Accompanying the effigy of the Madonna of Bonaria in the procession of Marceddì and S. Giovanni there is a future that begins. “Su ciu”, the traditional fishing boat, advances oar after oar in the silence of the water just rippled by the wind. Palms and lilies sprout in the stern and bow of the boats that follow. Around, the lagoon touches the damp shores that, as they rise, become marl and limestone covered with grass on which the clouds and the blue pass. Those who remained on the ground observe the procession from the terrace of the Museum of the sea, or from the hamlet’s shores.
This year the renovation work prevented the liturgy of 29 April from taking place within the walls of the church of the Madonna di Bonaria, protector of fishermen. So it was the Sea Museum to open its doors to the ceremony. "It was the most natural solution. The village needs this celebration ", explains Maurizio Naletto, founder of the 3DNA association, the group managing the museum’s activities. These are integrated into a broader strategy that aims at the protection and sustainable development of the territory. All the initiatives like exhibitions, workshops and guided tours are financed thanks to the sale of the plastic bottles collected in the hamlet.
For the procession in the lagoon it was enough to hand over the keys to the boys of the "Leva ‘89”, a spontaneous committee of thirty-year-olds who operate with the intention of making the fishermen’s village an important center for the cultural and commemorative activities of Terralba. In the last fifty years pollution and interventions in the management of water resources have altered the ecosystem’s balance, causing many problems to the fishing economy. Attempts to condition the flow of water, with the barriers on the mouth of the Rio Mogoro and the gates in the Ponte di Marceddì, have determined sedimentation processes that changed the original structure of the compendium. The San Giovanni fish pond is completely underground, and where the Rio Mogoro flows into the pond fishing activities are absent, a sign that the fish fauna has disappeared. With the support of the MEDSEA Foundation, the municipality of Terralba has obtained from the POR FESR funds of the Sardinia Region 1 million euros thanks to which the first interventions necessary to contain the process of modification of the structures will be implemented. An ambitious redevelopment plan already exists for the fishermen village. Only funding is lacking. In the meantime the young people of Leva '89 are making the township alive:
“We have fundraised for the ‘Festa del Mare’ in August. With the sponsorship of the Municipality of Terralba we decided to participate in the organization of the procession, in an attempt to preserve the link between the civil and religious ceremonies. On June 2nd the hamlet will host the festival ‘Gustando Marceddì’. We will also be here for Open Monuments, on June 25th and 26th”, says Sabrina Tranza, member of the Leva. "Marceddì is part of our memory. Each of us remembers the summer days of childhood, spent running free in the village, or in the company of grandparents". There are one hundred members of the Leva '89. Among them also many young fishermen, hands at work for the tradition that continues.
"When we started to carry out the enhancement activities at the Museum with the support of the Municipality of Terralba and MEDSEA, we were the same age as the boys of the Leva", says Naletto. "We are happy to see that the next generation is contributing to bring back life in the village. The procession at sea and the future projects are this, a synergy between civil and religious institutions, subjects like MEDSEA, new and old generations united to preserve what we have had as a gift from nature, and with it our identity ".