Sessa Aurunca - Sessa Aurunca

Sessa Aurunca is a municipality in the province of Caserta.

To know

The various monuments and hotel and leisure facilities on the coast of Baia Domizia in the Gulf of Gaeta make it a tourist center and also one of the cultural landmarks of the numerous smaller towns in the area. The city is known for being the birthplace of the Latin poet Lucilius, the inventor of satire.

The name Sessa comes from Colony Julia Felix Classica Suessa (or in short "Suessa"), city belonging to the Pentapoli Aurunca, historical nucleus of the center. It is assumed that the name may derive from the happy position (sessio, that is seat, a gentle hill with a mild climate of the territory called by the Romans Campania felix).

Geographical notes

Sessa Aurunca is the first town in the province of Caserta by territorial extension, the second in Campania after Ariano Irpino and is 44 km from the capital. Sessa Aurunca is located on the North-West border of Campania and the Province of Caserta; its coastal strip is located in the Litorale Domizio a short distance from the Gulf of Gaeta. It is separated from the Lazio, Province of Latina, from the Garigliano river. The city center that gives the municipality its name is located on the volcanic tuff slope south-west of the extinct volcano of Roccamonfina, on a small tributary of the Garigliano. The historic city center is part of the Roccamonfina-Foce Garigliano Regional Park.

How to orient yourself

How to get

By car

Sessa Aurunca is crossed by the state road 7 Via Appia and the state road 7 quater Via Domitiana.

It has connections with the Autostrada del Sole (exit a Cassino, San Vittore del Lazio is Capua).

On the train

It has the Sessa Aurunca-Roccamonfina railway station on the Railway Rome-Formia-Naples.

How to get around

What see

Religious architectures

• Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. Dating back to 1183.  
• Church of Santo Stefano. Dating back to the 13th-14th century. 
• Church of San Giovanni a Piazza. Dating back to the 14th-18th century. 
• Church and convent of San Germano. Dating back to the 13th-18th century. 
• Church of Sant'Agostino. Dating from the 15th century. 
• Church of San Giovanni a Villa. Dating back to the 13th-18th century. 
• Church of San Benedetto. 
• Church of San Michele. 
• Church of Santa Lucia. 
• Church of the Most Holy Refuge. 
• Church of San Carlo Borromeo. 

Civil architectures

• Ducal castle. Dating from the 10th century.  
• Agostino Nifo National Boarding School.  
• Fountain of Hercules. 

Archeology

• Excavations of Suessa. 
• Roman theater of Suessa.  
• Cryptoporticus. 

Events and parties

• Miserere. Every Friday in March. During the function for the exposition of the Mysteries, in the Church of S. Giovanni a Villa, later in the night, along the deserted streets of the historic center, and finally on Good Friday during the unfolding of the Procession of the Mysteries, the "Song of the Miserere ", a musical and polyphonic composition of oral tradition, performed in three voices, on the verses of Psalm 50 of David. The singers, hugging each other and placing their heads side by side, give life to a sweet sound like an organ, whose lament recalls Arab or Andalusian lullabies. 
• Holy Week. The set of celebrations and initiatives that take place in Sessa Aurunca on the occasion of Holy Week, with which Catholics prepare to celebrate Easter. It officially opens with the penitential processions of the city brotherhoods, which from their respective churches go to the cathedral for the exposition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

The brothers wear a white habit held at the waist by a belt, usually of the same color as the satin cape; above the cape they wear the mozzetta, of a different color for each brotherhood, on which a coat of arms is placed; the only exception is the habit of the Archconfraternity of the SS. Crucifix, entirely black like the cap, with a belt of the same color and without mozzetta. As a sign of penance, the brothers wear their faces covered by a hood with holes in them at eye level and thus dressed, arranged behind the banner open to the wind and held by the two younger brothers of the coven, they proceed in line for two.

