Cappella di San Paolo

The Chapel of Saint Paul in Galatina is also known as the Cappella delle Tarantate. Its association with the Salento’s tarantism tradition centres on devotion to Saint Paul, dance and the chapel’s well of blessed water.

Why it matters

The chapel is closely tied to the healing cult of Saint Paul and to the tarantism rituals documented in the Salento. The municipal account describes people from across the region gathering here on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, 29 June, before continuing their devotions at the nearby Chiesa Matrice. Ernesto De Martino’s 1959 research brought sustained scholarly attention to tarantism as a cultural and religious phenomenon.

What to notice

The chapel’s modest scale contrasts with Galatina’s larger religious monuments. The municipal heritage account describes a faint canvas of Saint Paul; another local account describes a single-room interior with an eighteenth-century altar. The well of blessed water is central to the tradition associated with the site. Accounts of the ritual describe participants drinking its water and dancing to pizzica music as part of their devotion.

Context and history

The Polo Bibliomuseale traces the cult to accounts recorded around 1700 by the canon Alessandro Arcudi, including the tradition that women who possessed healing power donated a house on condition that a chapel to Saint Paul be built. The same source describes the chapel as deconsecrated. Tarantism rituals at the site declined over time; the local heritage portal records that only two participants remained by 1980. The tradition survives in Galatina’s historical memory and interpretation of the region’s popular culture.