RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
Land of beliefs, the Pays Bastiais lives at the rhythm of its cultural traditions anchored for centuries. Celebrated by processions in the light of torches, rhythmed by sacred songs of the brotherhoods, the high points of religious and popular communion bear witness to the fervour of Corsican society.
It is a space of perennial cultures and traditions rooted for centuries. Throughout the year, religious celebrations punctuate the life of the Bastia Country. Through processions through the streets, punctuated by the polyphonic and sacred songs of the brotherhoods, each town and village perpetuates, through the celebration of their patron saints, these centuries-old traditions which constitute the backbone and forge the fervour of Corsican society.
From Saint-Joseph to Saint-Jean-Baptiste, passing by Saint-Antoine, the Black Christ of Miracles and Sainte-Marie, Bastia has erected itself at the height of Corsican spirituality by draining thousands of faithful into the footsteps of its brotherhoods of penitents at each celebration.
Guarantors of the rituals that are attached to them, these associations composed of lay people around the Church, have for decades revived celebrations and worship practices long buried under the dust of the past. By creating unique moments of devotion in the Mediterranean basin, they participate in the enhancement of services by bringing religion to life in all its intensity.
The highlight of this fervour, Settimana Santa (Holy Week), is marked by numerous celebrations, taking crowds of the faithful to visit the rest houses arranged in the Bastia oratories in cathedral silence.
In each village, the centuries-old rites of the Cerca, the Granitula and the Parata, emblematic processions of Good Friday, constitute powerful moments of religious and popular communion that make the Bastian Country a true land of beliefs.