In the middle of the procession the cross advances with the spiritual assistant; followed by the dignitaries of the brotherhood, prior and assistants, who precede the faithful who participate in the rite by singing. Going towards the cathedral, after the intonation of the assistant pastor who mentions the first notes of the verse, the brothers sing the Benedictus or Canticle of Zechariah (Gospel of Luke 1,68-79), repeated several times along the way. Once in the cathedral, greeted by the sound of the bells, the confreres after the Eucharistic blessing listen to a brief thought from the priest who accompanied them (or participate in the celebration of mass for the afternoon processions), then they return to their headquarters singing the hymn Te Deum. 

• Holy Monday. According to a shift that is difficult to understand (probably linked to the seniority of the brotherhoods), the Holy Week processions opens the Archconfraternity of San Biagio which has garnet-colored mozzette, and which starts today from the church of the Annunziata, after the fall of the small church of San Biagio along the via dei Ferrari. While the bells of the Annunciation are ringing, the congregates of San Biagio begin to come out, officially opening the processional rites of the Holy Week.

In the afternoon from the church of San Matteo (or rather of the "Prisoners"), located in Corso Lucilio, in front of the seat of San Matteo, the confreres with the green mozzette of the Confraternity of the Holy Refuge leave (also protagonists of the procession on the morning of Saturday santo), which crossing the course to reach the cathedral. 

• Holy Tuesday. On the morning of Holy Tuesday, the hooded ones of the Archconfraternity of the SS begin to move in procession. Crucifix and Monte dei Morti, starting from the Franciscan church of San Giovanni a Villa. These congregates are characterized by the black habit and hood and by the lack of a mozzetta, useless as the hood is very long. On the same hood stands a coat of arms that evokes the crucifixion.

This congregation also organizes the function of the Office of Darkness on the evening of Holy Wednesday, also called the "Earthquake", and the procession of the Mysteries on the evening of Good Friday, carrying the Mysteries of the Passion of Christ on their shoulders by the light of bonfires and singing the Miserere.

In the afternoon, then, the Archconfraternity of the SS. Concezione, which once started from the church of the Immaculate Conception, annexed to the convent. Declared unsafe this seat, the brothers with the celestial mozzetta of the Immaculate Conception were hosted in various churches, S. Stefano, S. Anna, S. Agostino and again S. Stefano; today, however, the procession starts from the church of S. Giovanni a Piazza. 

• Holy Wednesday. On Holy Wednesday, at the last day of the penitential processions, the Confraternity of San Carlo Borromeo is on stage. This congregation also organizes the procession on the morning of Holy Saturday, carrying the group of the Deposition of Christ on their shoulders. It is characterized by the vermilion red mozzette and has its headquarters in the church of San Carlo.

The Archconfraternity of the Virgin of the Rosary closes the penitential rites, starting from the oratory of the former convent of San Domenico. From here the brothers with black satin mozzette reach the cathedral. This congregation was once considered the congregation of the nobles of the city, "of the Lords", and still today it has not lost that consideration.

The privilege of concluding penitential rites seems to belong in past centuries to the SS. Refuge as the youngest brotherhood and therefore the last to arrive in the already existing penitential processions, until the Archconfraternity of the Virgin of the Rosary decided to buy the place from the brotherhood of "prisoners". 

