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Easter in Italy is a special time, essentially a Christian based holiday beginning on Palm Sunday and continuing throughout the week and ending with Easter Monday (Pasquetta) celebrations. Religious processions are held in many towns on Good Friday or Saturday before Easter with many churches having special statues of the Virgin Mary and Jesus which play a major role in the procession.The statues are paraded through the streets with many people dressed in ancient costumes along with many others following.One such town in Calabria is Nocera Terinese. The procession starts in the morning, many of the town’s males take part, usually a father/son tradition. The men dress in black shorts and top with a crown of spiky leaves on their head and nothing on their feet and the younger boys dress in red robes and carry a cross covered in red cloth. The men carry an implement called “il cardo.” This is a cork base with a wax disc on the top; within the wax are 13 pieces of glass, each piece of glass represents Jesus and the 12 disciples. They also carry another plain cork base. The men start the ritual at their own houses, they warm their legs with hot water infused with herbs to increase the blood supply and after this they bang the “cardo” onto their legs to initiate a flow of blood. A friend is with them and they pour red wine onto the legs to sanitise the area and then the plain cork “rosa” is used to prevent the blood from congealing. From their own house they run, along with the friend and the young boy dressed in the robes and carrying the cross, through the village carrying out this procedure at the houses of their friends and all the churches in the village and more importantly in front of the statue of Mary and Jesus being carried through the streets by other members of the village. Although flagellation doesn’t sound like your average Saturday morning activity, it has been carried out in this and other villages for many years and is an integral part of the thanks given to Jesus for the miracles He performed, shedding his blood and giving his life for mankind. Once the procession has finished the men bathe the legs on a rosemary infusion to prevent infection, they dress and the ritual has ended for another year>
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Eggs, which symbolise fertility, feature greatly in the
celebrations too, and every region seems to have its own version
of the Easter pie (La Pasteria) made with eggs, ricotta and here
in Calabria many people add candied peel.
The traditional Easter
cake, pannetone di Columba, shaped like a dove to symbolise
peace, also features in the Easter fayre.
Easter
bunnies aren’t typical to this celebration, but Easter eggs can
be found in all shops and stores. Eggs aren’t boxed as we find
in many UK stores, but beautifully wrapped with large bows,
ribbons and floral decorations.
Locally
to where we live we have a chocolateria that make Easter a
magical experience. The shop is decorated to look like a
wonderland and Easter eggs range from normal sized to standing 4
feet high all carefully wrapped. Easter hampers can be seen here
too including Easter eggs, the Colomba di Pasqua and figs
encased in chocolate, for which this particular chocolateria is
famed, again all beautifully hand wrapped.
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