Overview

Every February 2nd, the day of Candlemas, the LGBT community of Naples and nearby cities makes a pilgrimage to the Montevergine Abbey, to pay their respects to the Virgin Mary, locally called Mamma Schiavona (The slave mother). In the chapel where her icon resides, the femminielli, neither male nor female, are led by the songs of the performer and shaman, Marcello Colasurdo.