Église Sainte-Marie de Sartène et le Catenacciu

Sartène

Sartène, which Prosper Mérimée called "the most Corsican of Corsican towns", is built of dark granite above the Rizzanese; its church of Sainte-Marie, with a three-storey bell tower capped by a dome, overlooks the place Porta. Every Good Friday it is the starting point of the Catenacciu, "the chained one", reputed to be the oldest procession in Corsica: heir to the medieval flagellant confraternities and revived by Tuscan Franciscans, it is said once to have been held on 14 September before being attached to the Passion. A man in a red robe and hood, barefoot, drags an oak cross of some thirty kilos and a chain of some fifteen kilos through 1,800 metres of alleyways, falling three times as Christ did on the way to Golgotha. His identity is known only to the parish priest, protected by the seal of the confessional; he must have made a retreat at the Franciscan friary and may carry the cross only once in his life. He is accompanied by a white penitent, who plays Simon of Cyrene and helps him at the halfway point, and by eight black penitents. The crowd answers the chant of the "Perdono, mio Dio" and the lamenti in a town plunged into darkness. The practice is listed in the Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage in France, and tradition credits the Grand Penitent with a grave sin to expiate, though no one seeks to learn what it is.

Wikipédia - Catenacciu de Sartène ↗

Getting there : In the heart of the old town of Sartène, on the place Porta (place de la Libération), 14 km from Propriano. Church open during the day: outside the Easter season the penitent's cross and chain are on display inside. The coordinates correspond to the square in front of the church, accurate to roughly the size of the square. The procession sets off on Good Friday at around 9.30 pm; the town is then sealed off and the lights extinguished, so arrive well in advance.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

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