The Easter Cart Explodes, the Dove Fails to Return

During Florence’s traditional Easter event on April 1, lo Scoppio del Carro (Explosion of the Cart), part of the Easter Mass at the Cathedral (Duomo), the dove-shaped rocket set off without a hitch down a wire to set off a series of fireworks attached to the cart.  On its return trip, however, the dove stopped and did not return back to the altar inside the Cathedral.  According to popular belief, this means there will not be a good harvest in Tuscany this year.

To see a photo gallery, visit Florence’s La Repubblica news site.

During the Easter celebrations, there was also a drawing to determine the program of this June’s Calcio Storico:  for the first semifinal, the Azzurri of Santa Croce will face off against Rossi of Santa Maria Novella on June 9; the Bianchi of Santo Spirito will compete against the Verdi of San Giovanni during the second semifinal scheduled on June 10.