The 2 July is the "longest day of Matera". Just at this date we celebrate the secular Madonna della Bruna, protector of the city of Matera.

Initially it was celebrated in one day of the year is not defined, but from the 1389 with the visit of Papa Urbano VI, former bishop of Matera, he stared at the date of the tournament 2 July, making it coincide with the day of the Visitation.

The party, that is a unique blend of the sacred and the profane, begins at dawn and ends the night with a fabulous fireworks show, not before witnessing the unusual ritual destruction of the triumphal chariot in paper.

The pastoral procession starts at the crack of dawn. The sacra effigy Madonna parading through the oldest neighborhoods in the city.

One of the most folkloristici that characterize the Procession are to be mentioned the "Battery” fireworks heralding the passage of the framework of the Virgin, while on the balconies surrounding it is exhibited velvet whites in celebration.

The procession ends with the sacred image of the Madonna who returned in the Mother Church.

In late morning the statue of the Madonna is carried in procession from the Church of St. Francis of Assisi to the parish of Piccianello Archbishop with all the clergy in tow.

Accompanying the statue, in addition to the marching bands, there are the "Knights” Bruna. Wear a costume for the parade with decorations, armor, elmo, cloak and rod over which flies a flag with a cross, while the horses are decked with paper flowers and velvets.

In the evening the statue of the Virgin is placed on a "Triumphal Chariot”. Made entirely papier-mache, It is a particular passage in the Old or New Testament. After covering the streets in celebration, always escorted by the Knights, the "Triumphal Chariot” accompanies the statue of the Virgin to the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, not before the age of the "Tre Giti”, symbol of taking possession of the city by the SS. patroness.

With the same age-old rite, the general astonishment, in a blaze of mass, the "Triumphal Chariot” It is attacked and destroyed (will be designed and rebuilt the following year). It is said that every single statue or piece of wagon ports prosperity in homes and shops of those who took possession.

The epilogue of the "longest day of Matera” It is marked by the spectacle of fireworks illuminating the Gravina and the Sassi of Matera.

“A mmogghjë a mmogghjë all’onn cj vahnë” (better next year), is the final wish of Matera for a party even more beautiful.