Why go On 8 December the Immaculate's statue goes from Sant'Elena to the Cathedral, then through the old town.
The feast of 8 December
In Nicosia, on the day of the Immaculate Conception, it is the tradition to carry in procession the 17th-century statue by the master Stefano Li Volsi, kept during the year in the church of Sant’Elena, in via Barone Di Falco.
In the evening the statue leaves Sant’Elena on the shoulders of the confraternity’s brothers and reaches the Cathedral, where Mass is celebrated. It then crosses the old town with the confraternities, the band and the faithful. The reports from 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2025 describe the same route.
The evening ends in front of Sant’Elena with the traditional «strgada du palio», a tribute to the Madonna by the confraternities (TeleNicosia also spells it «strecata du palio»), and with fireworks.
The 2025 edition
In 2025 the Confraternity of Sant’Elena marked 370 years since its foundation. This was the programme:
- from 1 December: exhibition of 17th-century manuscripts and sacred objects, set up by the confraternity;
- 2 December: start of the triduum;
- 3 December: Mass in the church of Sant’Elena for the anniversary of the foundation;
- 4 December: fourth edition of the torchlight walk «Uniti per la pace», from the birthplace of San Felice to the church of Sant’Elena, with the Fraternitas San Felice and the confraternity;
- 6 December: concert by the group Italia 90 in Piazza Garibaldi, by the Comitato Quartiere Sant’Elena;
- 7 December: in via Bernardo Di Falco, an evening with the group Disco Allegria and a tasting of biscuits with wine, by the same committee;
- 8 December: in the morning, in the church of Sant’Elena, the celebration led by Bishop Mons. Giuseppe Schillaci, with the «San Felice» band conducted by Giuseppe Tamburello; in the evening the procession and the bishop’s Mass in the Cathedral.
Good to know
The 2026 programme has not been published yet. The 2025 sources give no times, and none are written here.
Sources: TeleNicosia, «Nicosia celebra l’Immacolata: la Confraternita Sant’Elena festeggia 370 anni di storia», 2 December 2025 (read 4 November 2026); «Nicosia, una settimana di fede e tradizione per l’Immacolata e i 370 anni della Confraternita di Sant’Elena», 9 December 2025 (read 4 November 2026); «Solenne processione, fede e tradizione per l’Immacolata Concezione a Nicosia», 9 December 2023 (read 4 November 2026); «Celebrata a Nicosia con una imponente processione l’Immacolata Concezione», 9 December 2022 (read 4 November 2026); «I festeggiamenti in onore dell’Immacolata a Nicosia», 9 December 2019 (read 4 November 2026). All in Italian.
