Celebration of the big shoulders-borne is a professional structure that celebrates four major Italian religious feasts that were founded in 2006.
Italy is home to many Catholic processions featuring large, shoulder-borne structures, but particularly in four historic city centers: A procession of wood and paper mâché obelisks commemorates the return of St Paolino in Nola; in Palmi, bearers demonstrate respect for Our Lady of Holy Letter with a complex processional structure; in Sassari, the Discesa dei Candelieri involves transportation of wooden obelisks as a token of worship; Viterbo, meanwhile, commemorates its patron saint with the Macchina di Santa Rosa (Tower of Santa Rosa).
Known as the Santa Rosa Machine, it is a 30-meter tower that is illuminated with torches and electric lights. This feast takes place every year in Viterbo, on the night of the 3rd of September. Light metal and modern materials like fiberglass have been replaced by iron, wood, and papier-mache. Palmi hosts the Varia of Palmi, a folk Catholic feast in Reggio Calabria, a metropolitan city. At present, the feast is held every year on the last Sunday of August in honor of Maria Santissima della Sacra Lettera, the patroness, and protector of the city. In the past, it often had to be canceled, nearly risking oblivion. Each year in Nola (a metropolitan city of Naples), the Gigli Feast celebrates the feast of Saint Paolino, the patron saint of the city. It commemorates the return to the city from the Barbarian prisons of Ponzio Meropio Paolino between the first and second halves of the fifth century. The event takes place on the Sunday following the 22nd of June every year. A feast called the Descent of the Candles or Faradda di li Candereri (in the local dialect) is held in Sassari (Sardinia) on the same night as the Nativity of the Mother of God (on 15 August).
Sharing in a common project in a coordinated and equitable way is fundamental to the celebration, which bonds the communities together through mutual respect, cooperation, and joint effort. As a result of a dialogue between those who bear this cultural heritage, an exchange network is formed. Musicians and singers play in the celebrations, alongside skilled artisans who manufacture the processional structures and design the ceremonial clothes and artifacts. However, the festivities rely on the transmission of informal knowledge and techniques through the festive communities, which aids in maintaining cultural continuity and reinforcing a strong sense of identity.
References
(https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/celebrations-of-big-shoulder-borne-processional-structures-00721) (https://www.visititaly.eu/unesco/the-celebrations-of-the-big-shoulder-borne-processional-structures-intangible-cultural-heritage-of-humanity-by-unesco) |Subject=Belief, dance, Music, Ritual |Country=Italy |SDG=(11) Sustainable Cities and Communities }}