Discover
Tradition, memory, and the sacred intertwine on Good Friday, celebrating Easter rituals in Montescaglioso with the procession of the Mysteries accompanied by ancient chants.
At sunset in the historic center of the marvelous village of Basilicata, which is in the memories and tales of Montescaglioso’s grandparents, a slow procession forms, opening from various churches with the “Mamuni,” hooded figures with crowns of thorns on their heads. Following them are the Confraternities in their traditional attire and the clergy. From their respective churches emerge the statues of the Mysteries, corresponding more or less to the stations of the Via Crucis.
There are four confraternities in Montescaglioso that take part in the procession, each with one or more statues. We wonder if you remember the one your family participated in.
The first statue to be brought out, from the Church of San Rocco, is that of the Sorrowful Madonna. This one proceeds towards the other churches from which five more different statues representing various moments of the Passion are taken: Christ bound to the column, Christ comforted by Veronica, Christ Crucified, the Pieta, and Christ Dead. Six statues, carried on the shoulders of devotees, and the Sorrowful Madonna, behind which the Montescaglioso band plays funeral marches.
After the initial stretch, the procession makes its first stop at the Mother Church. As the statues prepare to enter, the polyphonic choir of the parish “Santi Pietro e Paolo,” consisting of about 50 members, along with the chamber orchestra, sings the ancient chants. The chants are songs composed between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, either based on texts where the Mother weeps for her Son or on the “Seven Words of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross” by Pietro Metastasio, or some stations of the Via Crucis by Father Serafino Marinosci, always based on texts by Pietro Metastasio.
The program, with some adaptations, will then be repeated in the Church of Santa Lucia before concluding with the final performance in the Mother Church. The procession concludes late at night with the return of the statues to each of the churches where their respective Confraternities are based.
Days
29 March 24
29 March 24
Timetable
18:00 - 20:00
Information/To know
Suitable for Everybody
Not wheelchair accessible
Location/The place
Address
Montescaglioso, MT, Italia
How to get there
By plane, the nearest international airports are: Bari Palese, ideal for the Jonic coast area and the province of Matera. Naples Capodichino, preferred for the Maratea coast and the province of Potenza. Lamezia Terme, to reach the Pollino National Park. By train, Trenitalia and FAL connect Potenza and Matera with Bari, Foggia, Naples, and Salerno every day, reaching the final destination with an integrated train-bus system. Several transport companies provide bus trips to and from Basilicata from Northern Italy and various foreign countries. By car, Basilicata can be reached from the North by following the Adriatic coast along the A14 Bologna-Taranto highway, and from the Tyrrhenian side by taking the A2 Autostrada del Mediterraneo. For more information, visit the Autostrade per l'Italia website. The Maratea Tourist Port (geographic coordinates 39°59'16" N - 15°42'59" E), the Marina di Policoro Tourist Port (geographic coordinates 40°12′,18 N 16°44′,06 E), and the Argonauts Tourist Port (geographic coordinates 40°20′,00 N 16°49′,05 E).