In the month of July, in order to celebrate the Madonna of the SS Graces, all the borough steps back in time. Each member of the San Leucio community dresses and lives like in the past. Even old meals are brought back to life and, in every house, workshop or silk factory, chests are opened to bring back the splendid damasks, the lampas silk, the velvets in a symphony of lightly and less lightly coloured silk threads, the thread which is bound to the incredible story of old fortunes and the future of San Leucio.
The idea of the historical procession dates back to 1976, when the priest don Battista Marello, inspired by a procession of the silk of the Maritime Republics, felt the need to create a favourable opinion on San Leucio community. Since then, with an accurate choreography, the procession develops along the streets in a sequence of scenes of groups representing costumes, accompanied by ‘700 music.

The procession formation:

1. trumpets, drums;
2. the Banner of San Leucio colony;
3. the keys of the city;
4. the law code;
5. architect Collecini with the secretary and the building foreman;
6. the teachers of the school and the students;
7. Whitsuntide wedding;
8. the group of workers preceded by the manager of the royal factory;
9. the Razionale (a liturgical ornament used in the Middle Ages);
10. the managing director of the Colony;
11. the Charity Bank;
12. the farm bailiff;
13. the gamekeeper;
14. the Parish Priest;
15. the five Seniors;
16. King Ferdinand IV and Queen Maria Carolina accompanied by ladies and nobles;
17. the Banners representing the suburbs of: Belvedere, San Carlo, San Ferdinando, Trattoria, Seta and San Silvestro.

The procession, the ‘palio’ of the silk and the "pallottole"

It’s a religious – political rite: it happens within the framework of the celebrations dedicated to the Madonna of Graces, declared Patron Saint by Ferdinand IV, and develops through the streets of the Colony to recall the foundation of the royal borough and its administrative regulation, exceptional for the epoch. In this framework, the Palio has been taking place for several years now. It’s a competition named after the valuable material given as a prize to the winner of a horse ride. The King himself used to be present.
The historical procession is important for San Leucio as much as the palio is for the city of Siena. The borough is decked with flags, the standards for each suburb hangs from the windows. After lunch, characterized by the exquisite ‘pallottole’ (bullets), a great ferment starts for the preparations: beautiful clothes, flags and drums are brought back to life from the wardrobes and little by little the gathering of ‘actors’ starts in the courtyard of the Belvedere. From Piazza della Seta (Silk Square), through the triumphal arch dei Leoni (of the lions), San Leucio’s people, out in the darkness of the evening, is illuminated by light beams that reflex the damasks and brocades, to mix back later with the crowd.