EASTER IN ITALY
Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as written in the New Testament of the Christian bible. The roots of the Easter holiday’s traditions and activities can be traced back to pagan celebrations. The name Easter is believed to come from Eostara, the goddess of rebirth.The Easter date is set around the time of the March Equinox.
What do people do?
Easter, or Pasqua in Italian, is a festive holiday throughout Italy. Religious parades and celebrations are held in many towns and cities nationwide. A statue of Jesus or his mother Mary is carried in street processions that involve large crowds of people.
Easter Day is a public holiday in Italy. It also falls on Sunday. Organizations and businesses that are closed include: government offices post offices,banks and schools and other educational institutions.
Most Famous processions in Italy
Enna, in Sicily, has a large procession on Good Friday, with more than 2,000 friars dressed in ancient costumes walking through the streets of the city. Trapani, also in Sicily, is a good place to see processions, held several days during Holy Week. Their Good Friday procession, Misteri di Trapani, is 24 hours long. These processions are very dramatic.
What's believed to be the oldest Good Friday procession in Italy is in Chieti in the Abruzzo region (see Abruzzo Region Map). The procession with Selecchi's Miserere played by 100 violins is very moving.
Some towns, such as Montefalco and Gualdo Tadino in Umbria, hold live scenarios during the night of Good Friday or plays enacting the stations of the cross or Via Crucis. Beautiful torch light processions are held in Umbria in hill towns such as Orvieto and Assisi.
Easter food
Since Easter is the end of the Lent season, food plays a big part in the celebrations. Traditional Easter foods in many places include lamb or goat, artichokes, and special Easter breads that vary from region to region. Pannetone and Colomba (dove shaped) breads are often given as gifts as are hollow chocolate eggs that usually come with a surprise inside.
Chocolate Eggs
If this chocolate or papier has recent origin , the true colored eggs and decorated have a very ancient history which has its roots in pagan judgment tradition.
The egg is the symbol of life: “The Cosmic Egg is at the origin of the World” and its interior would contain germ beings .
Egg is also the gift that was traded on the occasion of the spring festivals which symbolizes fertility and eternal return of life . The ancient Romans used to bury the painted red egg into their fields to propitiate good harvest.
According to Christian tradition the egg represents the “good wishes” that is again symbol of rebirth but this time not of nature but rather of the resurrection of Jesus Christ : the shell is the tomb from which Christ came alive.
Lamb
The lamb represents Jesus' sacrifice on the cross .
This image symbolizes innocence , patience and gentleness of Christ
Particolar tradition in Italy
In Florence, Easter is celebrated with the Scoppio del Carro, explosion of the cart. A huge, decorated wagon is dragged through Florence by white oxen until it reaches Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence's historic center. Following mass, the Archbishop sends a dove-shaped rocket into the cart, igniting the fireworks held in the cart. This spectacular display is followed by a parade in medieval costumes.
Sulmona, in the Abruzzo region, celebrates Easter Sunday with La Madonna Che Scappa in Piazza. On Easter Sunday people dress in green and white, colors of peace, hope, and resurrection, and gather in the main piazza. The woman playing the Virgen Mary is dressed in black. As she moves to the fountain, doves are released and the woman is suddenly dressed in green.
If you want to see the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU2HG5ERtSk
Biography:
www.timeanddate.com/holidays/italy/easter-sunday
goitaly.about.com/od/festivalsandevents/a/easter.htm