Easter procession in Taormina BW

by RicardMN Photography

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Easter procession in Taormina BW

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RicardMN Photography

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Photograph

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Good Friday procession in Taormina, Sicily, Italy. BW

The women began gathering at Varo Church late in the afternoon on Good Friday. Dressed in black from head to toe, with a medallion of the Madonna hanging from a royal purple ribbon around their necks, they began final preparations for a Christian ritual that has been performed for centuries in the town of Taormina, Sicily.

In the center of the nave a large icon of Mother Mary stood affixed to a gold leaf wooden table, surrounded by white roses and lilies. At twilight, twelve female bearers would squat beneath long wooden poles attached to the blessed statue and rise as one. Down treacherous steps and cobblestone streets to the doors of the cathedral - the Duomo - they would bear her, where twelve fresh women would step in for the next leg to Santa Caterina church. And so it would go, from church to church, until the sorrowful Mother returned to Varo, where she would repose until the following year's Good Friday procession.

Taormina is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on the Ionian sea, including that of Isola Bella, are accessible via an aerial tramway built in 1992, and via highways from Messina in the north and Catania in the south.

Taormina inspired the naming of 'Toormina', a suburb of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.

The Cole Porter song "Where is the Life That Late I Led" from the musical "Kiss Me, Kate" references Taormina.

A part of the movie The Big Blue (1988) was set and filmed in Taormina, where the main characters take part in the no limits freediving World Championships.

The British songwriter Mark Knopfler evokes the town in his song "Lights of Taormina" in his 2015 album Tracker.

D.H. Lawrence signed his poem "Snake" with the word "Taormina" --perhaps the location of his "petty" encounter. (Descrption from Wikipedia and holeinthedonut.com)

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August 25th, 2019

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