The Sestiere Seglio, also called San Rocco after its patron saint, is part of the parish of Saints Gervasio and Protasio and its territory occupies the eastern sector of the Rapallo municipality. The toponym ‘Seglio’ derives from the dialect word ‘seggio’ meaning seat; this is due to the typical conformation of its territory.
The yellow colour that characterises the Sestiere brings us back to the plague of 1656-1657. Near the chapel dedicated to Saint Roch there was a ‘hospitale’ where travellers who, in times of plague, wanted to enter Rapallo and people ‘suspected’ of having contracted the terrible disease were kept in quarantine.
The Sestiere Seglio-San Rocco, like all the others, began ‘firing’ mortals in honour of the Madonna of Montallegro as far back as the early 17th century; as time went by, the ‘fires’ were perfected and the first ‘cannette’ were born, until in the early 20th century, Seglio began participating in the ‘Palio dei Sestieri’.
On 1, 2 and 3 July, ‘mortaletti’ were and still are fired in the Frogs’ Gardens today Ezra Pound, while the fireworks display was carried out on the Nagge brush.
The panegyric firing on 2 July was arranged on the Rapallo seafront, starting on the bridge by the old castle, and the ‘Ramadan’ prepared at the current monument to Christopher Columbus. The years in which Seglio most distinguished himself were the years between 1948 and 1955.
In 1988, when the organising committee was reconstituted, Seglio resumed its participation in the festivities in honour of the Madonna of Montallegro with great dignity and honour, performing the fireworks displays on the ‘Ampoixi’ pier or on the barge moored in the centre of the gulf. In July 1994, the Sestiere won the first edition of the ‘Palio Pirotecnico città di Rapallo Cav. Antonio Scazzola.
On the occasion of the 450th Anniversary of the Apparition of Our Lady at Montallegro, the Sestiere Seglio-San Rocco had the honour and the burden of organising the traditional, grandiose firing of the ‘Panegyric’ on 2 July 2007 at 12 noon and the solemn Procession with the thaumaturgic Icon on 3 July.
