Easter in Italy
Easter in Italy is one of the country's major holidays. Easter in Italy enters Holy Week with Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, concluding with Easter Day and Easter Monday. Each day has a special significance. The Holy Weeks worthy of note in Italy are the Processione dei Misteri di Trapani, the Holy Week in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto and the Holy Week in Ruvo di Puglia.
Traditional Italian dishes for the Easter period are abbacchio, cappello del prete, casatiello, Colomba di Pasqua, pastiera, penia, pizza di Pasqua and pizzelle. Abbacchio is an Italian preparation of lamb typical of the Roman cuisine. It is a product protected by the European Union with the PGI mark. Eating lamb at Easter has a religious meaning; in particular, eating lamb at Easter commemorates the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Colomba di Pasqua is an Italian traditional Easter bread, the Easter counterpart of the two well-known Italian Christmas desserts, panettone and pandoro.
In Florence, the unique custom of the Scoppio del carro is observed in which a holy fire lit from stone shards from the Holy Sepulchre are used to light a fire during the singing of the Gloria of the Easter Sunday Mass, which is used to ignite a rocket in the form of a dove, representing peace and the Holy Spirit, which following a wire in turn lights a cart containing pyrotechnics in the small square before the cathedral. The Cavallo di fuoco is an historical reconstruction which takes place in the city of Ripatransone in the Province of Ascoli Piceno. It is a fireworks show, which traditionally occurs eight days after Easter.
Carnival
is a farewell party to eat, drink, and have fun before the limitations and solemnity of Lent. About a month before Ash Wednesday, Italians celebrate over many weekends with parades, masks, and confetti. The origins of this event may be traced to ancient Greece and Rome, when they worshipped Bacchus and Saturn. Some think they date back to archaic winter-to-spring ceremonies. Despite its pagan origins, the event was so extensively celebrated and the tradition so powerful that it was swiftly altered to fit into Catholic rituals. Carnival in Italy is traditionally celebrated on Fat Tuesday, but the weekend prior features activities as well.Carnival traditions vary across Italy. In the Ambrosian rite regions around Milan, Carnival ends on the first Sunday of Lent. The Carnival of Venice and Carnival of Viareggio are particularly renowned, featuring sophisticated masquerades and parades. In Sardinia, a distinct carnival form survives, possibly rooted in pre-Christian winter rituals of awakening the earth. These Carnivals include masquerades and parades.
The Carnival in Venice was first documented in 1296, with a proclamation by the Venetian Senate announcing a public festival the day before the start of Lent. Its subversive nature is reflected in Italy's many laws over the centuries attempting to restrict celebrations and the wearing of masks. Carnival celebrations in Venice were halted after the city fell under Austrian control in 1798, but were revived in the late 20th century.
The Carnival of Viareggio is the second-most popular in Italy. It lasts a month with night and day celebrations, floats, parades, district celebrations, masked dances, and other shows. The first masquerade took place in 1873, in response to the upper classes' dissatisfaction with having to pay hefty taxes. Thousands of travelers go to Italy for parades, Carnival masks and costumes, concerts, and music. In 2001, the town built a new "Carnival citadel" dedicated to Carnival preparations and entertainment.
The Carnival of Ivrea is famous for its "Battle of the Oranges" fought with fruit between the people on foot and the troops of the tyrant on carts, to remember the wars of the Middle Ages, allegory of struggle for freedom. It is considered one of the most ancient Carnivals in the world. The fight commemorates Ivrea's rebellion against tyrannical rule in the Middle Ages. The miller's daughter, "la Mugnaia", allegedly killed the city's dictator after he tried to kidnap her, sparking an uprising that gave the inhabitants more freedom. Ivrea's Carnival celebration now includes parades in medieval costumes, folkloric ensembles, and musical performances from Italy and Europe. While enjoying the festive ambiance, don't forget to try the traditional Carnival dish, fagiolata, a delicious bean soup.
The Ambrosian Rite is a Latin liturgical rite of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The rite is named after Saint Ambrose, a bishop of Milan in the fourth century. It is used by around five million Catholics in the greater part of the Archdiocese of Milan, in some parishes of the Diocese of Como, Bergamo, Novara, Lodi, in the Diocese of Lugano, Canton of Ticino, Switzerland, less prominently in some Western Rite orthodox parishes and on special occasions of other jurisdictions. In the most part of the Archdiocese of Milan, the Carnival lasts four more days, ending on the Saturday after Ash Wednesday, because of the Ambrosian Rite.
In Sardinia, the Carnival varies greatly from the one in the mainland of Italy. the majority of the Sardinian celebrations features not only feasts and parades but also crude fertility rites such as bloodsheds to fertilize the land, the death and the resurrection of the Carnival characters and representations of violence and torture. The typical characters of the Sardinian Carnival are zoomorphic and/or androgynous, such as the Mamuthones and Issohadores from Mamoiada, the Boes and Merdules from Ottana and many more. The Carnival is celebrated with street performances that are typically accompanied by Sardinian dirges called attittidus, meaning literally "cry of a baby when the mother doesn't want nursed him/her anymore". Other particular and important Carnival instances in Sardinia are the Sartiglia in Oristano and the Tempio Pausania Carnival.
