In Monte San Pietrangeli the Good Friday procession passionately keeps alive a long tradition that involves the entire village.
In Monte San Pietrangeli, the re-enactment of Good Friday is an important event that has been held every year for decades. As in many other places in Italy, in fact, here too on Easter Friday, the local community organizes a special event, but how is the one in Monte San Pietrangeli different from the others?
Its grandeur certainly does not leave anyone indifferent. With more than two hundred and fifty participants, the accompaniment of the city band and hundreds of spectators, it can be said that this is truly the result of the commitment of the entire community. Among the events of the same kind in Italy, moreover, this is one of the oldest. Although with different methods, it has existed for about two hundred years. Let's go to know the tradition of Good Friday in Monte San Pietrangeli more closely.
Good Friday, in Monte San Pietrangeli a tradition in the name of Luigi Fontana
The evocative historical reenactment held in Monte San Pietrangeli on Good Friday owes its origins to one of the most illustrious figures born and raised in the village. This is Luigi Fontana, the artist to whom we owe many of the artworks that make his hometown special. The Palazzo Civico, for example, entirely restored by him, or the Collegiata itself, the church that is the epicenter of the Good Friday event.
This reenactment is also linked to Luigi Fontana for another reason. The artist is the author of the Coffin of the Dead Christ, the work that in the 19th century provided the inspiration for what was initially a simple procession and which was then transformed into the elaborate costume reenactment that we can see today.
Even the lighting with a thousand colored glass candles arranged along the entire route is due to Fontana's original design.
How the Good Friday reenactment of Monte San Pietrangeli takes place
Today, in fact, there are actually two processions. The first phase retraces the stages of the Via Crucis and culminates with the crucifixion on Golgotha, while in the second phase Fontana's sculpture representing the coffin of Dead Christ is carried through the streets of the village.
Everything begins and ends in the Collegiata, the church of San Lorenzo and San Giorgio which is located right at the beginning of the historic center. Its colonnade is the backdrop to the scene of the trial of Jesus, the procession then crosses the main street, Via Roma, deviates towards the ancient walls, and then returns to the Collegiata.
Good Friday of Monte San Pietrangeli, an event for the whole community
What makes the Good Friday procession of Monte San Pietrangeli even more special is the fact that this event, in one way or another, becomes engaging for all the inhabitants of the village.
The complex organization, where there is also a massive participation of young people, involves more than two hundred and fifty participants who stage a reenactment that is as faithful as possible from a historical point of view.
The costumes, for example, which were once rented in Cinecittà, in Rome, are now made by local artisans, with fabrics, armor and harnesses that try to stay as close as possible to those of the period. Then, there is the local band that takes care of the musical accompaniment and, last but not least, the spontaneous participation of hundreds of citizens who, as spectators, follow the processions every year in ever greater numbers.
