During the Easter period the streets of the historic village of Mendrisio become an open-air museum.
The large transparents that characterize Mendrisio’s Holy Week Processions are posted and tell the story of a living tradition that has lasted for over 400 years and which in 2019 was inscribed in the prestigious representative list of UNESCO cultural intangible assets .
Considering how the values of the Processions are presentable and transmissible throughout the year and how important it is to have guides trained and aware of the unique elements that have allowed the Processions to be chosen by the Confederation to be candidates for the UNESCO list, there Historical Processions Foundation andOTR del Mendrisiotto and Basso Ceresio have decided to propose to the Association of Guides of Italian Switzerland (GUIDE SI) to participate in a two-day training course, conducted by the art historian Anastasia Gilardi and by his brother Jacopo Gilardi, restorer and professor SUPSI.
The GUIDE SI Association boasts a long experience and supports the professionalism of the people trained to present the beauties of the Canton of Ticino, from all points of view and has welcomed the proposal of this new formation with great pleasure.
The 10 professional guides who participated are now ready to introduce visitors to the discovery of this living tradition and the pictorial technique with which the large translucent paintings, one of a kind, were created.
This first course represents a further step in the innovations that the Foundation and the OTR are introducing to make this UNESCO cultural intangible asset increasingly known and appreciated within, as well as outside the Canton of Ticino.
Participants of the guided tours will be able, in a rich and exciting experience, to better understand the value of the tradition that has allowed the Mendrisio Holy Week Processions to come to this day.
The visit also includes the Museo del Trasparente, opened in 2017 at Casa Croci. The Museum offers the opportunity to observe closely the precious objects, the peculiar technique of execution and to better understand the various types that characterize this unique decorative display.
The transmission of a living tradition, of knowing how to do, as well as the transmission of the values that make a tradition included in the representative list of UNESCO cultural intangible assets, such as the Processions of the Holy Week of Mendrisio, unique and therefore particularly precious. .
In addition to the visits of these guides, there are two more organized in collaboration with the Courses for Adults and Anastasia Gilardi. The complete offer therefore includes:
- Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 April 2022 from 18.45 to 21.30 in collaboration with Corsi per Adulti
With a visit to the Museo del Trasparente and a walk through the streets of Mendrisio, art historian Anastasia Gilardi will lead you on a discovery of the values that have enabled the Processions to be on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
- Thursday 14 and Friday 15 April 2022 from 17.30 to 19.30, in collaboration with GUIDE SI and offered by Mendrisiotto Turismo
The guided tours accompanied by a professional guide last about 2 hours and also include a visit to the Museo del Trasparente. The visits are in Italian and German. Free visits.
- Holy Week, from Wednesday 13 to Sunday 24 April at 10.00 and 14.00 in collaboration with GUIDE SI
Guided tours accompanied by a professional guide last about 2 hours and also include a visit to the Museo del Trasparente.
For more information and to register, please visit the website www.processionimendrisio.ch
