Easter in Calabria: the must-see rituals

Among the Easter traditions in Calabria, those linked to the Italian-Albanian communities are truly unmissable. The Albanians settled in Calabria between the 15th and 18th centuries, fleeing the Ottoman invasion of their homeland. They gathered mainly in the province of Cosenza, but also in other provinces. The religious tradition observed by Albanians is Greek-Byzantine. Visiting the Arbëreshë villages of Calabria during Holy Week (Java and Madhe) is an opportunity to actively experience one of the most important moments for the community.

The Calabrian Arbëreshë Easter (Pashkët) is a lavish event that culminates in the traditional vallje, dances celebrating victory and liberation in which the dancers wear brightly coloured traditional costumes (fuchsia, gold and bright green), embellished with gold and jewellery. The vallje (the famous ones in Civita) are performed in a semicircle, holding hands in a chain, and wind their way through the streets of the village accompanied by epic songs narrating the resistance against the Turks, rhapsodies, stories of love and death. The most famous of these songs is the Song of Scanderbeg, sung on Easter Tuesday in Calabria. The table is not complete without the unmistakable Easter Jova of the Eastern tradition, namely red-coloured Easter eggs.

Among the most "gruesome" of the Easter rituals in Calabria, those of the vattienti (those who beat/flagellate themselves) deserve particular attention. These are performed in a similar style in the towns of Nocera Terinese (CZ) and Verbicaro (CS). The earliest accounts of the ritual date back to the 17th century and describe it as almost unchanged from how it is practised today: the vattiente of Nocera Terinese wears a black shirt and shorts, leaving his legs uncovered for the flagellation, which is carried out with two ritual instruments: the thistle and the rose. The first is a piece of cork with 13 pieces of glass stuck into it, symbolising the 12 apostles and Christ; the second is a smooth piece of cork used to strike the skin repeatedly to prepare it for bleeding.

A fundamental element of Christian Passion, the blood flows copiously along the streets of the procession accompanying the Procession of Our Lady of Sorrows on Holy Saturday. The ritual of Verbicaro is similar, but takes place on Thursday. Witnessing these forms of atonement is a profound experience (not recommended for those who are particularly sensitive or easily influenced), which nevertheless embodies an ancient devotion that is an integral part of local identity and folklore.  

Suspended between the sacred and the secular is also the ritual of the Persephoni di Bova (or Pupazze). This is Bova, capital of the so-called Bovesìa, the Grecanica area in the province of Reggio Calabria, where the ancient Greek language of Calabria is still spoken today and the communities maintain the traditional customs, practices and foods of their ethnic minority origins. In this Grecanico village, part of the national network of Italy's most beautiful villages, the sounds of an ancient language can be heard, and unmissable traditions are celebrated, including the Procession of the Persephoni, which takes place every year on Easter Sunday and involves an ancient ritual linked to the rebirth of the fields in spring. Myth and magic are borrowed from the legendary figure of Persephone (Kora), the beautiful maiden who descended into the underworld as the bride of Hades and whose absence doomed the earth to six months of frost, only to bring it back to life in the following six months when she returned to visit her mother, Demeter.

Between the narrow streets of Bova (Chòra tu Vùa), the myth of rebirth intersects with Christian ritual, bringing the Pupazze, arboreal figures with feminine features, composed of olive leaves woven around a bamboo cane, into procession. Demeter and Persephone, adorned with fresh fruit and wildflowers, have free access to the Church of San Leo: a few drops of holy water, a trail of incense, and the parish priest transforms the Pupazze into Christian creatures. At this point, all that remains is to taste the typical lestopitta and other Grecanic dishes made with corn, lulled by the sound of the Calabrian lyre.

Among the must-see rituals of Holy Week in Calabria are the traditions of Badolato on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. Badolato, on of The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy in the province of Catanzaro, is known for its Holy Saturday procession, which lasts the entire day. The Holy Saturday procession in Badolato involves hundreds of participants re-enacting the Passion of Christ. The procession begins early in the morning in the centre of the village, in the hills, and continues until late in the evening, winding its way through the narrow streets, the small squares overlooking the sea and the surrounding area, passing by the churches and most evocative places in the historic centre, such as the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the Convent of the Angels, on the opposite hill. The procession brings together hundreds of participants dressed as Roman soldiers, flagellants and Jews, who re-enact the different stages of the Way of the Cross. The Easter rituals in Badolato culminate on Sunday morning with the traditional Cumprùnta.