The Caremma

La Caremma

The Caremma. Gallipoli people think she is the mother “te lu Titoru” that represents with her huge ugliness and thinness Lent, the period of abstinence and fast. She brings bad luck and is portrayed in a black dress with the spindle and the distaff at her side. People used to hang an orange pierced with seven feathers of capon on her side. This was a kind of calendar and during Lent, week after week a feather a time was pulle out until Easter Sunday. Then, while the bells were ringing to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, the puppet was put on fire.

[Source: Il grande Salento per immagini (Storia - Arte - Cultura - Tradizione GALLIPOLI) Texts by Elio Pindinelli, Published by Il Salentino Editore]