It represents the moving moment when Christ is taken down from the cross and entrusted to the arms of His Mother. Since the 18th century, the Serradifalco community has staged this biblical episode with a unique ritual: on the churchyard of the Church of Calvary, men in black costumes and red cloaks perform the “scinnenza,” delicately lowering the wooden simulacrum, as if afraid of breaking that wooden body which symbolizes the sacred flesh. Punctuating the slow movement, drums and trumpets echo a funeral march, while burning torches light up the faces of the confreres and the crowd gathered in a silence heavy with sorrow.
In the days leading up to it, through the streets of the town, the Real Maestranza and the “Viaggiu di li Mastri” take place – processions of craftsmen in mourning who prepare the urn for the exit of the Dead Christ. But it is in the “Scinnenza” that tradition reaches its greatest emotional intensity, transforming the ancient stones of Calvary into a stage steeped in faith and history.
For visitors wishing to experience something authentic, the Good Friday procession in Serradifalco is an extraordinary opportunity to see how a small Sicilian inland village keeps alive, between myth and devotion, the memory of a rite that for centuries has spoken to the hearts of the faithful.