Easter customs of the Dubrovnik region

Description:

On Palm Sunday people of faith in the Dubrovnik region go to the church where olive twigs and finely plaited palm leaves are taken for blessing. Easter symbolises the awaking of nature, when plants bud and blossom, and when new life is born. That is why eggs became the universally accepted symbols of the newly awaked life with good reason. They say that at Easter the dearest person is presented with the first painted egg. It is thus not surprising that the main motif on many of the painted eggs is heart. People took a good care when choosing the person whom they will present with the egg, because the gesture symbolised love, friendship and commitment.
The customs of the Dubrovnik region are diverse, original and deep-rooted in the tradition, as is the case with Easter. Easter symbolises the awaking of nature, when plants bud and blossom, and when new life is born. That is why eggs became the universally accepted symbols of the newly awaked life with good reason. On Palm Sunday people of faith in the Dubrovnik region go to the church where olive twigs and finely plaited palm leaves are taken for blessing. The plaited palm leaves are characteristic of the south Croatia. The tradition of palm leaves plaiting has fortunately been preserved not only for the present day, but also for the future, because it is passed on to young generations. On Palm Sunday, after the mass and blessing the twigs are taken to the houses and placed under the crucifix or on a picture frame. Some families place parts of the blessed twigs in every premise of their homes. In the past the twigs were taken to the apiaries, fields and stables. It is believed that the blessed twigs granted good crops, protection against bad weather, and health, happiness and prosperity.
During Holy Week eggs are painted in the old-fashioned way typical of the Dubrovnik coastline and Konavle. The painted eggs are characteristic of the neat and beautiful ornaments, written messages and congratulatory messages which are typical of the region. Although the old egg-painting technique seems to be exceptionally complex at first, the experienced women of Primorje and Konavle deny it. They claim that the more experience you have in painting the eggs the more beautiful they look. Before the procedure begins the necessary articles should be prepared: bark of pine-tree or onion peel which one boiled in order to obtain the paint. The painted water was strained and kept in the pot locally called "kačuo", before use.
The process of preparing Easter eggs is long and demanding. The drawings on raw eggs are made using melted beeswax into which one plunges a needle attached to a piece of wood, most often laurel or grapevine. The "penica" is used for writing the messages and the wax is applied on the egg quickly and skilfully. The painter's art is revealed in the painted ornaments such as fans, hearts, teardrops, flowers, chains, rosettes, stars, crosses, clover leaves, olives, butterflies and chickens. They say that at Easter the first painted egg is given as present to the dearest person. It is thus not surprising that the main motif on many of the painted eggs is heart. People took a good care when choosing the person whom they will present with the egg, because the gesture symbolised love, friendship and commitment. Some of the messages on Easter eggs with which girls presented boys included: „I'll paint the little egg and give it to my beloved", „This egg will be a present to the one who has dark eyes", „Your heart and mine are in love".
The eggs that were to be painted at Easter had been collected for days, because one needed a large number of them for the relatives, friends, guests, particularly for children, young people and old members of the household, as well as for the priest and teacher. To present someone with Easter egg was the expression of love, sympathy, sincerity, cordial friendship, commitment and closeness. On the eggs intended for their children mothers used to write: „This little egg will be a present to my precious baby", while the eggs intended for the friends and relatives included the greetings such as: „Happy Easter everyone, most of all Christians!" On Easter eve, on White Saturday, young girls and female children washed in the water in which flower petals were soaked, believing that their faces would be white, smooth and rosy, their eyes clear and their heads wise. Easter began with attending the mass. On that occasion pinca - traditional Dalmatian Easter cake, eggs, salt, cottage cheese and spring onions were wrapped in a white scarf and taken to Easter Mass for blessing. Honouring the Resurrection the food was eaten at breakfast or family lunch, as was often the custom in Dubrovnik.

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