This agrarian custom has it that a bonfire is lit in the evening of the 28^th of June which is associated, within the hilly territory surrounding Silvi, with the festa patronale di San Leone  and with the memory of an episode which would have taken place during one of the many Turkish invasions on the Adriatic coast: a young seaman of Silvi would have succeeded in warding off the Saracenic invasion by lighting a big straw bonfire at the highest point of the defensive walls. On this occasion people dance and sing around the great bonfire called “lu cencialone” until the embers haven't died out.

This solstitial fire recalls the ones people danced around during purification rituals performed in the country in front of churches in mid-summer months and in particular on the 24^th of June to celebrate San Giovanni Battista (which represents along with Christmas the solstitial celebration par excellence).

These solstitial celebrations emphasize this recurring identification between the sun and the divinity, the belief that vital rhythms of nature depend on the the variations of solar power and that they represent great hope for renewal.