Cocullo is a small town in the Aquila area, nestled in the mountains, between the Peligna Valley and Marsica, and has become famous because every year, at the beginning of May, the Festival of the Serpari is held there, in honor of Saint Dominic Abbot, who, according to tradition, is the protector of people from venomous and rabid animals.
Every first Thursday in May (since 2012 on May first), the statue of the saint, around which cervoni of all sizes (harmless snakes caught in the surrounding countryside) coil, parades through the streets of the town among songs and prayers, followed by a large procession of the faithful, and under the eyes of curious people from all over the world.
In its simplicity, the ceremony has a very strong visual and emotional impact, perpetuating for centuries a ritual in which religious and pagan elements mix. The snakes that do not find a place on the statue “parade” carried in arms by the inhabitants, who begin to catch them already in the weeks before the festival.
