Every Aug 17, the village of Porto Venere celebrates the festival of its patron saint
© Peter Sampson/Alam
Festival of the White Madonna
Each year on August 17, the Northern Italian fishing village of Porto Venere is illuminated with more than 2,000 torches for the festival of the White Madonna, a tribute to the town’s patron saint. The lights extend onto this rocky spur, which juts into the Gulf of La Spezia, also known as the Gulf of Poets. With views like this, we can easily see how it inspired poets and artists throughout history–including Lord Byron, who is said to have swum across this body of water to visit fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Related Images
Otter Cliffs, Acadia National Park, Maine
Mangrove trees, Walakiri Beach, Sumba Island, Indonesia
The Minokake-Iwa rocks off the coast of the Izu Peninsula, Japan
Composite image of the moon
Boats float by rice fields on the Ngo Dong River in Ninh Binh province, Vietnam
Blacktip reef sharks off the coast of Tahiti, French Polynesia
Moose crossing a pond below Mount Moran, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Milky Way over the Tagus river in Monfragüe National Park, Spain
Today Bing
Sun deity on arch of Parsi Fire-Temple, south Mumbai
Aug 17, 2020
Bees for National Honey Bee Day
Aug 17, 2019
