Piet[r]a by Cemre Yeşil Gönenli & Alice Caracciolo

This collaborative work departs from a legendary story from Castro, in South Italy. The Region of Puglia commissioned artists Cemre Yeşil (Turkey) and Alice Caracciolo (Italy) to make a photographic work inspired by the following legend titled The Turk’s Wife:

The Turks used to regularly occupy the coast of Salento and one of the most targeted place was Castro. During one of the incursions, they stole a precious statue of Madonna, which was assigned to one of the Turkish commanders, who later gave the statue to his wife as a gift. Even though his wife was muslim, she kept the statue as a beautiful object with an artistic value. 

The wife was pregnant and she was in a lot of pain. In spite of the prayers, the woman wasn’t able to give birth. The wife had a slave, a woman from Castro, who had been kidnapped and became a servant in Constantinople. The slave felt very sorry about her mistress and then she suggested to send the statue back to its former country in order to hope for a miracle. 

The husband was convinced and he ordered to put the statue on a ship and send it back to where it belonged. Without anyone guiding it, the ship arrived from Constantinople to Castro overnight. When fishermen saw and recognised the statue, they spread the word to all of the citizens. They rang the bells with such a great joy and they all gathered around the ship. 

Finally the statue was brought to its former cathedral where is still regarded with such a great respect. However, nobody knows what happened to the Turkish wife.