Rezzica! Celebrating the shuttered streets of San Vito

Uncovering an unassuming aspect of culture which make this Pugliese town special

Take a passeggiata through the sun-drenched streets of San Vito dei Normanni at any time of the day, and you’d be forgiven for thinking it is a bit deserted, a ghost town even. It is impossible not to notice the shuttered doors which bestow a quiet and calm on the place, and yet from behind these infamous blinds which are known as rezze, you can sense the watchful eyes of the locals who are the beating heart of this town just 30 minutes inland from Brindisi.

Behind the rezze

Occasionally decorated with designs which nod to different aspects of Pugliese culture, the otherwise unassuming rezze are omnipresent – an imposing, perhaps even unwelcoming at first glance, fixture at the door to almost every home. Historically, locals put up these simple shutters made from wooden slats to shield their homes from the strength of the sun while still allowing air to flow through in the stifling summer and humid winter months.

“La rezza is one of the most significant elements of the Sanvitese tradition. An awning made of wooden slats, useful for protecting the doors of houses from the sun and the rain, but also to be able to peek into the street without being seen” says Mariolina, from San Vito’s award-winning traditional Pugliese restaurant La Locanda di Nonna Mena.

A rezza featuring a trullo, the stone-built conical shaped houses also synonymous with Puglia, while La Locanda di Nonna Mena also has its own rezza design

It is true that while the rezze serve to stop prying eyes from peering into homes from the street as the air circulates, they also provide a convenient screen from behind which San Vito’s residents can keep a close eye on what is happening in their town. Contrary to the perhaps more stereotypical image of Italian women sat chatting out in the open on the pavement, as the locals say in Sanvitese dialect: ‘Vecchia cretu la rezza’ or it’s all about the ‘Lady behind the shutter’.

Rezza decorated with Sanvitese: ‘E a pinzá… quantu voti l’agghiu vistu passá’ which translates as ‘And think… how many times I’ve seen you pass by’

Reimagining tradition

As Marolina explains: “The artisans of the past have handed over the baton to a younger generation who have revalued and reinterpreted the old local traditions. This is how Amarezza (an organisation which preserves and promotes the rezze) was born in 2013 and came to set up a design and craftmanship workshop around the rezza.” So iconic and such an intrinsic part of San Vito’s identity have the humble rezze become that every year in August, the community now comes together to celebrate them with Rezzica.

Rezzica in the streets of San Vito

A vibrant festival held in the centro storico, Rezzica marries the rezza with pizzica, the traditional dance whose origins can also be traced back to San Vito. An archaic, ritualistic dance which can be traced back hundreds, even thousands of years - pizzica is from the tarantella family. Shrouded in myth, it is thought to have been the only cure for a tarantula bite.

Rezzica is a popular festival that aims to highlight the two elements of San Vito’s identity. The rezza and the pizzica - which blend together dance, sounds and Pugliese traditions - is where the name comes from.

Marolina, La Locanda di Nonna Mena.

Playing with these unique aspects of Sanvitese tradition and culture which make life in the Pugliese town so distinctive, the annual folk-style celebration has become an unmissable fixture in the local events calendar. As Rezzica enters its 14^th year in 2024, the streets of San Vito will once again come alive with inimitable local street food, art, theatre, music and dancing - in a unique celebration of its heritage.