I Vattienti di Nocera Terinese

Holy Saturday in Nocera Terinese, in the province of Catanzaro, passes through the unmissable rite of the vattienti.

The vattienti in Calabria are the traditional flagellants who accompany Christ and share his Passion (a rite also widespread in Verbicaro, CS).

The Vattienti of Nocera Terinese wear black shirts and shorts that leave their legs uncovered for the flagellation. This takes place using ritual instruments: the thistle and the rose. The first is a piece of cork into which are stuck 13 pieces of glass representing the 12 apostles plus Christ; the second is a smooth cork with which the skin is beaten several times to prepare it for bleeding.

The blood, a substantial element of the Christian Passion, gushes out copiously along the streets of the procession accompanying the Vattienti of Nocera Terinese during the procession.