The town of Marsala has been for thousands of years a strategic port for commerce with Africa. Its strategic position and its fertile hinterland have contributed to its prosperity. Worth of mention is the famous locally produced Marsala wine.

The inhabitants of Marsala are creative and laboriousness as is shown by the Maundy Thursday procession, rare in Italy and throughout the world. It has the quality of transforming values and sentiments into popular gestures. It dates back to the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century. It is made up of six groups which highlight the Via Crucis.

The most dramatic part is the one that shows the last tragic moments of the agony of Jesus: the falls, the ascent to Calvary, the crucifixion and the deposition from the cross. The last part represents the "dead Jesus".

The whole procession is followed by thousands of spectators including the faithful and tourists.

The Holy Week

Rarely have religious celebrations such a profound significance like the Holy Week rites at Caltanissetta. Intensely religious, they are richly symbolic of folklore and devotional values, expressing the melancholy of the Passion and the joy of the Resurrection. The rites begin on Holy Wednesday morning with the procession of the Real Maestranza (Royal Workers’ Guild) followed by the small groups of the Sacred Mysteries (the Varicedde) in the afternoon. On Maundy Thursday is the procession of the Mysteries and on Holy Friday is the procession of the Black Christ or the Lord of the town. The maestraenze (workers) are the ancient guilds of artists and craftsmen, who in the past had political and jurisdictional power. Their main characteristic is the highly symbolic value of their gestures expressed in their traditional and funeral dresses. The leader (Il Capitano) dresses, among others, in an 18th century tailcoat. In the first part of the procession he wears silk socks, a black tie and black gloves and carries a crucifix covered with a black veil. Funeral marches accompany the procession. On arrival in the Cathedral there follows the adoration of the Holy Sacrament for pardon. This is followed by a joyous ceremony; the Capitano wears white gloves and white socks while flags of the guilds have the funeral symbols removed from them and are waved in the wind as a sign of feasting. The procession marked by the joy of redemption and regeneration moves on through the streets of the town, led by the Bishop who carries the Holy Sacrament. The Maundy Thursday procession is one of the most important moment of the year. The 16 majestic Sacred Statues (Vare) are sculptured works made of papier-maché. Richly decorated with flowers they exposed in the morning at the old town centre. In the evening they are collected in Garibaldi square where the procession begins and goes on till late at night concluding with the silence of Holy Friday.

The Holy Friday procession is marked by the composure, participation and devotion of the faithful. The small black Crucifix is carried through the town streets. The Vara is carried by the "Fogliamara" (collectors of wild vegetables), who, barefooted, sing the lamintanze (popular religious songs and litanies of the passion of Jesus). The procession is led by the Real Maestranza.