This tradition is known amongst the local Sicilians as the “The Mysteries of the Trapani”. It follows  the transportation of a series of extraordinary full-size wooden statues, decorated with gold and coral, on a wooden structure through the streets of Trapani by the statue barriers created by everyone. Created in the 18th century out of cypress wood and cork, twenty groups of statues each represent typical working class jobs like fishermen and blacksmiths whose representatives are responsible for their general preservation.

On the day of, they are transported and adorned in purple tunics , celebrating the common man’s role in preserving the Sicilian spirit. This carries into Good Friday festivities, with the statues accompanied by local bands and vast numbers of spectators. This continues to progress until around midnight when the statues are returned to the Chiesa del Purgatorio in Via Francesco d’Assisi where they are kept. As one of the most ancient religious traditions in Europe, the Mysteries of the Trapani is proves that Sicily really does have deeply spiritual folk culture that can also cater to tourist interests