The fulcrum of the religious year, Holy Week is everywhere the period when the greatest number of festivals and celebrations are concentrated.

Somewhere between the religious and the folkloric, the events for Holy Week in the province of Trapani begin as early as PALM SUNDAY, when in Buseto Palizzolo the Stations of the Cross parade through the streets of the town.

ON TUESDAY afternoon, celebrations begin in the city of Trapani: in fact, the Procession dedicated to “Mary, Mother of Mercy of the Massari” takes place.
The Massari are those who, on Good Friday, will carry the living pictures of the Mysteries in procession. The organization of the Tuesday procession is entirely their responsibility.

Also in Trapani, WEDNESDAY is dedicated to Our Lady of the Pieta del Popolo. Her simulacrum consists of two interlocking and opposing paintings: one depicting the face of the Madonna, the other that of Christ.
The procession in her honor, which originated in the early 1700s, is organized by the fruit vendor class.

ON HOLY THURSDAY, Marsala’s Procession stands out for being the only one in which the protagonists of the Passion of Christ are embodied by the city’s inhabitants themselves, in a legacy, still very much alive, of the primordial theatrical performances.

HOLY FRIDAY is the most eventful day.
In Trapani it begins with the ancient service of the “Descent of the Cross”: the statue of Christ, detached from the Cross and placed on a white sheet, is displayed for the veneration of the faithful throughout the afternoon.

On the same afternoon, the celebrations culminate with the famous Mysteries and their ancient living paintings that long and very slowly pass through the main streets of the city.

Not far from the monumental event in Trapani, little Erice also brings its Mysteries to life on the same day, made even more fascinating by the magical atmosphere of the medieval town.

In Marsala, citizens march in prayer along the city streets, following the simulacrum of the Dead Christ and Our Lady of Sorrows.

Finally, on the morning of EASTER DAY Castelvetrano wakes up with the Aurora: the rite celebrating Christ’s Resurrection and his meeting with Our Lady.
Similar rites are also found in Mazara del Vallo and Salaparuta.

These, of course, are only the most important of the many events held in the province of Trapani, the most anticipated and attended, and also the most scenic.

Each country, however, preserves rituals and traditions with an ancient flavor that are an expression of feelings and beliefs whose origins are lost to time and in which religion, religiosity and folklore are mixed.