Corpo Pagina
In the documents of the State Archive of Cagliari the festival of Sant’Efisio reveals known realities, such as the reverence for the Saint guaranteed by the Archconfraternity of Sant’Efisio, and other lesser known, such as the statues which represented him, sculpted by private individuals for gratitude.
Since Sant’Efisio was considered powerful in the intercession, the prolonged duration of the terrible plague of 1652-1656 persuaded the Municipality of Cagliari to make a vow to bring the statue of the Saint from Cagliari to Nora. Since that moment, processions and prayers ran through a long wandering and, in times gone by, acts of faith mingled with disorders, carefully controlled to prevent them from spreading.
Moreover, the pilgrimage compelled to give room and board to the authorities who, like the Alternos, followed the simulacrum. Thus the religious aspect was coupled with ambitions of a quite different nature.
Once the sweet and continuous chant of prayer had ceased, a frugal meal was granted to the poor pilgrims, while banquets on tables containing silver, crystals and dishes with complex recipes were reserved to the authorities. Entrées, second courses of meat, game and fish, various side dishes, fruit and pastries, liqueurs and “carapigna” (the ancient lemon sorbet).
The documents, which ruthlessly do not keep secrets, reveal both sacred and profane.
Document n. 1
3rd May 1672, Pula
Various setbacks occurred during the rites in honour of the Saint. Antioco del Vechio, fifth Councilor of the city of Cagliari and Alternos in 1672, for the festival of Sant’Efisio which had to be celebrated in the place of Pula ordered to play the trumpet to call the local cavalry, so that the procession could be led following the usual ritual. Once the cavalry gathered, the Reverend Antonio Pinna and Angelo Murroni, brothers of the Archconfraternity of Sant’Efisio, appeared before the Alternos, warning him about the fact that Antiochus Rachis, Canon of the Cagliari cathedral and Rector of Pula and of the church of Sant’Efisio, claimed that the procession and vespers could not proceed in the usual fashion until the guards placed by the Alternos to protect Antonieddu Marchi, a pastor of Stampace guilty of a rebellion directed against the Alternos within the same church, had been removed.
ASC, Notaries of Cagliari
Document n. 2
February 27th, 1699, Cagliari
The problems of the Archconfraternity of Sant’Efisio of Cagliari were not limited to the celebrations in honour of the Saint, but extended to possessions that were owned but disputed. In one of these cases came the beneficent renunciation to the lawsuit against the Archconfraternity of the glorious martyr Sant’Efisio, located in the Stampace district of Cagliari, made by the widow of Antonio Vacca, Maria Vacca Sanna of Cagliari, in front of the Doctor of canon and civil Law Francesco Ruxottu. The dispute concerned the courtyards granted by the city of Cagliari to Antonio Vacca in via Santa Restituta in Stampace, three of which belonged to the Arciconfraternita, that requested their return for the construction of the church of Sant’Efisio. According to the reached agreement, the priest Pietro Serra, chief guardian of the Archconfraternity, and the second and the third guardians, Efisio Carboni and Giuseppe Pinna, received from Maria Vacca the sum of 42 lire and 10 coins for the three courtyards.
ASC, Notaries of Cagliari
Testo di Adriana Gallistru (Text by Adriana Gallistru)
Traduzione di Gabriele Demurtas (Translation by Gabriele Demurtas)
