Tradition has it that here, in 452 A.C., Attila King of the Huns met Pope Leo the Great, who had come from Rome to stop their devastating raids.

The first image below depicts theencounter between Leo the Greatand Attila, Fresco, 1514, Heliodorus Room, Papal Palaces, Vatican. According to legend, the miraculous appearance of Saints Peter and Paul armed with swords during the meeting between Pope Leo and Attila prompted the Hun king to retreat, thereby renouncing the capture of Rome.

This important historical event has 'twinned' Salionze with Bernalda, a municipality in the Metapontino area in the province of Matera, whose patron saint is San Leone Magno (St Leo the Great). Every year in mid-July, during the "Sagra di Salionze" (Salionze Festival), a performance in costume commemorates the event.