Easter in Sorrento
The Holy Week told in a photographic exhibition, between folklore, devotion and tradition.
The Fondazione Sorrento inaugurates on the 16th of February 2018 the Holy Week in Sorrento, a multimedia exhibition that will illustrate through photos, videos and works of local master craftsmen the warmth of one of the most awaited times of the year by the people of Sorrento, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter. A plunge into the mysticism and the culture of a people that has always cherished and valued its heritage and its roots.
The Easter celebrations start with the blessing of the olive branches, a symbol of the palm trees that welcomed Jesus upon his arrival in Jerusalem. Tradition has it that the branches are decorated with flowers and coloured paper bows, decorated with delicious miniatures of typical local products: small salami and caciocavallo cheese made into the most imaginative shapes, a joyful offering that cheers the celebration for the younger ones. The girls, on the other hand, carry baskets of flowers made with coloured sugared almonds, in memory of the ancient legend that witnesses a beautiful Saracen girl who miraculously escaped from a shipwreck. The young woman, converted to Christianity, supposedly had given the city that had saved her the secret of her sweet little treasure made of sugar almonds, which were not known in Sorrento.
In the night between Thursday and Good Friday, the streets of the town are crossed by the "white procession", which commemorates the painful search of the Mother of Jesus for her condemned Son.
On Friday evening, however, the "black procession" accompanied by the suggestive funeral marches leads the symbols of the passion along with the simulacrum of the Dead Christ.
All the local churches then prepare the marvellous Altari della Reposizione, the sepulchres, adorned with white flower compositions. Many families in the previous weeks place wheat seeds in jars, which are then left in the dark. In this way, the thin leaves will grow very white, and they can adorn the altars on Holy Thursday.
The Solemn Vigil of Holy Saturday leads the faithful to the feast of Easter Sunday, the long-awaited moment, in which Lent and all its sacrifices come to an end and the kitchens are filled with traditional dishes, first of all, the Pastiera.
Contact Russo Agency for your Easter holidays, to experience the Sorrento Coast in an unusual and authentic way, and welcome spring in the land of the sea and the sun.