The procession starts from the Church of S. Domenico in the afternoon of Holy Friday and is organized by the Confraternita della Purificazione Addolorata (belonging to the same Church of S. Domenico). The statue represents the Madonna in mourning clothes and suffering at Crucified Jesus Christ’s feet.
The papier-mâché statuary group of the ‘Eight Saints’, composed of Joseph pf Arimatea and Nicodemus (both holding the borders of the shroud where Jesus’ body lies), S. John, Maria, Magdalene and the other two pious women, was made at the end of the last century by an artisan from Lecce. The procession starts from the Church of S. Rocco at 2 a.m. (until 9 a.m.) and is highly suggestive, especially during the night hours. It is organized by the homonym confraternity.
The procession starts from the Church of Carmine and is composed of seven statuary groups. They are: Most Blessed Virgin of Our Sorrows (dressed in black and stabbed by a dagger, borne on the shoulders of fifty men), Jesus Christ bound to the column and flagellate, Jesus Christ Cross-Bearer followed by numerous barefoot men, Crucified Christ, Dead Christ, and the so-called Holy Wood, that is the reliquary of the Holy Cross. The procession takes place in the afternoon of Holy Friday.
Group Starting from the church of Purgatorio, in the Holy Saturday afternoon, the Confraternity of St. Maria del Suffragio carries the statue group composed of the statue of the Virgin carrying her dead son.
At the end of the rites of the Holy Week, on Eastern morning the procession of Resorted Christ starts from the Church of S. Domenico, organized by the Confraternita della Purificazione Addolorata and followed by joyful children waving flags. During the itinerary, people pop the so-called ‘Quarandone’, old lady dressed in black-like puppets. These are hanged up on the crossroads from the first day of Lent and symbolize the Lenten penances. The burst represents the victory of life against death, joy against hardship and sacrifices, spring against the coldness of winter.
