Lerici,
Sant’Erasmo – Patrono della gente di mare
The children of Lerici have always waited for this holiday as if it were Christmas: late in bed, to live the magical moment of seeing the Saint leave by boat. The celebrations of Sant’Erasmo have always marked the real beginning of the summer, coinciding with the first weekend in July. The cult of St. Erasmus, patron saint of fishermen, is very much felt in Lerici: it is celebrated with a solemn festivity on the first weekend of July. With a great celebration, processions and fireworks to illuminate the sky of the Gulf of Poets that, on this occasion, is covered with new poetry and a special charm, thanks to the deposition, at sea, thousands of floating candles.
The cult of St. Erasmus is very old and much felt in Lerici: the Saint is invoked to placate storms and as a protector of sailors and, more generally, of seafarers.
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Every year the statue of the patron saint, which in 2025, among other things, will be the subject of an important restoration, is boarded and brought in front of the cliff of Maralunga, where a wreath of flowers is laid to pay tribute to those who died at sea, while private public boats host the hundreds of faithful who attend the evocative representation.
The ceiling of Saint Francis church was painted by Luigi Agretti in 1932.
It is devided into three rectangular frescoes, set in stucco frames, depict the central themes of Lerici’s devotion: at the centre is the Glorification of Saint Francis, at the sides are the miraculous finding of the Madonna of Maralunga with the Castle of Lerici in the background, and St. Erasmus calming the storm.
Our Lady of Maralunga
An object of centuries-old devotion, this valuable tablet, according to tradition, was miraculously found in the spring of 1480 by three fishermen near the Maralunga cliff. The iconography is unique: two images of the Madonna with Baby Jesus, framed by a mullioned window and divided by a slender column dominated by the Dove of the Holy Spirit. The Virgin Mary on the right is surrounded by angels. The one on the left is holding a rose, while Baby Jesus holds a scroll that reads, “Mother of mine, I am happy, as long as the sinner repents”.
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A convent of Augustinian friars was founded near the place of its discovery, suppressed then by the French government at the end of the eighteenth century. During the nineteenth century, the precious icon was definitively placed in the Church of San Francesco.
Patron saint of Lerici, the Madonna di Maralunga is solemnly celebrated on March 25th.
The precious tablet (author unknown 15th century) is conserved inside the church of Saint Francis.