As always, the commemorative event dedicated to the “Historical Cavalcade” of the knights of the Order of the Star was a great success, also thanks to the beautiful day which allowed the success of the well-attended event. Promoting it is the historical-cultural association “Renaissance Army Company of the Star” of Messina, presided over by Giuseppe Amato who organized the VII edition of the historical parade sponsored by the Municipality, the FederStorica, the European Consortium for historical re-enactments and the Nobile Arciconfraternita SS. Annunziata of the Catalans. A particularly appreciated event, since the first edition, which is among the commemorative processions of national interest and started from the Catalani church, winding along Via Garibaldi and Via I Settembre arriving in Piazza Duomo, where the blessing of the participants was held by Msgr. Roberto Romeo, archbishop’s delegate for the Cathedral.
For this edition, the three 80 cm statuettes of the Magi, in chiselled and embossed silver, were also included in the usual historical procession of the Order of the Star – a prestigious association founded in Messina in 1595 and dissolved in 1678 after the anti-Spanish revolt. , preserved in the Cathedral Museum, which were created by the Knights of the Star and a Child. The historical Renaissance procession then entered the Cathedral with the evocative sound of Davide Laganà’s bagpipe and the placement of the simulacra of the Magi on the main altar, which was followed by the Eucharistic celebration presided over by Msgr. Roberto Romeo.
Over forty figures from the Renaissance Company of the Star took part in the event: nobles, ladies from Messina, halberdiers, drummers with precious clothes reconstructed philologically and created by the president Giuseppe Amato and the costume designer Ignazio Rondone. «The seventeenth-century figurines of the Magi – explained the historian Marco Grassi, cultural consultant of the Compagnia della Stella – paraded through the streets of the city together with the procession of the Knights of the Star. A great novelty for the return of this event with the presence of the three silver simulacra which in 1640 were created by the Knights of the Star. Through this event we have brought the valuable figurines back to the streets of the center, renewing an ancient tradition that harks back to the Equestrian Order of the Star. In fact – he added – the “Knights of the Star” were inspired by the Magi precisely because like them they were cultured, noble and adored».