Easter Celebrations in Italy

Easter Celebrations in Italy

Italians call it La Pasqua.

The Easter is celebrated with a real big feast in this Mediterranean country. The Paschal feast is celebrated with Agnellino, Italy's special popular dish for the Easter. This is a roasted baby lamb. Children enjoy rich bread made especially for the Easter. It is shaped like a crown and studded with coloured Easter egg candies. The pizza sbattuta ( we are in Italy, of course!), sponge cakes, ham and coralline, hard boiled eggs, Easter salamis, variety of salty cakes also abound the preferred menus. Colomba, an Easter dessert made with almonds, egg white and sugar, in the shape of a dove, is a popular dish in Lombardia, but has gradually found its way to the rest of Italy.

Vatican being at the center of Rome, and it being the abode of the Chief of the Christian belief system, Easter celebration reach unprecedented heights every year in Italy. Every city of Italy, be it Florence, Milan or Rome, engages in worship, fun and merriment. A large number of Christians also travel to the Vatican, to mark the special occasion. The Pope’s mass is at 5pm at Saint Peter’s Basilica, and thousands gather to attend the same.

Florence likes to literally celebrate with a bang, with the Scoppio del Carro, meaning explosion of the cart. A large and well decorated cart is dragged through the major streets of Florence. It is dragged by white oxen of the best breed. The journey ends at the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, where the Archbishop holds a mass. After the mass, the archbishop send a rocket, which is dove shaped, into the cart. The cart, as you might have guessed by now, is filled with fireworks, and it goes out into a fantastic explosion immediately, coupled with fantastic fireworks, in the evening sky. Traditional Easter food follows after the grand celebration.

Easter celebrations in other European countries