Battenti - Images | Roberto Deri Photograpy

Battenti - Images by Roberto Deri It is the largest self-punishment rite in the Western world. About 1300 Christian men and women dressed in white and wearing hoods to hide their identifies beat their chests and strike their backs with spiked metal instruments. White wine is used to soak the sponges bristling with pins so as not to curdle the blood. Another three thousand people stage the 'Mysteries', sacred representations from the Bible, the lives of the saints, the Catechism and Church history, involving youth, the elderly and children. The penitential rite dates back four centuries ago when the 'image of the Madonna Assunta began to be carried in procession during natural disasters such as wars and famines, but the real origin of the rite is still unknow. The event draws also thousands of local migrants, especially from USA, Australia and Germany. "In the last two weeks''- says the mayor Guard Sanframondi, Floriano Panza - our community increases four times with the return of migrants who did not want to miss' event. Some of them return every seven years for self-punish themselves. Today, defying the heat, about 150 000 people - according to estimates by organizers - attended the procession. 130 faintings, caused mainly by the intense heat. Three people were hospitalized.