): the city's patronal feast, with a procession of relics, a fair and a fireworks display.
- Sant'Anna (26 July): a neighbourhood feast especially felt in the San Carlo district, also with a procession and fireworks over the sea.
- San Nilo Abate (16 September): another date dear to the Gaeta community.