Men at Sea

There is, throughout Liguria, a collective memory of hardships suffered at sea. This information is passed down from one generation to another in stories told as nets are mended, as fish are cleaned, as prayers are said and meals are served, as old and young fishermen sit patiently in their small craft waiting for the fish to bite.

The words above are part of a hymn sung to the Stella Maris by sailors and fishermen in Savona. Across the region there are similar gestures of devotion to the star that has guided mariners since antiquity. The most beautiful, I believe, is held each summer in Camogli as part of the Festa della Stella Maris. As darkness overtakes the sky, the lights of town are dimmed and all the fishermen put out to sea with only a small light on each boat. The townspeople stand on the beach in the dark and peer out at the hundreds of small lights in the distance that look like so many fireflies against a carpet of black velvet. Then, at an assigned moment, everyone — on land and at sea — looks to the Stella Maris and recites prayers of gratitude.