Good Friday procession in Savona, one of the most impressive in Liguria

The oldest and most beautiful event in Savona, Good Friday procession, falls on March 25th, 2016 and, in this Jubilee year, if possible, it will be even greater than usual. Always a great crowd follows this penitential rite which has been taking place almost certainly since the end of the thirteenth century, admiring the passage of the processional crates on the hundreds of carriers' shoulders.

Traditionally, the procession takes place every two years in even years; it is open by a wooden crucifix, in dialect "Cruxe du Pasciu" (Passion Cross) or simply "Cruxe du Gallu" (Rooster Cross), carrying all the symbols of the Passion (including, of course, the rooster whose singing announced the Peter's betrayal), and is closed by a reliquary containing the Holy Cross relic.

The procession will start at 8:30pm at the cathedral, but the various brotherhoods will be there already by 8pm. It will unwind in the heart of the city, past the Tower and through Via Paleocapa to return to the cathedral.

Savona's Brotherhoods

Savona oratories, built next to the Cathedral on the so-called Priamàr Contrata Batutorum or Contrada of the ten oratories, between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, were seats of brotherhoods and quickly became real authentic centers for social aggregation. Demolished after the Genoese fortress after 1542, the oratories were gradually rebuilt but reduced in numbers, down to the current six. Renovated in 1600, following the principles of the Counter-Reformation, they were then restored and embellished in 1700, when prestigious works of art, including the great cycles of paintings with saints stories, wooden processional, the rich sets of furniture, silverware and liturgical vestments were purchased.

Having survived the Napoleonic storm, which requisitioned seats and goods, oratories were renovated in the period following the Restoration and then in the late nineteenth century.

Brotherhoods and their processional items:

Brotherhood of Nostra Signora di Castello: Christ on the cross dating back to the mid-sixteenth century and probably from Roman school; Pietà by Stefano Murialdo said "the Crocetto" (1776-1838), realized in 1833; Deposition from the Cross, 1795, realized by Savona Filippo Martinengo, It weighs about 16 tons

Brotherhood of St John the Baptist Evangelist and Petronilla:

The Promise of the Redeemer also called "Adam and Eve" by Filippo Martinengo, 1777; Jesus tied to the stake created in 1728 by Maragliano (Genoese school); Jesus in the garden, 1728; Dying Christ made between 1727 and 1738 by Maragliano

Brotherhood of St. Dominic and the Risen Christ:

The Annunciation by Genoese Anton Maria Maragliano (1664-1739), made in 1722

Deposition in the Sepulchre by Antonio Brilla (1813-1891), made in 1866, the heaviest of all processional items: 17 quintals (24 men are needed to carry it)

Brotherhood of SS. Peter and Catherine:

The Scourging and Christ falls under the cross, arrived from Naples in 1623

Ecce Homo, the most recent one, made in 1978 by sculptor Renata Cuneo replacing a seventeenth century case with the same subject (by the Genoese sculptor Gio Andrea Torre) lost during the Second World War

Confraternity of SS. Trinity:

Our Lady of Sorrows made by Filippo Martinengo at the end of the eighteenth century

Brotherhood of SS. Augustine and Monica:

The Crowning with Thorns by Maragliano in 1710; The kiss of Judas built in 1926 by the sculptor Giuseppe Runggaldier