Church of the Annunziata di Bronte and the miracle of the cart pulled by oxen
Since 1821, in the month of August, the marble group of the Virgin of the Annunciation and the Angel Gabriel (the work of the Palermo Antonino Gagini is kept in the Church of the Annunziata) is carried in procession through the streets of the town on a cart pulled by oxen. .
There are two legends that narrate the arrival of the statue. The first, handed down by Benedetto Radice in "Churches, Convents, Public Buildings of Bronte", tells that the statue was exchanged by some Bronte shepherds with some Greek pirates who in exchange for the statue wanted the albagio (characteristic cloth of Bronte). The other legend tells that the ship carrying the statue plowing the waves of the Ionian Sea was wrecked, but while everything went missing, the heavy crate that protected the statue began to float until it was collected by some Saracen pirates who exchanged it with the products made. with milk from the flock of some Bronte shepherds. These brought the beautiful statue to Bronte using two big oxen aggressive and indomitable that a clever landowner of the Catania plain had given them like moments of burden. The oxen, however, at the sight of the Madonna were miraculously yoked, pulling the cart with strength and will through the Etna woods to the esplanade of the Annunziata in Bronte where they no longer wanted to advance.
Property included in the IWB register of the Sicily Region (Places of the Sacred) - Sector "Places of the Marian Worship"
- Maria S Sanctuary of Capo d'Orlando
Site included in the Regional Charter of memory identity places in the area (LIM) "The Sacred Places": The places of the Marian cult
View the interactive map with the places of the Marian cult: Interactive Map The Places of Marian Worship
