The Casazze

The term Casazza is of uncertain etymology. It should, however, be derived from the custom of sixteenth-century Genoese Confraternity of the flagellants or disciplinati to gather (“fare casaccia“) in a common location (often an Oratory) to organize the para-liturgical rites of Holy Week (which, by extension, have taken the name of Casaccie in the Ligurian dialect, and then Casazze in Sicilian). The sources show that in Palermo, between the end of the sixteenth and early seventeenth century, only the confraternities of nationals from Genoa organized the first great Casazze (processions formed by groups of costumed actors representing as living statues, scenes of the Passion, with theatrical gestures and speech). It seems that in 1611 the viceroy, the Duke of Osuna, also took part. It is said that in the first half of the nineteenth century, 1200 people participated (divided into twenty groups) at a Casazza held in Nicosia (Enna) on the occasion of Good Friday.