The Varia di Palmi is a Catholic

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

that takes place on the last Sunday of August, in

Palmi Palmi may refer to: People Given name Palmi is an Icelandic male given name. Notable people with this surname include: * Pálmi Gestsson (born 1957), Icelandic actor and voice actor * Pálmi Gunnarsson (born 1950), Icelandic musician * Pálmi Ha ...

, Italy, in honor of the city's patron saint and protector, the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

, known as Our Lady of the Sacred Letter. The event is the most important festival in the

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

region. The ''Varia'' is a huge holy wagon that represents the

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...

and the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Above the sacred chariot, 200 "mbuttaturi" (carriers) carry 16-meter tall human figures: "Animella" (child representing the Virgin Mary) and human figures representing "Padreterno" God, the

apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

, and angels. The entire structure weighs 20 tons. The event includes a procession the day before, displaying the painting of "Our Lady of the Sacred Letter" and the shrine of the " sacred hair". The event is part of a network of " Celebrations of big shoulder-borne processional structures", inserted in 2013 in the list of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness of intangible cultural heritage and encourage local communities to protect them and t ...

. In addition, the Istituto Centrale per la Demoetnoantropologia ("Central Institute of Demoethnoanthropology") in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

cataloged the event as "intangible heritage" of the regions of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

. Palmi organizes the festival under the patronage of the

Province of Reggio Calabria The Province of Reggio Calabria ( it, Provincia di Reggio Calabria) was a province in the Calabria region of Italy. It was the southernmost province in mainland Italy and is separated from the island of Sicily by the Strait of Messina. The capital ...

and religious institutions. The origins of the festival date back to 1582, when the

Senate of Messina The Senate of Messina was an ancient city institution, emblem of the privileges enjoyed by the city of the strait from the 15th to the 17th century. The civic assembly, to which the members of the city nobility belonged, but also of the neighbori ...

gave a hair of the

to the town of Palmi, in gratitude for the aid provided to the Sicilian town during a plague. As a result of this gift, Palmi Messina imported the tradition of celebrating the Assumption of Mary with a votive chariot that represents the event. Since 1900, the ''Varia'' has had several awards, including the cover of an issue of '' La Domenica del Corriere'', a postage stamp produced by

Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato The Italian Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS) (State Mint and Polygraphic Institute), founded in 1928, is situated at the via Salaria 691 in Rome. As well as producing coins, passports, and postage stamps for Italy, it serves the mic ...

and combined with a national lottery. The event has been the subject of documentaries and profiles broadcast on Rai 3 (2009) and

Rete 4 Rete 4 (in English Network 4) is an Italian free-to-air television channel operated by Mediaset Italia and owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. Presently the director is Sebastiano Lombardi. Programs TV Programmes (currently) Rete 4's strength ...

(2006), as well as live broadcasts on local stations and satellite.

Photo gallery

File:Icona Madonna della Sacra Lettera di Palmi.jpg, The icon of Our Lady of the Sacred Letter File:Reliquario nella teca.jpg, The Shrine of the Sacred hair File:Varia di Palmi del 1938.png, The Varia di Palmi 1938 File:Varia di Palmi 2013 - 001.jpg, The Varia di Palmi 2013 File:Varia di Palmi 2013 - 003.jpg, The Varia di Palmi 2013 File:Varia di Palmi 2013 - 004.jpg, The Varia di Palmi 2013 File:Varia di Palmi 2013 - 002.jpg, The Varia Palmi 2013 arrival in the square File:Varia in piazza 2013.jpg, The Varia Palmi 2013 arrival in the square

References

* Giuseppe Maria Viscardi e Paule Lerou, ''Popular piety in Italy, Calabria Volume I'', ed. Letouzey & Ané, Paris 1996. *Lovecchio Francesco, ''The Varia – history and tradition'', ed. GolemSoftware, 2000 –

External links

History of Varia di Palmi
{{coord, 38, 22, N, 15, 51, E, display=title Palmi Italian traditions Festivals in Italy Tourist attractions in Italy Catholic devotions Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity