In our Religions series :
In the early 4th century, under the emperor Docletian, San Gennaro (Saint Janvier in french) was persecuted after a series of miracles: he survived the stake, was spared in the arena by hungry wild beasts, but was finally beheaded.
A few drops of his blood were collected in vials and placed in a rich reliquary centuries later. These blood samples are at the heart of “pseudo-miracles” that recur almost yearly in Naples: the saint’s dried blood becomes liquid again and starts boiling. Fear gripped Neapolitans in years when the San Gennaro miracle did not occur, as in 1527 shortly before the plague epidemic, or in certain years when Vesuvius erupted, or in 1799 when French revolutionary troops entered Naples.
Scientists dispute the miraculous nature of the chemical phenomenon, but the Neapolitan population still awaits – and celebrate – it every year.