Procession of the Mysteries of Good Friday - Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto
Description

Procession of the Mysteries of Good Friday – Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto

Property included in the Register of Intangible Heritage of Sicily (REIS)

 

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Technical sheet prepared by: Region of Sicily - Department of cultural heritage and Sicilian identity - CRicd: Regional center for inventory, cataloging and documentation and Sicilian regional film library

No. Prog.
120
Bene
Procession of the Mysteries of Good Friday
Book
REI - Book of celebrations
Approval date
20-10-2008
Category
Ritual processions
Province
Messina
Location
 
Common
Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto
Local denomination
Procession of the varettes
Chronological News
The procession of mysteries, statue groups representing some salient episodes of the Passion of Christ, is presumably of Spanish origin and dates back to the XNUMXth century.
In 1835, the two villages of the province of Messina, Barcellona and Pozzo di Gotto, merged into a single municipality, maintaining their own traditional procession for each. Even today, in fact, two similar processions take place on Good Friday, of which that of Pozzo di Gotto is older, while that of Barcelona is more recent, as it appears by emulation of the previous one and can be dated to 1871, when, on the initiative of the church of San Giovanni, some Barcelona families decided to finance the construction of the varettes (this is how the statuary groups are called).
recurrence
Annual
Data
Holy Week
opportunity
Good Friday
Function
Devotional
Actors
They accompany the processions i visillants, the Jews and the brotherhoods.
I Visillants they are those who perform the traditional multi-vocal chant (lament) "Vexilla Regis".
I Jews represent the Roman soldiers and accompany the varetta depicting the dead Christ. THE Jews of Pozzo di Gotto are distinguished, in particular, by the headdress adorned with peacock feathers. They simulate the changing of the guard by running, slamming their spears on the ground and clattering their swords.
The confraternities that participate in the processions are those of the Immaculate, of San Giovanni Battista and of the Santissimo Crocifisso.
Maestranze (trade associations): those who have commissioned the creation of the Mysteries and have handed down their custody and care over time.
Participants
Local community, tourists
Description
In the early afternoon of Good Friday, the vare of the procession of Pozzo di Gotto gather in the church of S. Maria Assunta, while those of the procession of Barcellona, ​​in the church of S. Giovanni Battista. They are decorated with flowers and lights and around 16 pm, the varettes begin their journey, each procession travels through the streets of its own town to then meet, at sunset, on the Longano river (the river is now covered by the road), the ancient border that separated the towns before the unification of 1835. For a stretch, the processions parade together, each on one side of the street, to then separate again: the Barcelona procession returns, while that of Pozzo di Gotto continues for another two or three hours. So the Mysteries, according to a precise order and always accompanied by the musical band, they return to their respective churches where they are kept during the year.
To accompany i Mysteries in both processions, there is the traditional lament of the Visilla(dialectal denomination sui indicates the song, whose text is taken from the Latin hymn, Vexilla Regis) and the psalm Wretched. THE Visillants (as the singers are called) perform the song according to a precise polyvocal setting, typical of many Sicilian traditions linked to Holy Week. There varettarepresent the dead Christ in the tomb is preceded by 31 Jews, men dressed as Roman soldiers.
REFERENCES
2005. Travel Notes. Folklore, history and religiosity in Sicily. Syracuse: Emanuele Romeo Publisher.
 
Messina: Department of public education. 1992. Parties, fairs, markets. Sd Messina: EDAS.
 
Macchiarella, Ignatius. 1993. The songs of Holy Week in Sicily. Palermo: Sicilian Graphic Arts.
Sitography
 
Filmography
 
Discography
Visilla - Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, in E. GUGGINO I. MACCHIARELLA (edited by), Holy Week in Sicily. Voices and sounds in the rites of the Passion, Edizioni Albatros (Vinyl 33 rpm, Cricd Tape Library Sound Archive)
Footnotes
The various representatives of Mysteries of the Passion of Christ in Pozzo di Gotto are 13 statue groups in wood of ancient workmanship, among these, the one depicting Christ falling under the weight of the cross, is attributed to Matteo Trovato and made in 1870-71. They are distinguished: At dinner, U Signuri at ottu, U Signuri 'A column,Omu Steel, U Signuri ca Cruci, L'incontru cu Marta, Maria and Maddalena, U Signuri a 'Cascata, U Signuri spugghiatu d'i Giudei, U Signuri a' Cruci, 'A Pietà, The symbols of the Passion, U Signuri Mottu, A Ddulorata.
There are also 13 sculpture groups in Barcelona, ​​but more recently made in papier-mâché and plaster. The sculptural groups of theAt dinner, U Signuri at ottu, Pilate's Praetorium, U Signuri in Culonna,Omu Steel, U Signuri a' Cascata, Christ meets the Veronica, U Crucifissu, 'By the way, 'To Pieta, Christ placed in the Sepulchre, U Signuri Mottu, To Ddulorata. Among these the oldest is the one created in 1871 by Don Carmelo Vanni representing the Last Supper ('At dinner)
Vexilla Regis: the ancient Latin verses of the hymn of exaltation and adoration of the Cross as "Vessillo del Re", attributed to Venazio Fortunato (530-600 AD), bishop of Poitiers, make up the song which in dialect is called Visilla. The complex polyvocal execution of the Visillanti of Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto is thus described by I. Macchiarella: «it includes a first melodic section, alternately performed by solo singers. A second section follows where the melodic part is performed by the two singers in unison and is accompanied by the choir which, in turn made up of several singers in unison, moves on different degrees of the [musical] scale. A third part also intervenes in the final cadence, called u iautu (the high one) which moves at an octave higher than the notes played by the choir».
Author Card
Mariangela Riggio
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