• Office of darkness (Mattutinum Tenebrarum). On Holy Wednesday, when the Archconfraternity of the Virgin of the Rosary is withdrawn, another rite is prepared which takes place in the Church of the Friars Minor in San Giovanni a Villa: the Office of Darkness commonly known as the "Earthquake". This liturgical passage once belonged to the Mattutina Tenebrarum, to that fabric of rites and prayers of Holy Week. The function is articulated on various sacred texts, including the Lamentations of Jeremiah, the treatises of Saint Augustine and the letters of Paul, and on various sermons read and sung in Latin, with the accompaniment of the harmonium, by various readers and singers. The confreres of the SS. Crucifix dressed in the confraternity dress sit in a row on the sides of the altar. In the presbytery, in front of the altar, is placed the "Saetta", a large triangular candlestick (hence the name for the arrow shape), on which fifteen candles burn. After each canticle or psalm, a candle is extinguished successively, leaving only the central one at the top of the candlestick (on the vertex) lit at the end. At the end of the function, the Miserere (once sung and once recited) and the Benedictus (Canto di Zaccaria) sung. As the event proceeds, the church is progressively darkened; only the light of the aforementioned candle remains, which is taken by the master of ceremonies and kept next to the altar for the whole time in which the antiphon of the Benedictus is sung. After the Benedictus, while the brothers recite the Miserere, the master of ceremonies goes away hiding the only candle still lit behind the altar. The Church thus remains completely dark until, once the Miserere is recited with the relative Oremus, there follows a roar that is made by the participants and which symbolizes the reaction of nature to the death of the Son of God. The "earthquake" ends when the candle hidden behind the altar reappears, to announce that the Office of Darkness has ended. What is the significance of this rite? We are in the days when the glory of Christ is eclipsed under the ignominies of the Passion. Judas betrays him, the Apostles abandon him, Peter denies him; this general defection is symbolized by the candles that gradually go out. However, the unrecognized light of Christ remains, to shine some time more at the altar, like Jesus on Calvary. To express the burial of Christ, the last candle of the Lightning bolt remains somewhat hidden behind the altar, while a confused noise reverberates in the Church, which has become dark. They are the convulsions of nature that has collected the last breath of the Victim, the earthquakes, the rocks that break, the sepulchres that open. 
• Good Friday. While the black banner of the Archconfraternity of the SS. Crucifix begins to peek out from the church portal and the band intones the first notes of the funeral march Lugete Veneres, the hooded ones come out arranging in line for two, between the notes of the funeral march. At about nineteen the ceremony begins: the statues are lifted and carried on the shoulders and already from the first steps, inside the Church, the characteristic "cunnulella" begins, a swinging and synchronous movement of the shoulders and of the whole person, which consists in carrying the statue taking three steps forward and two steps back. The black banner, with the insignia of the brotherhood, peeps out at the door of the church, wrapped in a sense of mourning for the death of Christ. Other hooded brothers follow, arranged in a row and with burning torches. The Mysteries begin to come out of the Church with the characteristic cunnulella.

• The first mystery faces the door; it is the representation of the first painful Mystery, that is, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane with the Angel who offers him the chalice. This Mystery is characterized by the mammoth nature of the complex and therefore it is also much heavier than the others.
• The second Mystery reproduces Jesus scourged on the column.
• The third Mystery is the Ecce Homo, that is, Jesus, crowned with thorns, sitting on a stool with his hands tied and with a reed between them.
• The fourth Mystery, recalling the second fall of Jesus, under the heavy Cross, along the way to Calvary.

After the Mysteries, a large cross is carried by a brother on which all the main symbols of the Passion are placed. Following is the Dead Christ lying on a wooden coffin, carried by elderly brothers. The procession closes with the Three Marys, that is three statues reproducing the Virgin of Sorrows and two other women (certainly Mary Magdalene and another person). The Three Marys wear black robes and jewels offered by the people. As a sign of penance, the brothers bring their faces covered by the hood with holes to eye level, and thus dressed, arranged behind the banner and held by two young participants, they proceed in line for two with lighted torches. The procession is followed by a large number of alluttate and barefoot women, who, carrying heavy candles, pray to Christ to grant them the requested grace. The slow, rhythmic, undulating gait of the mysteries is heralded by the lugubrious sound of a cornet which, played by a brother since the morning, prepares souls for the passage of the Dead Christ. As the procession passes, the carraciuni (huge bonfires formed by bundles collected and set up in the various districts where the procession passes); in the meantime, from the narrowest corners of the Durazzesque or Catalan portals of the historic center, the three singers of the Miserere join their heads and raise the plaintive notes of the song. After crossing via delle Terme and the narrow via Paolini, the procession reaches the Cathedral and through via Garibaldi arrives in the square. It then goes to the San Leo district, goes up to Piazza Mercato and then goes down again along Corso Lucilio direct to the Church. The way back is certainly the most evocative, the most touching and romantic: the groups arrange themselves one behind the other while echoing the Canto del Miserere and the Funeral March Vella (named after the author). The procession then tends to return to the church of San Giovanni a Villa. Tradition requires that people eat a menu prepared for the occasion, consisting of fried or stewed cod, tomato and vegetable pizzas, tuna, olives, onions, aged cheeses, buffalo mozzarella, "scagliuozzi" (small triangles of fried polenta), fennel and mandarins. 

