The Festa dei Gigli commemorates the return of San Paolino (Saint Paulinus), the bishop of Nola, after selling himself into slavery in North Africa to save a Nola citizen from the same fate. Upon his return via boat, the town citizens greeted him with lilies (gigli in Italian). Today, those lilies are represented by eight giant (25 meter tall, 2500 kg) wooden spires carried by teams of men with very sore backs. There is also a tower with a boat, representing the one San Paolino took back to Nola.