Sea Wedding
Ascension
The Sea Wedding is a celebration of the sea that is very popular among the people from Cervia who have always been dependent on the sea. It is also their oldest holiday and it takes place every year, since 1445, on Ascension Day. It is traditionally considered the symbolic beginning of the salt 'harvest' and of the tourist season and is supposed to bring good luck for the crop.
According to the tradition the Bishop of Cervia, who was to become Pope with the name of Paul II, threw his episcopal ring into the sea during a sudden storm and managed to calm it down miraculously.
On Ascension Day the people of Cervia repeat the rite of the sea wedding, which by tradition dates back to 1445 when Pietro Barbo was Bishop in Cervia.
Official Tourist Information Site of Cervia