• Holy Saturday. The procession of the group of the Deposition and the Pietà, which occupies the morning of this day, is perhaps the most emotionally intense, certainly suggestive is the participation of many allutted women. The group of the Deposition known to Sessa Aurunca with the name of Mystery of San Carlo, proposes the scenic image of Calvary: Giuseppe D'Arimatea and Nicodemus remove the body of Christ from the Cross and deliver it to the Mother, who together with Magdalene and a another character completes the scene. The other group, carried in procession by the brothers of the SS. Refuge is that of the Pietà, simply called theSorrowful and evokes the embrace of the Virgin who collects the body of Jesus. The statue of Christ, unlike all the others, is not made of papier-mâché: it is made from a single olive trunk whose processing is attributed by tradition to the hand of a repentant lifer.

In ancient times the two processions proceeded divided into two distinct processional processions and tradition dictated that they never had to meet, on pain of serious calamities for the city. Since 1968 the two processions proceed unified in a single procession in which the brotherhood of San Carlo with the Mystery of the Deposition precedes that of the SS. Refuge with the mystery of the Pietà. After both processions unify at Via Roma, the great procession begins its path which is similar to that of the Good Friday procession, but with some stops. There are many differences between this procession and that of Good Friday.

First of all, the Mysteries of Saturday are carried on the shoulders of many confreres (about 25 for each mystery unlike those of Friday); the brothers, while wearing the confraternity habit, do not wear the hood down; there is no singing of the Miserere, characteristic of the Archconfraternity of the SS. Crucifix and therefore only of the Good Friday procession; there are no carraciuni (the local bonfires) and not even the camellias (on Saturday there are branches of rue at the base of the statues); there is a smaller presence of dressed confreres and participants in the procession; finally, there is a greater presence of alluttate women who follow the procession as an ex voto (especially the Addolorata). The two Mysteries, after having walked through the streets of the city with a slow pace, "cunnulated" by the Band, who repeated the repertoire of funeral marches of the previous evening, return to their respective churches. In the meantime, the confreres dispense to the participants the votive candles donated by the alluttate women, as well as rue, the acrid-smelling herb that "every evil stuta", and then greet each other with the traditional wish For thirty years. 

Brotherhoods

A fundamental and characterizing role during the Holy Week in Sessa Aurunca it is covered by the ancient brotherhoods, a legacy of past eras. Such congregations, already numerous in the Middle Ages, flourished almost everywhere in Europe particularly in the 16th and 17th centuries. In Sessa Aurunca the origin of these associations is very uncertain and we can only propose hypotheses. The most accredited believes that they are the result of the aggregative-religious phenomenon that developed in Italy in the Middle Ages but also of the export of similar organisms existing in Spain. In this regard it is useful to remember that Sessa Aurunca was for a long time under the dominion of the Spaniards and in particular of the inhabitants of Cordoba (Consalvo of Cordova lived there for many years). Probably these conquerors thought of recalling them in Sessa Aurunca. However, it must be admitted that the city was already very active and offered the ideal background for such an operation; there is evidence, in fact, of the presence in Sessa Aurunca already in the 12th and 13th centuries of religious representations of the passion and creation. Therefore it can be said that the origin of these ancient rites and of the congregations is the result of a stratification and sedimentation of events and traditions of which evident traces have remained in the representation of Holy Week. Six brotherhoods currently operate in Sessa Aurunca, in the past there were at least twice as many, some of which still exist clear evidence.

