Galatina, Salento, Italy
Galatina lies at the heart of the Salentine Peninsula, the very spur on the heel of Italy’s boot, and the south-eastern tip of mainland Italy. This is the area known as ‘Grecia Salentina’, in recognition of the fact that this area was Greek in culture and language until Medieval times. It’s the heart of the thriving tobacco and wine industry hereabouts. It’s also, intriguingly, the centre of ‘tarantism’, a form of religious ecstasy where the sick (any of a number of illnesses) would go into a frenzied dance, supposedly to cure the effects of a tarantula’s bite.
The theories as to what tarantism truly is abound (manic hysteria? an attempt to circumvent the moralistic religious bans on dancing?). Who knows. But the faithful still gather each year on 28/29 June (the festival of St Peter and St Paul) at the chapel of St Paul, near the cathedral, to give thanks for their deliverance. The occasion has now evolved into a full-blown festa and features local pizzica music (a tradition that has is growing once more), market stalls and other fun. Not exactly the country shows you may be used to back home, what with all that manic religious dancing, but enjoyable nonetheless.
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