The Festival of the snake catchers (or snake-charmers) (''Festa dei Serpari di Cocullo'') is an annual festival held on May 1st in Cocullo, Italy in honour of

St. Dominic Saint Dominic ( es, Santo Domingo; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilian Catholic priest, mystic, the founder of the Dominican Order and is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientis ...

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

protecting against snakebite and toothache. Its origins date back to

paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...

and have roots in an ancient celebration in honour of the Roman goddess

Angitia Angitia was a goddess among the Marsi, the Paeligni and other Oscan-Umbrian peoples of central Italy. She was associated in antiquity with snake-charmers who claimed her as their ancestor. Roman interpretations probably obscure her Marsian signi ...

. The festival involves a procession carrying the statue of St. Dominic, draped with living snakes, through the streets of the village.

The celebration and its history

After Mass, the statue of

is brought out and paraded through the streets, completely covered in snakes, followed by the Serpari (a hereditary brotherhood of local snake-charmers) who are also draped with snakes. This festival has

pre-Christian Pre-Christian may refer to: *Before Christianization (the spread of Christianity): **Historical polytheism (the worship of or belief in multiple deities) **Historical paganism (denoting various non-Abrahamic religions) *Before Christ (BC), the era ...

roots and is related to a much older rite, that of the

snake deity Snake worship is devotion to serpent deities. The tradition is present in several ancient cultures, particularly in religion and mythology, where snakes were seen as the holders of knowledge, strength, and renewal. Near East Ancient Mesopotam ...

. In pagan times, the snake-charmers were the priests at the sanctuary of Angitia and the snakes were associated with healing. Cocullo was the territory of the

Marsi The Marsi were an Italic people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus (which was drained for agricultural land in the late 19th century). The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. ...

, known for their magic arts and power over serpents. The festival was nominated as a cultural ceremony to be protected by UNESCO

References

{{Reflist Province of L'Aquila Festivals in Italy Catholic holy days Italian traditions