Misteri of Procida 2024

When I was a little boy, my mother would tell me stories about her visit to Procida during the Holy Easter celebrations. I would listen wide-eyed as she described large crowds moving and praying in procession as they wound their way along the narrow, winding roads of the village. Lights flickering from the candles that the crowds were carrying as they moved in procession up the hills. She described silhouettes of hooded people, some carrying crucifixes and others large statues on their shoulders. She also described a sea as black as coal, reflecting the tiny lights of the island. The memory of these images remained imprinted in my mind, and I knew that one day I, too, would visit Procida during Holy Week. Finally, an opportunity arrived and off I set from Rome armed with a few items of clothing and my cameras.

Photography has been part of my life since my very early years. This love was instilled into me by my father, a passionate photographer. He taught me the basics of analogue photography and the art of printing in a dark room. I see and discover the world through the lenses of my camera. Sharing articles and images on Fuji X Passion is a wonderful opportunity, as I get to do what I love and share it with like-minded people. I also hope to inspire others, as I am inspired by the wonderful work published in this magazine.

My current equipment includes digital and analogue cameras of various formats: both mine and my father’s. Most of the photos in this article were taken with a Fujifilm X30, even though it is now technically obsolete, it still remains my favourite for Street Photography. In some cases, I used a Sony A7C with a 24-120mm zoom, which, although very functional, compared to the X30, is bulkier and heavier.

Procida is a small Italian island, the smallest in the Gulf of Naples, dramatic, with sheer cliffs and black beaches. Deep blue sea borders the coastline of dark volcanic rocks, and the luscious vegetation is dotted with the bright yellow of lemons. A dense network of very narrow asphalted roads connects the many colourful houses on the island with two small villages, each with a busy port and a picturesque waterfront. The surrounding views of the Gulf of Naples: Ischia, Vesuvius, Capri and the Sorrento Peninsula are famously beautiful and have been the setting for numerous Italian and foreign films, including Il Postino and The Talented Mr Ripley.

Holy Week is the period preceding Easter for Catholic Christians and always ends on Sunday, Easter Day. Countless events that recall the Passion of Christ as narrated by the Gospels take place simultaneously throughout Italy. In Procida, for over five centuries, this event has been celebrated, adapting to the historical and social context of the island.

The first series of events takes place in the early evening of Thursday, where the Confraternity of Whites organises a long procession across Procida that includes stops at various churches on the island. This ends with a banquet that is a re-enactment of The Last Supper as well as a final chorus of liturgical songs held in front of the harbour.

The following day, Friday, around six in the morning, the Confraternity of Turchini starts its procession of transporting the statues of the Dead Christ and Our Lady of Sorrows from the church of San Tommaso d’Aquino to San Michele in the upper Terra Murata district (about 1km). From here, the great procession of the Misteri departs.

The Misteri are made up of floats of various sizes with representations of biblical scenes carried on the shoulders of children and adult males along a route of about 1500m downhill, through narrow streets that zigzag from the top of Terra Murata to sea level at the harbour. I counted about fifty floats of various lengths and heights designed and built months before by local groups with the support of hundreds of islanders. Once the procession arrives at the port the magnificent scenes remain on display until the evening – much to the delight of the children and tourists alike. The most beautiful Misteri are displayed in a small museum as well as in various other locations, unfortunately many are dismantled as they are too large to be kept on display.

This huge religious event is filled with metaphors and symbols that add to the mystery and solemnity of the occasion. Here, there are only some: trumpet blasts symbolize mourning, drum rolls echo the heavy, solemn pace of the bearers, long chains dragged by children and adults as a sign of repentance, children from as young as three years old arrive richly dressed in black representing angels in mourning, the Turchini cape is blue like the colour of the Madonna’s mantle as the colour of freedom and light.

On the same Friday evening, a third long procession brings the statues of the Dead Christ and Our Lady of Sorrows back to San Tommaso d’Aquino’s.

My sense of this religious event was that the local people experienced this Holy Week not only as an act of devotion but as an opportunity to come together as a community with a common mission. One could deeply feel the unity of the people on this island, young and old, people bound by a common thread of tradition, culture, history, religion and more importantly, that the following year, these processions and ceremonies would be re-enacted again and again into the future.

I was really happy to have shared this moving and intimate event with the local community. My mother’s story had been held in my imagination for a lifetime, and I was not disappointed, quite the opposite. I left feeling uplifted and happy to have participated in such an important cultural event that takes place in my country, Italy, every year and, in some way, connects me back to a beautiful, creative and carefree time of my life.

Maybe this is really a gift of photography, where we take time to slow down, pause, and discover the world in a fresh way.