La Naca di Davoli

Among the Holy Friday rites in Calabria, the procession of the Naca di Davoli, in the province of Catanzaro, is certainly one of the most original.

It looks like Christmas but it's Easter! The tradition of the Naca di Davoli is to be accompanied in procession by large fir trees carried on the shoulders of the faithful and decorated with hundreds of paper lanterns, each lit by its own flame. The Naca di Davoli leaves in the late evening, from the historic centre of the hilltop village, and crosses the entire valley in the dark.

A true "arboreal ritual", a fusion of the sacred and the profane, somehow recalling death and rebirth through the plant element.