Religious festivals Sardinia

Easter Sunday is the occasion to meet the statues of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary in many Sardinian villages. The Meeting of Oliena is one of the most interesting because of its beautiful scenery and the traditional costumes worn by the participants. The procession takes the statue of the risen Christ from the small church of San Francesco da Paola in the east of the town to the portal of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in the heart of the old town. The statues meet in the square exactly.

Religious ceremonies are held throughout Holy Week in Castelsardo, but the most important one takes place on the last day, Easter Monday (Lunissanti). A long procession leaves from the fortified citadel to the nearby village of Tergu. Men dressed in white robes sing ancient hymns along the way. The pilgrimage covers 10 km to the ancient church of Nostra Signora, built around 1300. The return journey is made by the light of candles and oil lamps, in a very moving religious fervor.

This celebration, probably the oldest and most fascinating of Quartu Sant'Elena, dates back to the rituals of the Phoenicians and the cult of the god Adonis. Seven girls, richly dressed and embellished, parade on a chariot to the church of Sant'Andrea, chanting muttetus, poetic improvisations. These describe the different phases of the festivities, and ask Saint John the Baptist for protection for all the participants.

Sardinia prepares Easter Sunday and the resurrection of Christ with fervor. In Alghero, the Holy Week that precedes Easter is the occasion of huge night processions led by torches. The white Jermans of the Confraternita della Misericordia organize the processions, the choirs and the litanies chanted along the route. The crowd follows a seventeenth-century crucifix from a Spanish shipwreck that has been washed up by the sea. Representatives of Catalan villages are invited to participate in the procession in their traditional clothes.

This very popular festival gathers thousands of people who, dressed in their best traditional costume, gather in procession through the streets of Nuoro to Mount Ortobene, where stands the imposing bronze statue of Christ the Redeemer. At the same time, another procession starts at the church Delle Grazie to converge on the same point. The whole procession is led to the sound of launeddas and folk songs. In the evening, a ballo tondo, a traditional dance, is performed in the amphitheater of the village with the best dancers of the island.

The patron saint of the island is celebrated for two days with secular and religious events. The festivities start with a fireworks display on Cala Galetta. This is followed by a festival that puts fish in the spotlight. More than 6 tons of fried fish are offered to the population. A parade of Sardinian costumes is also part of the festivities that end with a torchlight procession. The statue of the saint is carried from the streets of the center to a boat on the sea.