NAPLES, THE DEAD FRIARS AND THE LOST SOULS RETURN: BAGPIPES, ANCIENT RITES AND CHILDREN AS PROTAGONISTS OF THE PROCESSION

by Luciano Troiano

Saturday, November 14 marks the eleventh edition of the event, organized by the associations Fontevecchia and I Sedili di Napoli, which opens the Neapolitan long Christmas. The rite of the cascettelle comes alive again, amidst medieval legends, spirituality, and popular traditions of Abruzzo and Campania.

NAPLES – Hooded friars advancing in silence, souls in pain returning among the living, the archaic sound of bagpipes, and children bringing a forgotten ancient custom back to life. Naples is preparing to embrace once again one of the most evocative events on its cultural calendar. Saturday, November 14, 2026, at 10:30 AM, the eleventh edition of the “Procession of the Dead Friars and Lost Souls” will depart from Piazza Dante, a historical reenactment that, through the cult of the dead, renews the centuries-old bond between the popular traditions of Abruzzo and those of Naples.

The procession will depart from Piazza Dante, pass through Port'Alba, reach the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella to continue along Via dei Tribunali, Via San Gregorio Armeno, and Via San Biagio dei Librai, in the heart of Spaccanapoli, ending in Piazza del Gesù. An itinerary through some of the most representative places of ancient Naples, where churches, palaces, and alleys preserve centuries of history, legends, and popular devotion.

For one morning, the historic center will transform into an open-air stage, where the boundary between the world of the living and that of the dead will seem to dissolve. The friars, wrapped in their habits and accompanied by extras in period costumes, will cross the city streets evoking ancient medieval legends, popular beliefs, and rituals that belong to the collective memory of Southern Italy.

Among the protagonists of the 2026 edition will be the bagpipers of Zampogne d'Abruzzo, who will accompany the procession with the sounds of pastoral tradition, whose melodies have announced the approach of Christmas for centuries. A meeting between the silence of the friars and popular music that represents one of the most characteristic elements of the event.

Particular attention will be paid to children from various elementary schools, called upon to reenact the rite of the “cascettelle”, in collaboration with Sii turista della tua città, a tradition that belongs to the most authentic history of the city. Once, on the days dedicated to commemorating the dead, children would walk the streets carrying wooden boxes shaped like coffins, often decorated with skulls and crossbones, asking for an offering for the souls in Purgatory. A sort of ritual begging accompanied by nursery rhymes and invocations, in which religious piety intertwined with the innocence of children's play. This year, it will be the children themselves who give voice and gestures back to this custom, transforming the procession into an occasion for transmitting memory between generations.

At the heart of the reenactment remains the legend of the Dead Friars, mysterious figures who, according to tradition, would return to earth on the night dedicated to the dead to recite the prayers they had denied in life. A tale in which one recognizes the symbolism of the passage between the two worlds, of penance and the hope of salvation. Not coincidentally, in the Neapolitan popular nativity scene, the dead friars are sometimes depicted in the act of crossing a bridge, a metaphor for the soul's journey toward redemption.

The procession thus encounters the Neapolitan cult of the anime pezzentelle (poor souls), the souls in Purgatory, and that particular familiarity with death that has permeated the city's spirituality over the centuries. Not a liturgical celebration, but a cultural reenactment that gives meaning back to gestures, symbols, and beliefs handed down orally.

First held in Naples in 2015, the event has become a traditional appointment that accompanies the opening of the so-called Neapolitan long Christmas, sealing the relationship between two territories united for centuries by the history of the Kingdom of Naples and, later, of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. A shared heritage that survives in legends, customs, music, and forms of popular devotion.

A morning dedicated to rediscovering a common cultural identity, in which it will be above all the youngest who take up the torch of tradition. Because the deepest meaning of the Procession of the Dead Friars and Lost Souls is not only to remember those who are no longer here, but to prevent the memory of a world made of stories, rites, and beliefs from disappearing along with the dead.

As long as someone continues to tell them, those souls will never truly be lost.

The eleventh edition is organized by the associations Fontevecchia-Asi Nazionale di Spoltore and I Sedili di Napoli, in collaboration with Seconda Municipalità, Fantasie d'Epoca, Zampogne d’Abruzzo, Sii Turista della Tua Città, and Base Condor Protezione Civile.

The event is held under the patronage of the Comune di Napoli (Municipality of Naples), Presidenza della Giunta Regionale d'Abruzzo (Presidency of the Regional Council of Abruzzo), Presidenza del Consiglio Regionale d'Abruzzo (Presidency of the Regional Legislative Assembly of Abruzzo), and Comune di Spoltore (Municipality of Spoltore).

Info: 331/6796820

The Procession route