The cult of San Gregorio Armeno and his relics developed between the 8th and 9th centuries, when the skull and other remains of San Gregorio were brought to Naples from Constantinople.
A part of the forearm arrived in Nardò, which tradition says was transferred by some Basilian monks.
In 1743, the year in which a violent earthquake hit the city, some witnesses claimed to have seen the statue of the Saint placed on the Municipal seat turn on itself and, with its right hand facing west, order the scourge to stop.
The feast of San Gregorio was moved from September 30 to February 20, the date of the earthquake.
In Nardò there was a part of the forearm with the blessing hand that the Armenian monks would have transported to Italy. Unfortunately the silver reliquary was stolen in the 70s, and replaced by a copy of the same but with only the metacarpus of the Saint inside.
The procession takes place every year on the afternoon of the eve.
On the 19th, after the solemn mass in the city cathedral, the streets of the town are crossed in rigorous and austere silence. The devotion of the people of Neretini is made vivid by the attention and prayer they place towards the Armenian Saint.
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