Holy Week
is observed in parts of Southern Italy, notably Sicily. The most famous is the Holy Week of Trapani, culminating in the Processione dei Misteri di Trapani or simply the Misteri di Trapani. This is a day-long passion procession featuring 20 floats of lifelike sculptures made of wood, canvas and glue. These sculptures are of individual scenes of the events of the Passion, a passion play at the centre and the culmination of the Holy Week in Trapani. The Misteri are amongst the oldest continuously running religious events in Europe, having been played every Good Friday since before the Easter of 1612, and running for at least 16 continuous hours, but occasionally well beyond 24 hours, are the longest religious festivals in Sicily and in Italy.Holy Weeks worthy of note in Italy are also the Holy Week in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto and the Holy Week in Ruvo di Puglia. The Holy Week in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto is rooted in the history of Spanish Sicily when the entire island subject to the domination of Crown of Aragon, combined with the Kingdom of Naples passes under the jurisdiction of the Crown of Spain. In 1571 "Pozzogottesi" obtained from the Grand Court of the Archbishop of Messina permission to elect their chaplain stationed in Saint Vitus no longer depend from the Archpriest of Milazzo. The first procession is carried out in 1621 as a movement of protest against the Jurors of the city of Milazzo, under whose jurisdiction Pozzo di Gotto depended politically and physically by providing a distant village and as a vow and promise to break the bond of subordination constraint which was permanently discontinued on the 22 May 1639.
The rites of the Holy Week in Ruvo di Puglia are the main event that takes place in the Apulian town. Folklore and sacred or profane traditions, typical of the ruvestine tradition, represent a great attraction for tourists from neighboring cities and the rest of Italy and Europe, and have been included by the I.D.E.A. among the events of the intangible heritage of Italy. The proof of the existence of the first Ruvestines confraternities can be found in the polyptych, a Byzantine work signed Z. T., depicting the Madonna with Child and confreres in which the inscription "Hoc opus fieri fecrunt, confratres santi Cleti, anno saluts 1537" and preserved in the church of Purgatory, in the left aisle, the one dedicated to Saint Anacletus.
Palm Sunday
In Italy, during Palm Sunday, palm leaves are used along with small olive branches, readily available in the Mediterranean climate. These are placed at house entrances to last until the following year's Palm Sunday. For this reason, usually palm leaves are not used whole, due to their size; instead, leaf strips are braided into smaller shapes. Small olive branches are also often used to decorate traditional Easter cakes, along with other symbols of birth, like eggs.Easter Monday
In Italy, Easter Monday is an official public holiday and is called “Lunedì dell'Angelo”, “Lunedì in Albis” or more commonly “Pasquetta”. It is customary to hold a family picnic in the countryside or barbecues with friends.Pentecost
In Italy during pentecost it was customary to scatter rose petals from the ceiling of the churches to recall the miracle of the fiery tongues; hence in Sicily and elsewhere in Italy, the feast is called Pasqua rosatum. The Italian name Pasqua rossa comes from the red colours of the vestments used on Whitsunday.Popular traditions
In Italy, there are many traditions related to Easter. In Versilia, as a sign of forgiveness, but this time towards Jesus, the women of the sailors kiss the earth, saying: "Terra bacio e terra sono - Gesù mio, chiedo perdono". In Abruzzo, however, it is the custom of farmers during Easter to add holy water to food. Holy water is also used in Julian March, where half a glass is drunk on an empty stomach, before eating two hard-boiled eggs and a focaccia washed down with white wine.Another symbol used during the Easter period is fire. In particular, in Coriano, in the province of Rimini, bonfires are lit on Easter Eve. At the same time, the blessed fire is brought to the countryside in the autonomous province of Bolzano. Bonfires are also lit in San Marco in Lamis, this time lit on a wheeled cart.
In Florence, the use of sacred fire has changed over time: before the year one thousand candles were in fact brought into the houses which were lit by a candle which was, in turn, lit through a lens or a flint; at the beginning of the 14th century, instead, three pieces of flint were used that according to tradition came from the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem. These pieces of flint were donated to the Pazzi family by Godfrey of Bouillon. Later, the use of the sacred fire in Florence materialized in a chariot full of fireworks.
The Cavallo di fuoco is an historical reconstruction which takes place in the city of Ripatransone in the Province of Ascoli Piceno. It is a fireworks show, which traditionally occurs eight days after Easter. The show goes back to 1682 when, on the occasion of celebrations in honor of the Virgin Mary, the local dwellers hire a pyrotechnician who, once the spectacle was over, took all his remaining fireworks and shot riding his horse. This extemporized action struck the citizens who began to recall it yearly. In the 18th century a mock steed replaced the animal and the fireworks were assembled upon it. Originally it was made of wood, and until 1932 it was carried on the shoulders of the most robust of citizens. Later it was considered more convenient to equip it with wheels and a rudder and have it towed by volunteers equipped with protective clothing and accessories. In 1994 a new sheet iron horse, built on the model of the previous one, took the place of the wooden one.