Religious rites and culinary traditions fully capture the spirit of the event
Every year many religious rites take place during the Holy Week. In several places of the island, performances are organized to create different moments of religious contemplation.
In many villages in this period, the religious brotherhoods are engaged in the key moments of Easter preparation. These are:
- Palm Sunday procession
- Procession of the Mysteries
- The preparation of the tombs
- S’Iscravamentu o Su Scravamentu
- Procession of the Dead Christ
- Procession ‘de s’ Incontru‘
The Palm Sunday is celebrated 7 days before Easter day, it commemorates the entry of Jesus in Jerusalem. Symbols or statues representing the various moments of the Christ Passion are carried in procession on the day of the ‘Mysteries‘.
The preparation of the ‘tombs‘ consists in the creation of graves in the churches that will be visited by women looking for Jesus’ body.
S’Iscravamentu is a word coming from Sardinian language that means ‘the deposition’ of Christ from the Cross, the statue is then laid on a stretcher and exposed for adoration by the faithful.
On the Good Friday everybody observed the procession of the dead Christ with religious silence.
On Easter morning you can admire the procession ‘de s’Incontru‘ in which the statue of the Risen Christ meets the statue of the Virgin Mary.
All the rituals are celebrated in Sardinia, but there are some towns where these have become a very popular tradition.
Castelsardo, Alghero, Sarule, Oliena, Iglesias and Cagliari, these are few names of places where you can take part in celebrations.
Easter Food in Sardinia
The most known cakes for Easter in Sardinia are called ‘Pardulas‘. These small cakes are made with ricotta cheese or fresh cheese, eggs, flour, saffron, sugar, baking powder and orange peel. They’re fried and shaped as a small basket. You can find them all the year around in typical Sardinian pastries.
During Easter is a tradition to give chicken eggs to children in a original way. In fact, using the dough, the housewives make ‘sa pipiedda‘ and ‘su zirante‘. Sa pippiedda has the form of a doll and on the venter is inserted the egg. Su zirante is given to boys and usually has the form of a garland, obviously with egg in it. These are given away as a token of good wishes and prosperity.
