The festival of the serpents takes place in Cocullo, a little village in the hearth of Abruzzo, on 1 May. The festival is held in honour of Saint Dominic abbot who is particularly revered in Cocullo, but also to Villalago , why is the patron saint of both villages in Abruzzo, Italy.. Every year in May is celebrated in Cocullo an ancient rite, today transformed into a festival sacred - profane . It all starts with the hunt for snakes at the end of March outside the village. According to local tradition, the saint taking off the tooth and donating it to the people of Cocullo, it did result in a faith that came to supplant the pagan worship of the goddess Angizia , protector of the poisons, including that of snakes. In fact Cocullo preserves two relics of the saint: a molar and an iron of his mule The festival begins with the crowd begins to pull teeth with the bell of the chapel of St. Dominic, in the church of the same name. According to tradition, this ceremony would serve to protect your teeth from diseases that may afflict them. At noon, the procession of the statue of the saint, invaded by snakes captured days before, starts from the church of St Dominic and continues through the narrow streets of the historic center. At the sides of the statue of the saint, two girls dressed in traditional clothes, carry on their heads a basket containing five loaves called chamberlains in the sacred memory of a miracle which St. Dominic. These breads are donated, to ancient law, to the holders of the Sacred Image and of the banner. At the end of the festival, the reptiles are returned to their natural habitat. Cocullo, Abruzzo, Italy 1 May
snakes
