Holy Week

The processions in the streets and the rituals in the small and rare churches of the villages, in the cathedrals of the cities and in the tabernacles return like every year to be relived unanimously according to the old customs that differ from place to place. Setmana santa in Alghero is of Catalan origin, starting on the Friday before Palm Sunday with the Addolorata procession and ending on the Easter Encontre. Touching and spectacular is the rite of desclavament, the placing of Christ’s body in a procession on the deathbed. The Lunissanti are the ceremonies that take place on the Monday before Easter in the magical village of Castelsardo perched above the sea, before dawn the brothers gather in the Church of Santa Maria to renew the ancient and touching celebrations, the ceremonies that precede the procession towards the Basilica of Nostra Signora di Tergu. In Aggius, in deep Gallura, during centuries-old ceremonies, the choral singing of the tasgja is heard. In various towns of the Oristano area, such as Aidomaggiore and Bortigali, Montiferru and in the Planargia area, such as Bosa, there are heart-pounding processions of the mysteries on Maundy Tuesday. While in Sassari, the confreres lead the procession of five ancient statues. Two of Cagliari’s historic districts, Villanova – on the Friday before Palm Sunday – and Stampace, on Maundy Tuesday, come to life with Is Misterius: seven simulacra stop in turn at seven churches, Stations of the Cross. On Thursday, a simulacrum of the mourning-clad Sant’Efisio is carried in procession, the funeral procession of the protector of the city leaves his small church in Stampaca to also undertake the “tour of the seven churches”. On Good Friday, the statue of the crucified Jesus arrives from the Church of San Giovanni to the Cathedral of Santa Maria. A reconstruction of the Passion of Christ from the seventeenth century takes place in the Iglesia. In Cuglieri on Good Friday the women sing the gosos of Our Lady of Sorrows and the Miserere while the men carry candles. A touching pathos characterizes the “meetings” in Galtellì and Orosei in Baronia and in Olien and Sarula in Barbagia Nuoro. In Ogliastra, Holy Week in Bari Sardo is particularly evocative and moving.