Calabria: in Badolato the pathos of the 'Cumprùnta' and the sweetness of cuzzupe

The medieval village of Badolato, overlooking the Ionian Sea, experiences a Holy Week full of seventeenth-century symbolism. The urban fabric becomes a theatre for the local confraternities, custodians of penitential rites of extreme rigour. The moment of greatest spiritual tension occurs between Good Friday and Holy Saturday with the Procession of the Sorrowful Mysteries, where the figure of the 'disciplinari', hooded penitents who practice self-flagellation as a sign of expiation, stands out. But sorrow gives way to glory on Easter Sunday with the 'Cumprùnta': the spectacular encounter between the Risen Christ and the Madonna, a liberating race accompanied by the vibrant rhythm of drums and the dancing of banners. The celebration then moves from the squares to the tables, where the 'cuzzupe' stand out. These soft biscuits, whose name of Greek origin recalls the circular shape of the doughnut, symbolise the end of the Lenten fast. Often decorated with hard-boiled eggs, a universal emblem of rebirth, cuzzupe represent the essence of Easter in Calabria: a mix of Byzantine rigour and Mediterranean joy that invites sharing.