Snakes are the spotlight of an historic spiritual procession held each May 1 that draws 1000’s of tourists to a mountainous village in central Italy.
Every 12 months, villagers wrap a statue of Abbot Saint Dominic in snakes within the weeks main as much as the procession, earlier than carrying it from the church and down Cocullo’s slim streets.
Abbot Dominic (951-1031), also referred to as Dominic of Sora, is the patron saint of snake bites, rabid dogs, and toothaches and lived within the area across the 12 months 1000.
Thousands of tourists flock from all around the peninsula and even overseas, to hitch the procession alongside a number of hundred locals.
The procession marks a uncommon peaceable interplay between snakes and people, who usually hunt and kill the reptiles regardless of being a protected and declining species.
In the weeks main as much as the procession, so-called Serpari, women and men educated from era to era, search the mountains for snakes and hold them of their properties till the large day.
The snakes are launched in the identical place the place they have been discovered on the finish of the patron saint’s day.
This time-honoured custom can be a method of monitoring the inhabitants and well being of snakes within the area.
According to a recent research by the University of Bari in southern Italy, learning snake behaviour might assist scientists predict earthquakes.
