The Processione dei Serpari (the Snake Charmer Procession) of Cocullo (the village of Cocullo in the Abruzzo Apennines, Sulmona province, at 1,056m altitude) is the most extraordinary single living Italian folk tradition and the one whose specific continuity (the annual first-Thursday-of-May procession has been documented without interruption since the medieval period and whose specific pre-Christian origin (the Marsi tribe's snake cult, whose specific deity Angizia (the snake-controlling goddess of the Fucino valley whose specific sanctuary at Luco dei Marsi is documented from the 4th century BC) was absorbed into the Christian tradition through the specific identification with San Domenico Abate (the 11th-century Benedictine abbot who evangelized the Abruzzo mountains and whose specific tradition of handling snakes without harm was adopted as the Christian continuation of the specific Marsi snake ritual)) makes it the most specifically historically continuous pagan-Christian syncretism festival in Italy.
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Processione dei Serpari: What Happens, Why, and How to Attend
What Happens on the First Thursday of May
The specific Cocullo snake festival program (the first Thursday of May, the only day the Processione dei Serpari occurs): in the weeks before the festival, the specific serpari (the snake handlers, the Cocullo villagers who by tradition have the right to collect and handle the specific snakes (the non-venomous species used in the procession)) collect the snakes (the specific four Italian snake species used in the Cocullo procession: the cervone (Elaphe quatuorlineata, the 4-striped rat snake, the largest Italian snake species (length up to 2m), non-venomous), the biacco (Hierophis viridiflavus, the western whip snake, non-venomous), the saettone comune (Zamenis longissimus, the Aesculapian snake (the specific species depicted on the rod of Asclepius, the medical symbol), non-venomous), and the natrice dal collare (Natrix natrix, the grass snake, non-venomous)): the specific snake collection occurs in the specific Abruzzo mountain terrain surrounding Cocullo in the 2-3 weeks before the festival. The specific festival day: at approximately 10:00, the specific statue of San Domenico (the polychrome wooden statue of San Domenico Abate with the specific cobra-like snake in the left hand, the standard iconography of the Cocullo patron saint) is brought from the church and covered in live snakes by the serpari (the specific snake draping: the snakes are draped over the statue, around the neck, and over the arms of the statue, creating the specific visual (the Christian saint statue densely covered in live moving snakes) that is the most immediately striking single Italian folk festival image). The procession then moves through the village main street (Via Roma) for approximately 2 hours, the statue accompanied by the snakes, the serpari (some of whom wear the snakes on their own arms and shoulders), the Cocullo municipal band, and the approximately 10,000-20,000 visitors (the most attended single Italian ethnographic festival).
The Pre-Christian Origin
The specific Marsi snake cult (the Marsi, the specific Italic tribe (the Oscan-speaking pre-Roman people of the central Apennines, occupying the Fucino valley and the surrounding mountains) whose specific religious practice included the specific snake handling as the ritual expression of the divine protection from the snake bite, the Marsi were famous in the ancient world (the specific Roman sources (Virgil, Aeneid VII: the Marsi "snake handlers" described as the people whom serpents can't harm) as the most skilled snake-lovely healers and the most feared Roman auxiliary infantry (the Marsi wars (the Social War of 90-88 BC) were the most serious single Italian challenge to Roman authority before the Empire))). The specific Angizia sanctuary (the specific sanctuary site at the southern shore of the Lake Fucino (the Lago Fucino, the now-drained Abruzzo lake whose specific drainage in 1875 by Prince Alessandro Torlonia eliminated the 155km² shallow lake that the Romans had partially drained using the specific Claudian tunnel (the 5.6km tunnel through Monte Salviano (AD 52)) and whose specific drainage transformed the Fucino plain into the most fertile single Italian internal plain)). The specific Christian syncretism: when the Benedictine missionary San Domenico Abate (born approximately 951, died 1031) established the specific Cocullo monastery and began the specific Christianization of the Abruzzo mountain villages, the specific snake handling tradition of the Marsi serpari was absorbed into the Christian tradition through the specific identification of San Domenico with the snake-controlling power.
Q&A: Processione dei Serpari Cocullo
How do I get to Cocullo for the festival?
The specific Cocullo transport logistics (the first-Thursday-of-May transport): the Cocullo village (population: approximately 280 permanent residents, the most visited single Italian village per capita on the festival day) is accessible by: the Trenitalia regional train from Rome Tiburtina or L'Aquila to the Cocullo station (the specific DIRETTO Sulmona train stops at Cocullo on the specific Roma-Pescara regional line (the Ferrovia Sangritana section of the Roma Tiburtina-Sulmona-Pescara route)): approximately 2.5-3 hours from Rome Tiburtina (ticket: approximately €9-12), the specific festival day trains: Trenitalia adds the specific extra carriages on the festival Thursday (verify the specific festival-day timetable at trenitalia.com in the first week of April). The private car: the SS17 from Sulmona to Cocullo (22km, 35 minutes): the specific Cocullo parking (the specific organized parking area (the parcheggio festival) 500m from the village center, organized by the Comune di Cocullo with the specific shuttle bus service): arrive before 8:30 to avoid the 500m approach road traffic backup that builds from 9:00 on the festival morning.
