Traditional religious and civil celebrations

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Fireworks and festivals!

Traditional religious and civil celebrations

Centro di Storia e Cultura Amalfitana – Amalfi

 

 di Lina Fusco

Traditional religious and civil celebrations

Fireworks and festivals!

Every year, the Amalfi Coast comes alive with a host of colorful, historic parades, spectacular religious celebrations and fantastic gastronomic fairs

Amongst the many seasonal activities and things to do in Amalfi, there are a number of traditional events worth mentioning. They  refer to the religious feelings of the population and to the glorious past (and present) of this small but charming town. These festivals tend to reliably draw large crowds and if you are lucky enough to be on holiday in Amalfi during one of these celebrations, then you are in for a treat.

The religious  Feast Days are  an important heritage  and show the religious soul of the population, who keep celebrating the events, transmitting the importance of them from generation to generation.

They are part of a tradition that goes back centuries. Processions are countless. Every month there is one. Some of them  involve the whole town, some only involve a quarter. The  most relevant are:

the feast days of St. Andrew on 27^th  June and again on 30^th  November, which celebrate  the patron saint of Amalfi;

the Procession  of Good Friday;

the Procession of Corpus Christ, in mid June.

the Procession of St.Anthony on 13^th June 

The patron of the city is Sant’Andrea and the festival in his honour is impossible to forget for religious people. The history of  the  bones of the Saint, brought  from Constantinople in 1208, is legendary and  at the present day they are inside the splendid Duomo, an introspective and  magical place. It is a common belief that the “manna” (a sort of liquid) that leaks from the remains of the Saint is a miracle. This event occurred for the first time on 29^th November 1304.
It commonly occurs 6 times a year and it is amazing to watch. Many miracles are awarded to the Saint and, during November, people invoke him every day through the “coronella”, which is an ancient multi-voice prayer. The silver statue of St Andrew  is brought in a  procession through the town, with peeling bells and a huge band, making the atmosphere rich in mysticism.

To get a lively and detailed description of St. Andrew’s Procession by an American writer, please use this link: www.ciaoamalfi.com. and you will be amazed and surprised. One particular is missing in the text: on the feast days, at 4,00am, the Cathedral steps are crowded with pious people reciting a set of prayers for each of the 57 steps they  are climbing. It takes them about one hour to reach the top, in time for the morning celebrations. At 5.00am a musical band starts marching along the town streets, and during the November festivity  mostly Christmas music is played.

Needless to say that the day ends with a firework display that leaves the watchers open mouthed.

November 30^th is St.Andrew’s day, but there is a big feast on June 27^th as well, in memory of what the Amalfitani call the “miracle”. A fleet of Saracens was approaching the shore on that date in 1544;  this meant  a ferocious raid with robbery, violence and rape. The population  took shelter in the Cathedral and invoked St.Andrew for protection. A sudden sea storm  prevented the landing and the fleet was almost destroyed. Ever since in grate memory, the Amalfitani celebrate their Patron Saint.

It is a pity that no one has described in the same lively way the Good Friday Procession.

Whilst St.Andrew’s  procession is joyful and quite noisy, the Good Friday’s procession is very quiet:  all lights are switched off  and torches lit  making  the atmosphere  gloomy and sad. Two endless lines of white hooded men precede the statues of the Dead Christ and Our Lady of Sorrows, which are followed by a chorus and a musical band, singing and playing lamentations composed by an Amalfi musician and composer, Antonio Tirabassi.

Thousands of people keep an unreal but religious silence that could move stones!

The statue of the Dead Christ is left in a small church, representing the Tomb and the Statue of the Virgin is taken back to the main church.

An endless procession of people visit the “Tomb” until very late at night. At 7.00a.m. a group of “pious women” carry the statue back to the main church, passing through the typical narrow alleys of Amalfi .

Corpus Christ procession is perhaps the most important  and colourful religious event: even the Mayor wears his three-coloured  sash. All the Congregations of the Diocese parade with their banners and their members, who wear  copes and badges for the occasion.

Along the streets, from the balconies, adorned with lace and silk blankets, a shower of rose petals and flowers pay a  homage to the Holy Sacrament passing by.

The unfailing musical band plays, whilst the crowd sing  all the time.

St.Anthony’s procession starts from an old Church, founded by St. Francis of  Assisi. On foot it reaches Atrani, a  neighbouring village, where it boards a large boat. The musical band board  another boat and a good number  of boats start a noisy (horns are hooted all the time) procession,  sailing from Atrani to Capo Conca and then  back to Amalfi, where  it lands onto the pier; here the clergy and a large crowd are waiting and they proceed to the Cathedral for the religious celebration. Late in the evening, the Statue is brought back to its church in a  frenzy of fireworks.

The religious festivities have a great importance and see the participation of the entire population, especially the young. These latter inherit from the  fathers their tasks in the organization and the processions.

If religious festivities have a great importance, the other events aren’t inferior. Two events are strictly related to the glorious past of the first  Maritime Republic of the Middle Ages: the Byzantine New Year’s Day and the Regatta.

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