Feast of Saint Martin in San Martino delle Scale (Monreale)

The story

San Martino delle Scale is the mountain village of Monreale: it lies 589 metres up, in the valley between Monte Cuccio and Monte Caputo just outside Palermo, and takes its name from the Benedictine abbey dedicated to Martin of Tours. Born in Pannonia around 316, Martin was a soldier in the Roman army when, one winter night, he cut his military cloak in two to cover a beggar. He later became Bishop of Tours and died at Candes on 8 November 397. The Church celebrates him on 11 November, the day of his burial. Here Martin is the patron saint of the parish and of the village.

An old tradition credits Pope Gregory the Great with founding the first monastery and says the Saracens destroyed it in the 9th century, though historians consider this poorly documented. The recorded history begins in 1347, when Archbishop Emanuele Spinola of Monreale entrusted the San Martino estate to six Benedictine monks from the monastery of San Nicola at the foot of Mount Etna; Blessed Angelo Sinisio became the first abbot in 1352. Monks still live in the abbey, which holds an altar of Saint Martin with a 1608 painting by Filippo Paladini and, in the entrance hall, Ignazio Marabitti's sculpture of the saint sharing his cloak with the beggar.

The feast blends liturgy, re-enactment and conviviality. It opens with the presentation of a cloak at the saint's altar, and its most atmospheric moment comes on the evening of 11 November with the Transitus: a re-enactment of Martin's death followed by a torchlit procession through the abbey corridors, held at 9pm for several years now. In 2026 the celebrations run from 11 to 15 November, with a play in the parish hall, a living tableau of the saint's conversion, guided tours of the abbey and Sunday's Pontifical Mass. After every event there is a tasting of Moscato and Saint Martin's biscuits, and throughout the feast the parish asks visitors to bring food donations for Caritas.

Schedule

• 11 November 2026, at 10:00 Presentation of the "Martino e Francesco" cloak, made by pupils of the Margherita di Navarra school (San Martino branch), at the saint's altar
• 11 November 2026, at 17:00 Solemn Mass in the abbey church, celebrated by Abbot Dom Vittorio Rizzone
• 11 November 2026, at 21:00 Transitus of Saint Martin: a re-enactment of the saint's death and a torchlit procession through the abbey corridors
• 13 November 2026, at 21:30 In the parish hall, the play "Una Yubiza H24" by the theatre company "il Carro di Tepsi APS", free entry
• 15 November 2026, at 09:00 Living tableau of Martin's conversion, staged by the children of the parish catechism group
• 15 November 2026, at 11:00 From 11am to 4pm, guided tours of the abbey complex with tasting, booking required
• 15 November 2026, at 11:30 Solemn Pontifical Mass celebrated by Abbot Dom Vittorio Rizzone

What to eat

The taste of the feast is the biscotto di San Martino, the dry November biscuit that Sicilians pair with a glass of Moscato dessert wine: according to the poster, every event ends with a tasting of both.

On Sunday 15 November the guided tours of the abbey also end with a tasting. The abbey even brews its own craft beer, Hora Benedicta.

Getting there

The abbey is in San Martino delle Scale, a mountain village belonging to Monreale just outside Palermo; the nearest airport is Palermo. Without a car, Sommatinese Viaggi buses run from Palermo Centrale station, leaving from Piazza Giulio Cesare.

How to get to Monreale: full guide