Easter in Italy

Easter in Italy (Italian: Pasqua, pronounced [ˈpaskwa]) is one of the country's major holidays.^[1] Easter in Italy enters Holy Week with Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, concluding with Easter Day and Easter Monday. Each day has a special significance. The Holy Weeks worthy of note in Italy are the Holy Week in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto and the Holy Week in Ruvo di Puglia.

Traditional Italian dishes for the Easter period are abbacchio, cappello del prete, casatiello, Colomba di Pasqua, pastiera, penia, pizza di Pasqua and pizzelle. Abbacchio is an Italian preparation of lamb typical of the Roman cuisine.^[2][3] It is a product protected by the European Union with the PGI mark.^[4] Eating lamb at Easter has a religious meaning; in particular, eating lamb at Easter commemorates the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.^[5] Colomba di Pasqua (English: "Easter Dove") is an Italian traditional Easter bread, the Easter counterpart of the two well-known Italian Christmas desserts, panettone and pandoro.

In Florence, the unique custom of the Scoppio del carro is observed in which a holy fire lit from stone shards from the Holy Sepulchre are used to light a fire during the singing of the Gloria of the Easter Sunday Mass, which is used to ignite a rocket in the form of a dove, representing peace and the Holy Spirit, which following a wire in turn lights a cart containing pyrotechnics in the small square before the cathedral.^[6] The Cavallo di fuoco is an historical reconstruction which takes place in the city of Ripatransone in the Province of Ascoli Piceno. It is a fireworks show, which traditionally occurs eight days after Easter.^[7]