In my city, and a lots of other cities in Italy we have a Santo Patrono, easiest translation being Protectorate Saint, they have a lot of story behind of how they helped the people ecc. What about your city?

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  2. Every. Single. Tiny. Village. A “parroquia” (akin “parish”) is the main territorial unit in Galicia (NW Spain) of which there are around 4.000. The are composed of the main village, which bears the name of the saint, having a church and cemetery, and adjacent villages, all of which conform the “parroquia”.

    This was the evolution of the earlier Celtic settlements, each on a hillfort. Pax Romana came, and also Christianization. A church was build close the each Castro (hillfort), and around it people came down to settle, little by little. Swabians (Lat. Suebi) settled and form the first medieval kingdom; they build their manors close to each Castro as rulers, today preserving their ethnic name or the name of the founder: Suevos ((the) Swabians), Allariz ((town) of Alaric), Tordoia (Thorden), etc.

    Big settlements will split but remain in the same parroquia exploiting the same valley.

    Parroquias are today not legal entities (because Spain does not share the same background) but as I said, are the main territorial unit. The name of a parroquia consists of a Celtic, Romance, or Swabian name + the Saint patron. Saints would have been probably chosen as substitute for early Celtic divinities, to ease the locals into the new creed. E. G.:

    San Xoan de Romariz = St. John of Romariz (ger. Romaricus < Hromizriks (famous *kin*g)) .

    San Xiao de Landrove = St. Julian of Landrove (cel. Landabriga, the hillfort over the open lands).

    Santa María de Seixas = St. Mary of Seixas (lat. saxum (rock)).

  3. We have state patrons instead. The one for Vienna and Lower Austria for example is St. Leopold III, Margrave of house Babenberg (the ruling family we had before the Habsburgs). Odd that a ruler became a saint, but here we are.

  4. I just looked it up and yes, Bremen has the patron saint Ansgar. He was our bishop in the 9th century and was sanctified for his missions to turn Scandinavia christian. Modern historians say his success was limited. I’d say patron saints are of very little importance here in the mostly protestant region. I think they are a slightly bigger deal in

  5. Yes. Saint Nicholas. 6th of December is a national holiday in my country plus my hometown’s personal holiday. Saint Nicolas is the protector of the fishermen and sailors thus as a tradition, we eat fish on this day.

  6. Yes, every city, town, village and region has a “Santo Padroeiro”. The most common, by far is the Virgin Mary (in it’s many forms: Our Lady of the Light, Our Lady of Conception, etc.).

    Usually, on that saint’s day we havethe local municipal holiday , but in some places the local holiday is in other days (such as All Saint’s Day, for example).

  7. yes, and He’s celebrated this week-end.
    In 1654, the city was besieged by the Spaniards. The guard then tried a last exit, to try to break the siege. But it goes badly, the assault is repulsed and the defenders of the city retreat. It is then that a pilgrim and his dog make their appearance. And the dog joins the battle, attacking the Spanish forces. Among the besieged, a rumor spreads: it is Saint Roch who has come to help them. Those who are still able to fight go back to the battle while the others encourage the dog “go Cali, go” (the dog’s name is Cali).
    At the end of the day, the Spaniards abandon the siege and Saint Roch becomes the protector of the city.
    Well, that’s the legend.

  8. Here in Parma is [St Hilary](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_of_Poitiers#/search): Doctor of the Church (proclaimed in 1851), one of the greatest Latin theologians. Shortly after his baptism he was elected bishop (c. 350), exiled to Phrygia (356) by Constantius II for fighting Arianism, which he continued to oppose in Italy and Gaul (c. 360) and after his return to his diocese. In the East he became familiar with the theological doctrines of the Greeks, which he tried to rework, endeavouring to create a technical terminology in Latin; hence he was sometimes, in the opinion of St Jerome, a convoluted and obscure writer. He was the author of several philosophical and theological essays and wrote a few sacred hymns. Here, there is also a legend about him: he was on his way to Rome to visit the Pope, when one day he found himself passing through Parma while it was snowing and had only a pair of worn-out slippers on his feet. He was noticed by a shoemaker who, mercifully, gave him a pair of new shoes. When the craftsman returned to his workshop the next day, he found two golden shoes in place of the broken ones left by the Saint. St Hilary’s Day is 13 January, and in the city it is a public holiday, on which occasion they bake [shoe-shaped biscuits](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/11/e5/40/81/le-scarpette-di-sant.jpg) in memory of the legend.

  9. In Athens the patron is st Dionysus. He was a member of the Athenian supreme court around the time of Christ, and was one of the very first Athenians to convert to Christianity.

    Thessaloniki’s (Greece’s second biggest city) protector is st Demetrius. This is extremely notable because of the impressive coincidence that the city was liberated from the Ottomans on the exact day of its patron saint’s commemorative day (saint commemorative days are a very big deal in Greece, and are celebrated as very important events)

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