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"Anchoring Matera’s Festa della Bruna, the 13th-century cathedral of Maria Santissima della Bruna was where, at around 5 a.m. while I tried to get back to sleep, the Procession of the Shepherds kicked off, and by night I watched horses drag a papier-mâché Madonna statue back up the hill and inside its doors as fireworks crackled over the valley and crowds cheered beneath glittering arches of light." - Liam Hess