Scoppio
del Carro, or the explosion of the carriage
is held every year in Florence on Easter
Sunday. This festival signifies the Holy
Fire that was kindled using the stone
chippings from the Holy Sepulchre, which
was then used to kindle the flames on
all the hearths in town. Every Easter
Sunday in Florence, a great chariot dating
back to the eighteenth century pulled
by white oxen and paraded around the town
from Porta a Prato to the Cathedral Square.
A wire connects it to the main altar in
the cathedral and when the time is right,
during midday mass, the Cardinal Archbishop
will light a rocket that is shaped like
a dove with the Holy Fire obtained from
chippings from the Sepulchre. Ther coket
would shoot down to the chariot that is
filled with fireworks and would ignite
with a bang to the cheers of the gathering.
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