Posted by Sorrento Lingue, Italian language school in Sorrento.

Web site: www.sorrentolingue.com

Easter in Sorrento is a special emotion enveloping all the senses. Colors, scents, smells and flavors of this wonderful land characterize your journey in early spring marking the beginning of the tourist season. The guests will feel welcome tasting several cues for thought and pleasure.
Everything seems to be set in order to allow you to better appreciate the wealth of environmental, historical and gastronomic delights that the Sorrento peninsula can offer. We could start by describing the rituals of Holy Week, which are really suggestive in the Sorrento Peninsula.

The processions of confraternities are particularly exciting. According to the legend of these rituals, when they go back to the headquarters of fraternities, hoods are often wet with tears of those who wore them during the journey. The voices of the Miserere begin their drills two months before the processions. The brothers are eager to get prepared for the moment when they accompany the hooded people with liturgical songs. They bring the lights and other symbols of the Passion of Jesus: the basin and the pitcher with the towel when Pilate washed cowardly his hands, the bag with the price of the infamous betrayal of Peter, the knife with the ear of Malchus, the cock that with its song reminded Peter his threefold denial, the column with the cords with which Christ was tied.

Not only that: the whips, the crown of thorns, the robe and cane with which Christ was mocked and acclaimed King of the Jews, the inscription of his conviction, the nails and tongs for the crucifixion, the spear that ripped through his ribs and, finally, the great cross from which the shroud hangs.

In all these circumstances, maniacally cared for, there has been a poetic meaning for the Sorrento processions since 1586, when the Brotherhood of St. Catellus, born in the city in the last years of the XIV century, asked to join the Roman “Morte ed Orazione”. An example of this, the brothers in black and with the lamps in their hands began to go out in processions not on Thursday (for the medieval visit to the “Tomb” in the church), but on Good Friday, bringing to the various monasteries of the city the statue of the Dead Christ with the singing of Miserere.

But spending Easter in Sorrento also means to enjoy the well known traditional dishes like “pastiera”, “casatiello” and “lasagna”.

Also we must not ignore the possibility to spend wonderful days walking in the center of Sorrento through decorations and smart shops, tasting local products and shopping. For lovers of nature, we suggest the path of Punta Campanella and the mythical “Path of the Gods”. But surely we can not miss the excursions to the Amalfi Coast, Capri, Ischia, Pompei, Naples and the Vesuvius, all of them directly connected by public services.

Posted by Sorrento Lingue, Italian language school in Sorrento.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 18th, 2010 at 12:44 pm and is filed under italian culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.