We are going to explain how to celebrate Easter in Italy. First of all, the Italian word for Easter is Pasqua and if you are wondering how to say Happy Easter in Italian, remember that you have to say Buona Pasqua.
As you may know, Easter is a festivity celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Holy Week (la Settimana Santa) starts with Palm Sunday, and on this day Italian people usually bring consecrated palm or olive branches into their homes, as a symbol of peace. Then, throughout the week, there are many different celebrations and processions, which include Via Crucis on Good Friday (Venerdì Santo) in order to commemorate Christ’s crucifixion.
The most common way to celebrate Easter in Italy is by taking part in a religious parade and ceremony and having a huge lunch of the most typical Italian Easter food after the traditional Mass on Easter Sunday. On the other hand, on Easter Monday (il lunedì di Pasquetta) it’s very common to have a picnic out-of-town with friends or go sightseeing to enjoy the arrival of Spring.
Italian Easter food traditions
As you might expect, food plays a big part in this festivity. Although Italian Easter food can vary regionally, there are some dishes that you can find on every single Italian table on Easter Sunday, which include lamb, special breads, as for example la pizza di Pasqua, which in spite of the name has nothing to do with pizza but is a cheese bread that you can eat with cold cuts, and of course if you are in Italy over Easter it is very typical to eat chocolate eggs of different sizes usually with a surprise inside, which symbolically represent fertility and life, and also la Colomba, a dove shaped cake similar to panettone.
Do you want to discover more about Italian traditions? Learn how to wish you merry Christmas in Italian.
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