8559 Easter in Italy

The translation of the word Easter in the Italian language is Pasqua. This holy week is full of religious events all over , which above all in the little medieval towns is very nice to attend. People take the cross of Jesus, for example, in Grassina near , every year there is a representation of the Passion of Christ on Good Friday. Around 500 people in medieval costumes arrange a procession through the streets of Grassina up to the . Arrived there, they re-enact scenes of the life before the Birth of Jesus Christ. In Greve in Chianti they take up a steel wire rope from the church to the building opposite the church where they fix a plastic turtle which they “shoot” all over the place. The people get together in the square and form a guard of honour to accompany and applaud the turtle if she makes it to fly over the square and back. In Umbria, they put the cross of Jesus Christ on Holy Thursday in the Cathedral of San Rufino, a tradition which dates back to the 13th century. On Good Friday they take the cross from the Cathedral to the Basilica of St. Francis, an in the evening, in a long torchlight procession, they also take the statue of the Holy Madonna from the Cathedral to the Basilica. In Todi, near Perugia, they re-enact the martyrdom of Jesus on his via Crucis. Almost in all little towns they take the statue of the Madonna and of Jesus Christ through the streets in torchlight processions, very religious, to remember the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In the capital, Rome, themed “At Easter Rome will surprise you – When art becomes a spectacle”, they renew in the truest sense of the word, the traditional Easter customs and cultural visits and offer a wide ranging program with over 60 events in 19 squares of the Eternal City. The program takes five days and consists of many concerts, public performances, dances and pick-nicks. Most of the museums participate and offer or free entrance or to reduced prices. But should there be little interest in religious and cultural customs and processions, but maybe preferable to use this week just to relax and to get spoiled, there are many thermal villages in Italy as for example in the region of Veneto, Abano Terme or MontegrottoTerme, where a complete restore of body and mind is guaranteed.
{ADVERTISING REMOVED}

Category
Travel & Holiday Advice

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 01/10/2008 - 12:21

[quote=Margit;80293]In Greve in Chianti they take up a steel wire rope from the church to the building opposite the church where they fix a plastic turtle which they “shoot” all over the place. The people get together in the square and form a guard of honour to accompany and applaud the turtle if she makes it to fly over the square and back. [/quote]

Ok, so the original post appears to be borderline spam (promoting an accomodation website), but nonetheless there's some good advice there for our own tame forum [url=http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/members/turtle.html]Turtle[/url] - best to avoid Greve in Chianti at pasqua just in case you see an angry mob carrying steel wire rope and pistols!!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 01/11/2008 - 06:57

I like Spam, sliced and deep fried until golden and crunchy.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 01/11/2008 - 08:10

Ummm, shooting a flying turtle with pistols over a crowded square is a suprisingly surrealistic way of celebrating easter!
Are they taking this seriously? Or perhaps this is an ironic atheistic statement about easter/christianity etc.
On the other hand maybe I simply missed the bit about the evil leatherback descending over the stable and being warded off by pistol wielding wise men to protect the infant Jesus!

I did enjoy Pigros advice to Turtle though...:smile:
Marco Mando

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 01/11/2008 - 09:14

dissapointingly, I did a quick google for ["Greve in Chianti" Easter Turtle] ... and this thread was the only meaningful link it offered (other than another identical entry by the same spammer on another forum). Switching to Italian yielded no tartaruga related results, and searchig in italain just for ["Greve in Chianti" + Pasqua] brought up some fairly detailed descriptions of their festivities, but no sign of the stringing up or shooting of any wee plastic reptiles. Either my googling's out of whack or the spammer is also making the text up as they go along - tlk about adding insult to injury!

Any Tuscan locals able to shed some definitive light on this?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 01/11/2008 - 09:16

OK, OK let's:
1 - Keep to thread
2 - "Keep it pleasant" & respect fellow members

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 01/11/2008 - 10:14

1) I'd say this is a shining example of keeping to thread, given the thread was just spam to begin with, but did concern (if true) a somewhat bizarre religious ritual in an italian town that would pique anyones curiosity

2) My comment was just a joke (and FYI was explicitly advised as such to Turtle by PM yesterday). If I'd seen a potentially amusing reference to any other forum regular's name in the original article I'd not think twice about posting it. I understand your point, but I don't believe there has been any unpleasantness or disrespect shown here - nor any prospect of it, at least until now.

If Turtle has been sufficiently upset by this to request the thread to be 'moderated', then I offer a public apology to go with my private assurance that it was just a joke - but I'd advise better use of the hard shell in future if that is the case. If you just wanted to prevent any possible issues, then I think you do Turtle a disservice by making her "off limits" for normal banter.

Even though we've gone "off topic" and into a genuinely interesting area (how do they actually celebrate Pasqua in Greve) I suggest you move this thread to the circolo now so that we can continue an adult discussion if required without it spilling over into the main forum?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 01/12/2008 - 04:25

I remember in a tiny village in Tuscany the weird and wonderful decorations. The main street was festooned with small plastic objects of a child like size, tiny chairs, tables and childrens toys, all hung on wires high above the street.. We never did find out what it was all about, wonder if anyone has any idea.
A

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/05/2008 - 17:03

Been there. Worn the t-shirt and recommend this highly.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY6TnTVC2EM&feature=related]YouTube - Processione Venerdì Santo a Sulmona[/ame]