Discover the snake festival in Cocullo, a strange festival that takes place in the Abruzzo region, Italy.
Every year, first Thursday of May , takes place an unusual festival in a small town in the Abruzzo region.
Saint-Dominique Festival may seem rather quiet until one realizes that it is a real nest of snakes. One of the strangest festivals of Italy , Processione dei Serpari , is celebrated in the small hamlet abruzzo Cocullo where a statue San Domenico (protective against snake bites) is adorned with jewels, notes and live snakes. The statue is then carried through the village, while snakes roll around it and its porters. After a mass on the market square, reptiles are released into the forest, leaving the villagers away from snake bites for a new year.
The village of Cocullo – Flickr – Mario Aielli
The festival has a wide variety of names, including the Cocullo Snake Festival , the F summer snake charmers or even Festival de la Saint-Dominique .
It has airs of Adventurers of the lost ark except that these snakes do not bite. About six weeks before the procession, March 19 (day of St Joseph), the serpari de Cocullo (the charmer or snake master) begins to capture snakes in the vicinity of the village. The snakes are not poisonous, but their teeth are anyway removed. They are then treated as pets until their great day on the statue.
Flickr – trebbyeah
The festival is not a celebration of snakes in itself, but a commemoration of the day of the Holy Dominique, the saint of the village, which purified the region of the poisonous snakes in the 11th century.
In the morning of the procession, the village is animated at 8am. Since Saint-Dominique is also the protector against toothache, there is a less important ceremony in the church where people ring a bell by pulling the rope with their teeth, thus ensuring good dental health for the year.
Flickr – Federico Soffici
The festivities actually start around 10:00, and the famous procession begins at noon . The behavior of the snakes during the parade is studied as a harvest: if they roll around the head of the statue, it promises a good year. If they crawl to our arms, misfortune to us. Centuries ago, the snakes were cooked and eaten at the end of the procession. Today they are released into the forest, where their teeth will push back for another year. Instead, a sweet bread in the shape of a coiled snake is offered to you, and it may be a little more appetizing.
Stay in Cocullo
Cocullo owns few hotels but it is possible that there is little room. Know that you can go by bus from Sulmona (40 minutes) and by train from Thisno (35 minutes).
Note that once the snakes have been released into the forest at the end of the procession, you may want to avoid exploring the forest, even if the snakes will not be of any danger...
Where is Cocullo?
Cocullo, il paese dei serpari – © Ra Boe / Wikipedia
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