Holy Week in Vicari

The Holy Week of Vicari

In the heart of inland Sicily, where the road connecting Palermo to Agrigento climbs through almond and olive groves at an altitude of about 700 meters, the small town of Vicari preserves one of the most authentic expressions of Sicilian popular religiosity. Dominated by the remains of the Arab-Norman castle documented as early as 881, the village of Torto, in the Province of Palermo, transforms Holy Week each year into a collective journey of faith involving the entire community, its brotherhoods, and its ancient churches.

A rite that spans the centuries

Like most Holy Week rites in Sicily, the one in Vicari has its roots in the devotional tradition introduced during the Spanish era and guarded for centuries by local brotherhoods. The confreres, with their penitential robes and symbols, are the true protagonists of a choral representation that evokes the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ, marked day by day between the Mother Church, built around 1200 with its three-nave plan, and the Church of San Vito, dating back to the mid-sixteenth century.

The program of rites

• Palm Sunday: The blessing of the palms in the square of the Church of San Vito opens the week, followed by the procession to the Mother Church for the solemn mass.
• Holy Wednesday: In all churches, the setting up of the "sepulchres" begins, with altars decorated with fresh flowers, plants, the traditional "lavureddi" (wheat sprouts grown in the dark), and numerous lit candles.
• Maundy Thursday: At 7:00 PM, the solemn mass with the washing of the feet; afterwards, the confreres participate in the "Cena", a ritual meal consisting of lettuce, almond paste lambs, citrons, dinner breads, and oranges. Visits to the sepulchres follow.
• Good Friday: From the morning, the brotherhoods gather wearing willow crowns; in the afternoon, the adoration of the cross at San Vito and the Mother Church; in the evening, the solemn procession of the Sorrowful Mother and the urn of the dead Christ through the streets of the village.
• Holy Saturday: Adoration in the Church of San Vito and Resurrection masses.
• Easter Sunday: The festive procession of the Risen Jesus and the solemn mass in the Mother Church.

Between faith and landscape

What makes the Holy Week of Vicari special is the fusion of religious fervor and the setting of the village: the processions wind along the alleys and stairways of the historic center, in the shadow of the castle rock, in an atmosphere suspended in time. It is a precious opportunity to discover a less-traveled corner of inland Sicily, far from tourist routes, where tradition is still lived by the community as a living part of its identity.

Notes on the 2026 edition

The Holy Week of Vicari is renewed every year following the liturgical calendar: in 2026, Easter falls on April 5, with Palm Sunday on March 29. The detailed program of the rites is usually released by the parish and the Municipality in the weeks preceding Easter; at the moment, the official calendar for the 2026 edition has not yet been published.