Conversano - Padre Pio

This life-sized statue of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina is located near the castle in Conversano. Padre Pio was a Capuchin friar, a mystic and is well on his way to becoming a saint (which is a process involving many stages over a relatively long period of time). He bore the stigmata, which are Christ's five wounds from the crucifixion. He is beloved in the region of Apulia, particularly, because he created a large hospital and a sanctuary at San Giovanni Rotondo.

If you look closely at the photo you will see that he is covered with rosaries. These are offerings that the faithful leave when they take a vow, which is a sort of deal that you make with the saint (almost-saint, in this case). You make an offering and ask for the saint's intervention: in the area of health, love, fertility, quitting smoking...whatever your problem may be.

For more information on this interesting friar click here.

Conversano

Conversano is a small city located about a 40 minute drive southwest of Molfetta. It is famous for being home to Apulia's largest television station, Telenorba, but also has a lovely old town complete with an Aragonese castle.

Here are a few views of the castle...

Aritmia Mediterranea, 3

Before I had my technological breakdown (!) I had started a series on the annual street art and culture festival "Aritmia Mediterranea" and I promised to show you the completed versions of the murals being painted by graffiti artists on the first day. Well, a promise is a promise and better late than never, etc., etc. So here we go...

What do you think? Did they turn out the way you thought they would? Which one is your favorite? To see the works in progress, click here.

October Theme Day: Contrast

My contrast is a simple one: light and dark.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Blog Status

I have been having a great deal of computer "issues" this month, as you may have noticed from the lack of posts in the last two weeks. We had no phone line, nor adsl, at my house for 10 days. Then my husband did a much needed overhaul of my whole pc, reinstalling everything and sort of giving the system a clean slate - which it really needed. But there are still some bugs to be worked out, such as the fact that the pc now doesn't recognize my camera's memory card and so I can't download any photos! But, these minor wrinkles will soon be worked out and Molfetta Daily Photo will be up and running again.

In the meantime, please enjoy what is considered to be Molfetta's nicest skyline.

Aritmia Mediterranea, 2

Part of the entertainment at Aritmia Mediterranea was a show put on by local breakdancers. When I asked them about their show, they modestly replied, "We just came to dance."

I filmed the video below on my little point and shoot camera...

Aritmia Mediterranea

The 7th annual Aritmia Mediterranea festival is taking place this weekend in Molfetta. Its goal is to promote "music, art and all forms of creativity." The centerpiece of the event is always the murales painted by local graffiti artists.
This year's theme is "Pulsioni Sotterranee," which means "underground drives" or "desires." A "pulsione" is that which pushes you to do something.

Today's photos show some of the artists in action. I have to go back today to photograph the completed works.

The artists featured here are (from top to bottom): Pino, Pokè, Miste and Gigi. Some of them were willing to be identified by the name they sign their work with and others preferred to use their actual name. There are legal issues for them to consider, since their creative efforts are considered vandalism in certain cases.