An ancient bond of devotion and tradition

Visiting Dorgali in spring is always a good idea, and among the many reasons are the rites of Holy Week.

This tradition is renewed every year, preserving the evocative power of a devotional journey that involves the entire community. It begins on Palm Sunday with a procession through the historic neighborhood of Sa Serra and continues with a torchlit Via Crucis on Wednesday evening, winding through the town’s streets.

Good Friday is marked by S’iscravamentu, the symbolic removal of Christ from the cross — a solemn ceremony deeply inspired by Spanish traditions, as is much of Sardinia’s popular liturgy. Townspeople reenact the Passion and Death of Christ in traditional costume, creating a moving and powerful scene.

The rite culminates in a solemn procession as the faithful accompany the body of Christ and Our Lady of Sorrows to the Church of Santa Lucia. The air is filled with the haunting clatter of metraculas and reulas — wooden rattles shaken by children to signal mourning.

On Easter Sunday, the mood shifts with S’Incontru, the symbolic “Encounter” that marks the Resurrection and returns joy to the streets of Dorgali. In this moment of celebration, the statues of the Risen Christ and the Virgin Mary, each starting from a different location, are carried in procession until they meet in the heart of the town and are then taken together to the parish church for the solemn Easter Mass.

Holy Week in Dorgali offers an extraordinary opportunity to experience the heartfelt traditions of the community — far beyond seasonal hospitality — and to witness the deep cultural roots that make Dorgali so unique.