[ Mar.
2013 ] When we entered Locorotondo, a small town in southern Italy, we noticed the dolls of old women in black hanging in the middle of the streets as you can see from the photo.
I have never seen anything like this, so asked a person nearby.
Apparently, this doll is called Quarandone and being hung for 40 days up to Easter.
And on the Easter day they will burst it or burn it.
This doll symbolised penance and by destroying it, it shows the winning of life against death, joy against sadness and spring against winter.
This is a unique custom of this area.
Interesting, but I am not sure why it has to be old women which represents suffering, though.
Locorotondo is a circular village on top of a hill, very pretty with white houses.
We visited there on the Easter day and the crowd around the main church was surprisingly big.
I wonder, because the new Pope is so popular that people’s religious feeling are more than usual at the moment.
