Scoppio del Carro: Easter in Florence

Yes, this is an Easter tradition in Florence, a tradition that has played out annually over the last 500 years.  Scoppio del Carro is a folk tradition of Florence which a cart full of fireworks and is lit in Piazza del Duomo.  Between 10 – 11 am on Easter Sunday morning, a huge, decorated wagon is dragged through Florence by white oxen from Porta al Prato until it reaches Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence’s historic center.

Following mass, the Archbishop sends a small dove full with explosives lit and is made to run along a cable that connects the choir of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral with a cart positioned outside the church which then bursts into flames.  This custom may date back to the first crusade, from which Pazzino de’ Pazzi returned triumphantly with highly precious plunder: three flints of the holy sepulchre.

Initially kept by the Pazzi family, the flints were used to create the burning of the “new fire”, an Easter symbol of rebirth, which was distributed among Florentine families to light the domestic hearth as a sign of good fortune after having been blessed by the bishop. The flints were then transferred into the church of Santa Maria sopra Porta, which was closed in 1785, and then moved to the church of Santi Apostoli, where they still remain today. The “sacred fire” was loaded onto a cart and taken into the homes of Florentine families. With the passing of the centuries, the custom of “giving” the flames was replaced by the fascinating firework show of the cart and its dove.

(Portions of this article first appeared in “Toscana & Chianti News”)

Tuscan Traveler