121:, a token of faith to pay at least once in one’s lifetime. This holds not only for the believer. Some who come to Polsi feel as if they have set out beyond a “new frontier”. Worshipers come from June to November, but the numbers increase between 30 August and 2 September to over 50.000. It has been venerated by the people of Aspromonte and it has also been an important site to migrants from
225:, near the Sanctuary and captured more than 70 'ndranghetisti, while others managed to escape. The importance of the meeting for the unity of the whole 'Ndrangheta was underestimated for a long time. Bosses from outside Calabria, from as far as Canada and Australia, regularly attend the fall meetings at the Sanctuary of Polsi, an indication that the
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convent – one of the few which have survived in
Calabria. The church has three naves; the central nave has the classic honeycomb ceiling decorated with solid gold leaf. The arches, resting on solid pillars, have been magnificently stuccoed by local craftsmen, while the scenes painted around the walls
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Beside a religious event the festival in Polsi is an important cultural event for local music and dance. Before the road to Polsi was constructed, people would walk for hours or even days. During the pilgrimage people would dance along stretches of the road. Women in particular might make the vow to
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in his book ‘Enough of Dreams’ from 1929. “Caravans came down from every point in the valley. The people sang and uttered short, loud cries of ‘Viva Maria’ and continually fired their guns. Among the crowds around the sanctuary and in the nearby wood the shooting was incessant …. And over all that
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by a
Sicilian artist in the 16th century and is coloured, with staring black and white eyes which follow the viewer. The second statue of the Madonna of the Mountains is kept in a niche in white marble. Every year, on September 2, her feast day, the statue is carried in procession by a great number
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The festival of Polsi had nothing of the sadness of others where the sick and deformed met in search of pity and help. It was more a great religious bacchanal, a
Dionysian feast, to which people flocked as to a giant picnic in the mountains, ate, perhaps prayed a little and especially where one
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Those who attended the festival remained by the sanctuary for a few days. People had to camp in the valley. The contemporary festival is very different. The long walk has almost disappeared and nobody dances on the way. People now drive to the sanctuary, mainly by truck – and the journey is
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Cesare
Polifroni – a former member turned state witness – at these meetings, every boss “must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc.” The
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in his book ‘Calabria’ in 1931: “Girls thus dance along the entire route, and will be dancing night and day for the hours that they have specified in their vow, until they will collapse on the ground or need to lean on a wall while their feet are still moving.”
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accompanied by the sound of religious chants played by portable amplifiers. Most people now prefer to go back home after they have reached the church and completed their thanksgiving prayers – most attend the festival only on the day of the procession.
156:, a local dance, which represent an ancient and universal way of honouring the divine being. Therefore, pilgrims go to Polsi to pray, thank, ask for graces to be granted, but also to feel free, live the illusion, be together, dance, sing and eat goat.
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of people. Every fifty years a very special event takes place at Polsi: the crowning of the statue of the
Madonna on the main altar. The golden crowns were first placed on the heads of the Madonna and Child in 1860, when the father superior,
218:, who is elected every year, is in charge of convening these meetings, but, far from being “the boss of the bosses”, actually has comparatively little authority to interfere in family feuds or to control the level of inter-family violence.
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The origins of the cult at Polsi go back to well before the
Medieval era, archaeologists today believe. They have found pinakes or votive clay artefacts manufactured in pre-Roman times by settlers from the nearby Hellenic colony of
152:, a symbol of the link between human fertility and that of the earth. The atmosphere is influenced by the primordial sacrifice of goats, whose meat is then cooked. The whole event is accompanied by wild performances of the
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During these last years church authorities have required several substantial changes in the religious practices and traditional devotions, in an attempt to level and normalize all manifestations of popular belief.
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in 1144. The church and monastery are situated in a spectacular setting at the bottom of a gorge at an altitude of 865 metres surrounded by high mountains on the east side of the
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culture, the bases of which are still evident in the soul and language of
Calabria – older people in the villages around the sanctuary still speak
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multiple discordant din that boomed like the surf of the sea rose a mingled music of pipes, harmonicas, violins, guitars and Basque tambourines.”
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52:(1955 metres) the highest peak of the Aspromonte. The sanctuary is difficult to reach. Until some years ago Polsi could only reached by foot.
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The pilgrimage to Polsi has ancient origins and is still very important. Worshipers from all over
Calabria and Eastern
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413:, by Federico Varese, Discussion Papers in Economic and Social History, Number 59, University of Oxford, July 2005
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captain
Giuseppe Petella reported meetings between several criminal societies at the shrine. According to the
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dance along the route if they wanted to ask for a favour or to give thanks. According to the
Calabrian writer
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Commissione parlamentare d'inchiesta sul fenomeno della mafia e delle altre associazioni criminali similari
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337:, by Gerardo Papalia, Flinders University Languages Group Online Review, Volume 3, Issue 3, November 2008
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In 2007, fewer people attended the religious festival due to fears and tensions resulting from the
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founded a hermitage in the 7th century celebrating Greek rites in honour of the Madonna until the
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Migrating Madonnas: The Madonna della Montagna di Polsi in Calabria and in Australia
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around the world perceive themselves as being part of the same collective entity.
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381:, in Relazione sullo stato della lotta alla criminalità organizzata in Calabria,
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Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria
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Leonard Covello: A Study of an Immigrant's Contribution to New York
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expelled them and imposed the Latin rite in the late 15th century.
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How Mafias Migrate: The Case of the 'Ndrangheta in Northern Italy
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Struttura di comando e struttura di base della ‘ndrangheta
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The Sanctuary of the Madonna of the Mountains of Polsi
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Music and Gender: Perspectives from the Mediterranean
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The chiefs of the Calabrian criminal consortium, the
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Churches in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria
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221:In 1969 the police raided a meeting, the so-called
504:Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style
72:The original statue of the Madonna was carved in
469:Gratteri, Nicola & Antonio Nicaso (2006).
28:, is a Christian sanctuary in the heart of the
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578:12th-century establishments in Italy
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22:Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi
526:Peebles, Robert Whitney (1978).
588:Roman Catholic shrines in Italy
475:, Cosenza: Pellegrini Editore,
18:Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi
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573:1144 establishments in Europe
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132:Many elements date back to
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568:History of the 'Ndrangheta
563:Shrines to the Virgin Mary
485:Magrini, Tullia (2005).
359:Gratteri & Nicasso,
26:Our Lady of the Mountain
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501:Paoli, Letizia (2003).
136:rites from the ancient
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191:'Ndrangheta sanctuary
178:danced, according to
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96:female fertility cult
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117:come to honour the
85:Cult and pilgrimage
60:The sanctuary is a
553:Territorial abbeys
472:Fratelli di sangue
461:Additional sources
437:Mafia Brotherhoods
424:Mafia Brotherhoods
396:Mafia Brotherhoods
361:Fratelli di sangue
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205:Carabinieri
197:'Ndrangheta
67:Virgin Mary
40:, southern
547:Categories
242:References
154:tarantella
150:Persephone
100:Persephone
30:Aspromonte
346:Peebles,
307:Magrini,
287:Archived
260:Archived
123:Calabria
62:Basilian
50:Montalto
38:Calabria
34:San Luca
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435:Paoli,
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422:Paoli,
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394:Paoli,
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228:'ndrine
209:pentito
201:crimini
146:Demetra
127:Messina
119:Madonna
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521:Review
517:Review
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115:Sicily
142:Griko
134:pagan
92:Locri
42:Italy
534:ISBN
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477:ISBN
148:and
125:and
74:tufa
16:The
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