The Camiddu of Messina

Originally configured as a skin worn by two bearers, it is now supported by a wooden skeleton which is more rigid. The camel of Messina is the animal on which the Count Roger allegedly rode into Messina after defeating the Arabs, or on which the Normans transported the spoils of war to the town. Some ancient writers claimed to have seen the camel parading in front or to the side of the Vara (the baroque pageant on which the Madonna dell’Assunta (of the Assumption) is carried in procession in mid-August), interpreting it as a symbol of the Nativity. Today, the camel of Messina has changed in the symbolic context in which it had been thought of and it finds itself on the margins of a festive scenery where the Giants and the magnificent Vara of the Assumption stand out more. Its equivalent in Calabria, on the other hand, having adapted to contemporary taste (especially through the establishment of fireworks on his carcass), has a greater role.