Also known as the Notte di San Lorenzo, the faithful believe the darting space dust represents the tears of Catholic martyr Saint Lawrence when he was burned alive on a blazing gridiron on August 10, 258 AD.
But the annual heavenly show reached its peak in Italy on the night of August 12-13, and not August 10, precisely as astronomers predicted last week.
The Perseid shower occurs as Earth crosses the orbital path of the Swift-Tuttle comet and debris slams into the upper atmosphere, lighting up the night sky.
Events were organised up and down the country for the occasion.
The shower was also the backdrop to a hit 1982 auteur film, The Night of the Shooting Stars, by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani.
ANSA
