Identity: the patron saints Nicander, Marcian and Daria and the «onion fair»

The patron saints

A page on the municipal site reproduces a printed leaflet of 1948, signed by the cathedral theologian Giuseppe Ruggiero and held in Mauro Gioielli's collection, which presents Saints Nicander, Marcian and Daria as patrons of the city of Isernia, as well as of the diocese of Isernia-Venafro and of Venafro. According to the tradition reported in the leaflet, they were martyred near Venafro on 17 June 302. The same 1948 text speaks of a city still marked by the bombing that had destroyed it a few years earlier.

The fairs

According to the municipal page, the most distinctive fair is that of St Peter, known as the «onion fair» because for centuries onions and garlic were its protagonists, and still are to a lesser extent; the 1926 Touring Club guide places it on 28 and 29 June, for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. The feast and fair of St Peter the Apostle already appear in a parchment of 1254 and in the Capitoli della Bagliva issued in 1487.

The same page mentions the fair of Saints Cosmas and Damian on 26 and 27 September, and the small fair of St Peter Celestine (19 May), which is still held.