By Sally Mayo/Cultour

No other period in the Christian calendar resonates in the hearts of believers as profoundly at the holy week of Easter. Not even celebrations of Christ’s birth can evoke the level of devotion and reflection as those which commemorate His crucifixion and resurrection, for they form the premise upon which the foundation of the Christian faith has been laid.

In Gallipoli, on the Ionian coast of Salento, the city strongly observes the traditions associated with commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus, in particular that of the solemn and silent procession through the town center which begins at dusk on the eve of Good Friday and finishes at noon the following day. The Christian brotherhoods or confraternities which organize the processions have their roots in the activities of the Jesuit missionaries and other religious orders which contributed enormously, historically, to the religious life of the city’s community. The processions in evidence today are a faithful reenactment of the penitential rituals which accompanied the Jesuits’ evangelical drives. Participants are shrouded in long gowns with hoods covering their faces; some are barefoot, others support heavy loads (wooden crosses or other images of Christ’s suffering) to represent the burden of the sins of humanity, which was carried by Christ.

Confrères can be identified according to the color of the habit worn for the procession; the traditional congregation of Gallipoli’s barrel makers, the brothers of the Holy Crucifix, are notable for their striking red and turquoise robes and the crown of thorns borne on their heads, while the brothers of Saint Mary of the Angels (the traditional congregation of the town’s fishermen wear white with a blue cloak. Finally, the last of the congregations to set out on their procession through the town, and the last to retire on Easter Saturday, the brothers of Saint Mary’s Purity, are distinguished by a yellow cloak.

The church bells rest mute during the period from the eve of Maundy Thursday until Easter Sunday and the procession is a silent one. The only sounds which disturb the quiet are funeral marches and the thrashing of a dissonant wood and iron instrument called a trottola. Prayers can be heard too while the members of the congregation pass by. The suffering of Christ and the bereavement of the Madonna are recalled by representations of scenes from his death. Life-sized timber and carta pesta or paper-mâché statues are carried high, above the marchers’ heads, in view of onlookers and participants alike. Throughout the long hours of Friday night and until the dawn of Saturday, the three confraternities share the streets as they continue their march of remembrance. In the wee small hours of Saturday, the first congregations retire, then by noon on Saturday, the last of the weary followers have returned first to their church, then home to see out the final hours of solemnity and suffering before the celebrations of Christ’s resurrection begin on Easter Sunday.

Gallipoli’s Holy Week processions are not unique in the region. Taranto has the most well known of southern Italy’s Holy Week processions which now attracts vast numbers of onlookers. Mottola, Grottaglie, Ruvo di Puglia, Molfetta, Francavilla Fontana and countless other towns and cities mark the holy days of Thursday, Friday and Saturday by processions through the town center. Few, though, can evoke the profound sentiments that the event in Gallipoli arouses. From when the first marchers set off from the Church of the Holy Crucifix, with the striking backdrop of the sun setting over the Ionian Sea, as the cortege proceeds through the narrow, darkened laneways of the historical center, to when the last of the faithful retire at noon the following day, the atmosphere in the city is supercharged. The faith of the townspeople is worn in their solemn expressions and their heavy, weary paces which slow and weigh even more as the evening progresses.

For more details about the events of the Holy Week in Gallipoli and photos of the processions, see Cultour’s website: www.cultournet.it/english/easter.html.

For a general overview of Easter festivities in Puglia, an excellent site has been produced, in both English and Italian, giving details of events in many different towns and cities: www.settimanasantainpuglia.it.

Photo courtesy of Cultour