The work of the turks
PRIGNANO CILENTO - April 22 the work of the Turks Go to Village

Among the many ancient traditions still live in the countries of the Cilento, a particular role does the performance called "Opera of the Turks", which takes place on Easter Monday in Prignano. The charming Piazza del Plebiscito, which is overlooked by the mother Church and the marquis palace of the Cardone family, is the stage of this event, which dates back to the dawn of time, it is deeply linked to the ancient devotion of San prignanesi Nicholas of Bari.

It is a play in costume, which recalls two miracles attributed to the saint official hagiography. Own play, because there is no written text. All prignanesi, however, they know the jokes, which are handed down from generation to generation orally.

In the first act she is remembered the miraculous rescue of Diodato, a Christian teenager kidnapped by the Saracens. The scene opens with a dinner table, where a group of Saracens (generically called "Turks") is about to eat a hearty meal. A serving is precisely the Diodato unlucky. On several occasions the "Capoturco" provokes him, inviting him to renounce his religion and to join the merry company. Diodato, however, indignantly refuses the invitation, because it intends to celebrate by fasting the feast of St. Nicholas of Bari, who is very devoted. Nth refusal, the fearsome Saraceno apostrophizes the young servant harshly: "Ah, fool, fool! If San Nicola was really a miraculous Santo, would come here to deliver you from our slavery. " At this point marks the first miracle. Softened by the exhortations of the Child, the Holy sends an angel to save him, because the way ports, flying away from the slavery of the Saracens, stunned and incredulous to what happens in front of their eyes. This is one of the central moments of the performance. A child dressed in white, hung with a sturdy hook to a pulley that slides along a cable, "flies" literally from the bell tower of the mother church to the stage where there is the table of the Turks. Diodato clings to the angel, and was led away. This is the "Angel's Flight", which fills the bystanders anguish and astonishment, until the two did not arrive back on the church tower, with bells that ring in celebration.