Scoppio del Carro: An Easter Explosion
As we enter into spring many of you have started to hear about the Florentine tradition of the Explosion of the Cart that takes place every year on Easter Sunday.The Explosion of the Cart, or the Scoppio del Carro, is an exciting event unique only to Florence. The Scoppio has a nine hundred year old history, dating back to the first crusade where Pazzino de’ Pazzi, a native Florentine soldier, was one of the first to climb Jerusalem’s walls. Because of his bravery, his commander honored him with stones from the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. After his return back home, he began lighting a holy fire with these stones every Easter, and the fire would be carried throughout the city.
Slowly, the tradition began to metamorphise into what it is today. During the 1300s the Florentines constructed a lavish cart to carry the holy flame from Santi Apostoli (where the stones are still held) to the Duomo. Then, in the early 1500s, the tradition evolved once again when the bishop would light a dove shaped rocket, the colombina, that would be released from across to the piazza and into the cart which was no longer just holding the flame, but filled with fireworks. In the 1800s the cart was revamped and enlarged to a 30 foot tall structure, divided into four seperate compartments. On the top of the cart would be a poor man dressed as St. John the Baptist, Florence’s patron saint, who would pass out goodies to the crowds.
Nowadays the tradition has remained largely unchanged. The fire is still lit with the original stones from the Holy Sepulchre at the Church of Santi Apostoli. From the fire a candle is lit and then carried on the cart pulled by two white oxen from Porta a Prato and ending at the Piazza del Duomo. Once the procession reaches the Piazza del Duomo, the archbishop and several city officials enter the cathedral. Once the Gloria begins the rocket is lit and the pyrotechnic show begins.
This year the Scoppio del Carro is Sunday, the 8th of April at 11 am. Go early for a good view!
by Susan D’Inverno