Celebrations for St Christopher the Patron Saint of Barga which started with the “San Cristoforo d’oro”awards ceremony earlier this afternoon, continued this evening to its climax with a long torchlight procession through the streets of Barga up to the Duomo.
Hundreds of people lined the streets of Barga watching the procession as it slowly wound its way through the streets of Barga Giardino and then up into Barga Vecchia for the final destination – the blessing of San Cristoforo in the Duomo as the bells ring out over the city ( the bells ringers of Barga now have a new site – here )
The banners and mayors of most of the comunes in Garfaganana and Mediavalle were in the procession along with representatives from Pisa, Lucca and Florence.
The Bishop of Pisa, mons. Giovanni Paolo Benotto, used the occasion to welcome publicly to Barga the “Community of Jesus” an ecumenical Benedictine monastic community based in Orleans, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, USA who have just moved to this city.
The end of the celebrations, a large firework display from the roof of the bell tower of the Duomo was delayed for 30 minutes as a member of the congregation was taken ill during the service and had to be transported away from the Duomo by ambulance.