{"id":1201,"date":"2026-04-01T04:12:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T04:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/?p=1201"},"modified":"2026-01-08T01:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T01:40:07","slug":"april-in-craco-vecchio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/april-in-craco-vecchio\/","title":{"rendered":"April in Craco Vecchio"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Picture4a.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1211 alignleft lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Picture4a-300x204.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"204\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Picture4a-300x204.png 300w, https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Picture4a-768x523.png 768w, https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Picture4a.png 943w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/204;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">April in Craco Vecchio was dominated by the Lenten observance and the celebration of Easter.\u00a0 The work relating to the fields and earth was minimal as the planting was completed for the first crops. \u00a0 However, the activity level at the church was greater.<\/p>\n<p>Holy Week was a very special time of religious observation.\u00a0 There were special foods made during Holy Week:\u00a0 \u201cbiscotti con finocchio\u201d, \u201cbiscotti con le uova\u201d, \u201cpupa\u201d (doll-shaped cookies for kids) or \u201cborsette\u201d (purses) made with hard boiled eggs.<\/p>\n<p>On Holy Thursday, 12 young boys would have their feet washed by the priest at the church as a symbol of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Picture4b.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1221 alignright lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Picture4b-300x202.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"202\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Picture4b-300x202.png 300w, https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Picture4b-768x518.png 768w, https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Picture4b.png 951w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/202;\" \/><\/a>Good Friday always commemorated the death of Jesus by a \u201cprocessione\u201d.\u00a0 This started as two separate processions \u2013 one led by a man symbolizing Jesus, the other, led by a woman symbolic of his mother Mary.\u00a0 Winding through laneways past the Church of the Madonna della Monserrato they joined in the piazza as a symbol of Jesus meeting his mother as He carried the cross to His death.\u00a0 The photographs, provided by Fil Francavilla, to the left and below show these events in 1962.<\/p>\n<p>During the procession timeless chants were sung\u00a0 and can be seen on the Society website\u00a0 at <b><i>Good Friday Processione Chants<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>On Easter Sunday it was customary to eat hard boiled eggs and \u201csoppressata\u201d for antipasto, then \u201ccapretto\u201d (goat) or agnello (lamb) would be served, always followed by a \u201cdolce\u201d (cake).\u00a0 Children would kiss the hands of the elders who would give them hard boiled eggs or money.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #993300;\">Historic Dates in Craco<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>3 April 1616-Tavern of Canzoniero was incorporated with the Chiesa Madre; it was completely demolished in the 1800s.<\/li>\n<li>18 April 1792 &#8211; on the intervention of Father Prospero of Craco, a Franciscan, a larger precious relic of San Vincenzo was obtained.<\/li>\n<li>18 April 1800 \u2013 Giuseppe Carella (originally of Montesano), husband of Teresa Chiarito, was assassinated by some brigands in the countryside near the village.<\/li>\n<li>4 April 1793 \u2013 Don Pasquale Arleo made an agreement to create a new altar for the relic of San Vincenzo.<\/li>\n<li>1 April 1821 &#8211; Domenico A. Ottaviano, held &#8220;secret unions\u201d at the tavern he owned; he would be arrested in 1823.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Aprile en Craco Vecchio<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A Craco Vecchio aprile era una mese dominato dall\u2019osservanza della quaresima e dalla celebrazione della Pasqua. Il lavoro condotto sui campi e sulla terra era minimo dal momento che la semina era stata gi\u00e0 completata e si attendeva quindi la crescita delle prime piantagioni. Nonostante ci\u00f2, il livello di attivit\u00e0 ecclesiastiche era notevole.<\/p>\n<p>La settimana santa era un periodo particolarmente speciale per quanto riguardavano le osservanze religiose. Durante questo tempo infatti venivano cotti cibi speciali, come i \u201cbiscotti col finocchio\u201d, i \u201cbiscotti con le uova\u201d, i \u201cpupa\u201d (dei biscottini a forma di pecora che si usava dare ai bambini) oppure le \u201cborsette\u201d, fatte con uova bollite dure.<\/p>\n<p>Durante la giornata di gioved\u00ec santo, a dodici giovani venivano lavati i piedi dal prete della chiesa, come simbolo della lavatura dei piedi che storicamente Ges\u00f9 esegu\u00ec ai suoi discepoli.<\/p>\n<p>Di venerd\u00ec santo si commemorava la morte di Ges\u00f9 tramite la ormai caratteristica \u201cprocessione\u201d. C\u2019erano due processioni che prendevano piede a Craco, una capitanata da un uomo che simboleggiava la figura di Ges\u00f9, mentre la protagonista dell\u2019altra era una donna, la quale raffigurava la vergine Maria. Serpeggiando attraverso i vicoli e i viottoli del paese, le due colonne attraversavano la chiesa della Madonna del Monserrato e finivano per congiungersi nella piazza principale, ancora una volta per simboleggiare l\u2019incontro di Ges\u00f9 con sua madre, mentre egli trasportava il peso della croce. Le fotografie, visibili in basso e a sinistra, sono state rese disponibili da Fil Francavilla e rappresentano lo scorrere dell\u2019evento nel 1962. Durante la processione venivano cantate musiche d\u2019ormai altri tempi: questi canti possono essere letti e consultati sul sito della societ\u00e0 seguendo il collegamento a canti della processione del venerd\u00ec santo.<\/p>\n<p>Durante la domenica di Pasqua si usavano mangiare come antipasto uova bollite dure e la \u201csoppressata\u201d, venivano poi serviti il \u201ccapretto\u201d o \u201cl\u2019agnello\u201d, ed infine seguiva il \u201cdolce\u201d. I bambini solevano baciare le mani degli anziani che davano loro soldi o uova bollite.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #993300;\">Le date storiche di Craco<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>3 aprile 1616 \u2013 viene inaugurata la taverna del Canzoniero assieme alla Chiesa Madre; la taverna rimarr\u00e0 operativa per pi\u00f9 di due secoli, prima di venir demolita completamente.<\/li>\n<li>18 aprile 1792 \u2013 in seguito all\u2019intervento di padre Prospero di Craco, un frate francescano, Craco ottiene una reliquia di San Vincenzo ancora pi\u00f9 grande e preziosa.<\/li>\n<li>18 aprile 1800 \u2013 Giuseppe Carella (originario di Montesano), marito di Teresa Chiarito, viene assassinato da alcuni briganti nella campagne circostanti al paese.<\/li>\n<li>4 aprile 1793 \u2013 Don Pasquale Arleo stringe un accordo per edificare un nuovo altare in cui ospitare la reliquia di San Vincenzo.<\/li>\n<li>1 aprile 1821 &#8211; Domenico A. Ottaviano organizza le riunioni segrete dei carbonari presso la taverna di sua propriet\u00e0. Verr\u00e0 arrestato un paio di anni dopo.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April in Craco Vecchio was dominated by the Lenten observance and the celebration of Easter.\u00a0 The work relating to the fields and earth was minimal as the planting was completed for the first crops. \u00a0 However, the activity level at &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/april-in-craco-vecchio\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-craco-vecchio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1201"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8094,"href":"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201\/revisions\/8094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cracosociety.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}