These days, in Italy, we celebrate Carnevale! The streets are flooded with colorful floats, people wearing all sort of costumes, and kids eating frittelle and chiacchiere. So here's a thread exploring the ancient roots of this heartfelt festivity, and some of its most interesting traditions 🧵 - ThreadSky

ftacchi.bsky.social • 8 days ago

These days, in Italy, we celebrate Carnevale! The streets are flooded with colorful floats, people wearing all sort of costumes, and kids eating frittelle and chiacchiere. So here's a thread exploring the ancient roots of this heartfelt festivity, and some of its most interesting traditions 🧵

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ftacchi.bsky.social•8 days ago

Carnevale lasts for the two weeks (and two days) before the Lent. It's supposed to be the final time to get wild and party before the sombre period of meditation that precedes Easter. But as with many Italian Catholic traditions, Carnevale has its roots in Roman & Greek Pagan festivities.

ftacchi.bsky.social•8 days ago

It's hard to pinpoint a clear origin, but many associate Carnevale with Saturnalia--the Roman festivity where social order is uprooted--and Dyonisiac rites. This connection appears even clearer considering some traditional Carnevale celebrations, which I'm going to share 👇

ftacchi.bsky.social•8 days ago

The most famous of Italian Carnevale-related traditions are undoubtly the Sardinian ones. In the Carnevale di Mamoiada, traditional masks called Mamuthones (left) and Issohadores (right) parade around the town, staging a sort of ritual

ftacchi.bsky.social•8 days ago

The mamuthones "march" escorted by the issohadores, dancing so to ring the heavy bells they wear on their backs, while the issohadores capture with their ropes young women standing in the crowd--a gesture that is supposed to grant them good luck and fertility.

ftacchi.bsky.social•8 days ago

Another, less famous but equally interesting, Carnevale is that of Alessandria del Carretto, in Calabria. Here, masks called Połëcënellë Biellë flood the streets announced by bells and music. They dance and interact using their canes, gestures that are supposed to bring good luck.

ftacchi.bsky.social•8 days ago

Another mask from this Carnevale is "L'Ursë" --a man clothed in animal skin and fur, it symbolizes evil and chaos, and during the festivity it is tied and beaten in a way that is reminescent of the way the ancients represented the myth of creation (Order sprouting from Chaos).

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