Varia di Palmi

The Varia di Palmi is a Catholic festival that takes place on the last Sunday of August, in Palmi, Italy, in honor of the city's patron saint and protector, the Virgin Mary, known as Our Lady of the Sacred Letter. The event is the main festival of the Calabria region.

Celebrations of big shoulder-borne processional structures
Transporting the "Varia di Palmi" (2008)
CountryItaly
Reference00721
RegionEurope and North America
Inscription history
Inscription2013

The Varia is a huge holy wagon that represents the Universe and the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Above the sacred chariot, 200 "mbuttaturi" (carriers) carry 16-meter tall human figures: "Animella" (child representing the Virgin Mary) and human figures representing "Padreterno" God, the apostles, and angels.

The event includes a procession the day before, displaying the painting of "Our Lady of the Sacred Letter" and the shrine of the "sacred hair".

The event is part of a network of "Celebrations of big shoulder-borne processional structures", inserted in 2013 in the list of UNESCO Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. In addition, the Istituto Centrale per la Demoetnoantropologia ("Central Institute of Demoethnoanthropology") in Rome cataloged the event as "intangible heritage" of the regions of Italy and Rome. Palmi organizes the festival under the patronage of the Province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria and religious institutions.

The origins of the festival date back to 1582, when the Senate of Messina gave a hair of the Virgin Mary to the town of Palmi, in gratitude for the aid provided to the Sicilian town during a plague. As a result of this gift, Palmi Messina imported the tradition of celebrating the Assumption of Mary with a votive chariot that represents the event.

Since 1900, the Varia has had several awards, including the cover of an issue of La Domenica del Corriere, a postage stamp produced by Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato and combined with a national lottery.

The event has been the subject of documentaries and profiles broadcast on Rai 3 (2009) and Rete 4 (2006), as well as live broadcasts on local stations and satellite.

  • The Byzantine icon of Our Lady of the Sacred Letter
  • The Shrine of the Sacred hair
  • The Varia di Palmi 1938
  • The Varia di Palmi 2013
  • The Varia di Palmi 2013
  • The Varia di Palmi 2013
  • The Varia Palmi 2013 arrival in the square
  • The Varia Palmi 2013 arrival in the square
gollark: <@115156616256552962> What do you WANT it to do? NOT traffic light?
gollark: `coroutine.wrap`does what now?
gollark: It's not like I can somehow sneak potatOS into any program.
gollark: I'm good at Lua! I made potatOS!
gollark: No. Turtles are the only way.

References
  • Varia di Palmi at Google Books Giuseppe Maria Viscardi e Paule Lerou, Popular piety in Italy, Calabria Volume I, ed. Letouzey & Ané, Paris 1996. ISBN 889001380X
  • Lovecchio Francesco, The Varia – history and tradition, ed. GolemSoftware, 2000 – ISBN 8887455031

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.