Archconfraternity of San Biagio

On February 4, 1990 the Archconfraternity of San Biagio was reconstituted. Founded on 12 May 1513, it is the oldest in the entire diocese of Sessa Aurunca. In ancient times it was located in the church of the same name located in Via dei Ferrari, which no longer exists today. Its current seat is in the church of San Eustachio, known as the "Annunziata". It celebrates its feast on February 3, the feast of San Biagio. It carries out its penitential procession on Holy Monday morning. The confreres wear a white robe and hood and the mozzetta (with the cord) of "burgundy" color. The coat of arms depicts a half-bust of San Biagio, owned by the Confraternity, exhibited in the Church of the Annunziata.

Confraternity of the SS. Shelter

The Confraternity of the SS. Rifugio is the youngest brotherhood of Sessa Aurunca, having been established in 1758. It is also called "of the prisoners", since among its charitable and charitable purposes of the past the main one was the assistance to the prisoners. This brotherhood is based in the church of the Vergine del Rifugio. The brotherhood organizes the Holy Saturday procession with the Pietà group and the penitential procession on Holy Monday afternoon. The coven dress is characterized by a white robe and hood, and a "green" mozzetta (with cord). The emblem depicts the image of the Virgin of the Refuge, owned by the coven, and exhibited in the church of the same name. Furthermore, since Holy Week 2005, the confreres, in honor of the Virgin, have restored the ancient custom of tying a rosary crown around the cord, as evidenced by the picture of the Holy Virgin displayed in the church.

Archconfraternity of the SS. Crucifix and Mount of the Dead

The Archconfraternity of the SS. Crocifisso was established in 1575 and is aggregated to the brotherhood of the SS. Crucifix of San Marcello al Corso (Rome). This brotherhood also has a Monte di Pietà called Monte dei Morti, in which the donations and donations that will be used for charitable works and for the support of the congregation are collected and administered. It is the brotherhood that organizes most of the Lenten rites, including the procession of the Mysteries on Good Friday, the penitential procession on Good Tuesday morning, and the Office of Darkness on Good Wednesday evening. Unlike the other congregations, his brothers wear a black robe and hood (with cord) and without mozzetta; while the Crucifixion is depicted on the coat of arms.

Archconfraternity of the SS. Conception

Another ancient Archconfraternity is that of the SS. Conception, known as the "Immaculate Conception". It was established in 1579 and currently has its headquarters in the Church of S. Giovanni a Piazza. It is attached to the brotherhood of San Lorenzo in Rome and organizes the penitential procession on Holy Tuesday afternoon. In ancient times his task was to provide for the funeral of the poor and assist the widows and children of the deceased brothers. The confreres wear a white robe and hood, and a "light blue" mozzetta (with cord). The coat of arms depicts the Immaculate Virgin, owned by the brotherhood, and now exhibited in the Church of S. Giovanni a Piazza. Until a few years ago, the statue was carried in procession by the brothers on December 8, on the occasion of the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Confraternity of San Carlo Borromeo

The Confraternity of San Carlo Borromeo was established in 1615 and has its headquarters in the ancient church of San Carlo. In ancient times it was the coven of artisans and unskilled workers and also the most numerous in terms of number of brothers. It organizes the Holy Saturday Procession, being the guardian of the Mystery of the Deposition of Christ, known for this reason as the Mystery of San Carlo, and the penitential procession on Holy Wednesday morning. The confreres wear a white robe and hood, and a "red" mozzetta (with cord). San Carlo Borromeo is depicted on the coat of arms.

Royal Archconfraternity of the SS. Rosary

This Archconfraternity was established in 1573 and is located in the small church of the ancient Dominican convent of Sessa. In ancient times it was considered the brotherhood of the nobles, "of the lords", as only members of the most important and highly placed families were accepted into its ranks. This coven provided assistance to death row inmates. Organize the penitential procession on Holy Wednesday afternoon, closing the first part of the Holy Week rites in Sessa Aurunca. His brothers wear a white robe and hood, and a "black" mozzetta (with cord). The image of the Virgin of the Rosary is depicted on the coat of arms, and furthermore, in honor of the Virgin, the brothers have the custom of tying a rosary crown around the cord.

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