I love quirky traditions and I got to experience one last Easter in Florence, and it was a blast… literally! In Italian it’s called scoppio del carro, and in English that means “the explosion of the cart.” 

This exploding cart event takes place on Easter Sunday in the piazza just in front of the cathedral (duomo in Italian). It’s a strange brew of religion, history, and tradition all rolled into one with links to the crusades, Jerusalem, and a political conspiracy. What more could you want for Easter?

A Crazy Cart

It begins with a parade through the city – as do most Florentine events. The focus is on a special 17th century, three-tiered, 30-foot-tall cart called the brindellone which is pulled by two pairs of white oxen with flowers tied to their horns. It’s accompanied by musicians, flag wavers and various people in historic costumes. The cart comes to a stop in front of the duomo, and the cows are led away – out of earshot of what is to come.

A Fiery Feathered Friend

The brindellone isn’t your ordinary three-story, 17th century cart… No, it was actually designed to shoot off fireworks. And, for such a wonderful wagon, you need a very special ignition system. And what could be more fitting for lighting the fire than the dove of peace… with a rocket up its backside.

The rocket dove, called the colombina, sits in its “nest” on a tall wooden post at the front of the sanctuary. A steel cable runs from this post to the fireworks cart and acts as a zip line for the rocket dove. When Easter mass is finished, the priest lights the rocket in the dove’s backside, and it zooms along the wire, through the cathedral, out the door, and into the cart where it ignites a flame that sets off the fireworks. Then the daring little dove immediately zooms back into the safety of the sanctuary.

The firecrackers on the cart start going off from the bottom level and work their way to the top making lots of noise and smoke. This all happens around 11:00 am, so it’s probably not as spectacular as it would be at night, but it’s still an impressive display.

Good Luck

If all the fireworks go off and the dove makes it safely back to its nest on the post in the cathedral, it means the coming year holds good luck for the Florentines. Everyone remembers that the last time the dove failed in its mission was 1966, and that was the year Florence experienced a terrible flood. It killed 101 people and damaged or destroyed thousands of works of art. So, the Florentines are definitely believers, and everyone is rooting for the dove!

It Begins with a Crazy Little Italian Guy

How did such a whacky tradition get started, you might ask… Well, it all began in the 11^th century with a crazy little Italian guy called Pazzino. Why do we say he was crazy? Because of his name: Pazzino de Pazzi. It literally means “a crazy little guy from crazy people.” …Let’s just hope it had a different meaning in those days.

Pazzino was a knight who went to Jerusalem during the First Crusade. It was a time when nobles from all over Europe led armies of men determined to free Jerusalem from the Seljuk Turks who were oppressing the local Christian population as well stopping pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Pazzino joined the troop of a French noble called Godfrey of Bouillon and left for Jerusalem in August 1096.

First One Over the Wall

Being a crusader was no walk in the park, and it took three years of marching and fighting before they finally took the city of Jerusalem in July 1099. This First Crusade consisted of battalions from all over Europe – an estimate of 100,000 troops. And out of all these men, who do you think was the first one over the wall? …It was Pazzino!

It’s said that Pazzino, like the crazy little guy that he was, scrambled up the wall of Jerusalem, clinging on with his bare hands and planted the Crusader flag. This opened the way for others to follow and Jerusalem became Crusader territory. 

Pazzino’s commander, Godfrey of Bouillon, was elected as the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and carried the title Protector of the Holy Sepulcher. Then as now, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was considered a sacred place and was very important to the Crusaders.

In 1101, five years after he had left, Pazzino returned to Florence. He brought back many stories of his adventures – and something else. Everyone’s eyes widened as Pazzino reverently pulled out a small wooden box. He told them that what he held in his hands was something priceless, something that came from the Holy Land, something that had been given to him by Godfrey of Bouillon, the ruler of Jerusalem as a reward for his bravery. 

A Treasure

Everyone held their breath waiting to see what treasure was in the box. Surely it must be a magnificent gemstone or a golden medal. As Pazzino slowly and dramatically opened the box, everyone craned their necks to see. Then he reached in and pulled out… a stone. 

“But, it’s just a piece of flint,” someone said.

“This is not just a piece of flint,” Pazzino countered. I have three of these stones, and they are pieces chipped from the Holy Sepulcher.

Fire Tradition

Everyone was duly impressed and proud to have these holy rock relics in Florence. But there was more: along with his three rocks, Pazzino brought back a special tradition that he had observed in Jerusalem. 

On Holy Saturday – the day before Easter – the priest of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher would come out holding a lit candle which he claimed had ignited miraculously. People would scramble toward him to light their own candles with the Holy Fire. Then they would take the holy flame back home to light their fireplaces and bring blessings to their homes. 

Pazzino declared that each Easter, he would create a holy fire with the three sacred stones and share it with the Florentines. He would make the Jerusalem tradition a Florentine one as well. 

(In an interesting historical note, the Holy Fire is an annual “miracle” that had been taking place in Jerusalem hundreds of years before the Crusaders arrived, and it continues to this day. The Holy Fire has only failed to appear one time… and that was in 1101. Was it a coincidence that that was the same year Pazzino took the flints to Florence? To be fair, there were other political and religious factors involved – still, an interesting coincidence.)

The Pazzi Conspiracy

Pazzino kept his promise, and every year, he kindled the Holy Fire and shared it with the Florentines. And when old Pazzino was gone, his children and grandchildren carried on the tradition.

Now let’s jump ahead about 377 years. It’s the 15^th century, the Pazzi have become a wealthy, banking family, and they are still striking Grandpa Pazzino’s famous flints to start the Holy Fire every Easter. But in 1478, unbeknownst to them, the Pazzi flame was about to be snuffed out. 

Irreconcilable political differences had sprung up between the Pazzi and the Medici families, and some of the Pazzi men tried to assassinate the Medici rulers in the incident known as the Pazzi Conspiracy. Fortunately for the Medici the attempt failed, but unfortunately for the Pazzi, many of them and their co-conspirators were hanged or banished from Florence.

The Medici did their best to wipe the Pazzi name from Florence’s memory. Their name and shield were removed from all public records, buildings, and streets. Everything connected with the family was done away with – including the Easter custom of lighting the Holy Fire with Pazzino’s stones.

Easter Fire is Rekindled

Sixteen years later, in 1494, the Medici were overthrown by the French and any surviving Pazzi were free to return to Florence. One who returned was Guglielmo Pazzi who had not been killed, but only banished because he was Lorenzo de Medici’s brother-in-law. He came back to Florence with his 16 children, became head of the militia, and restored the family name.

Maybe to help people focus on nicer memories of their family, the Pazzi rekindled the Easter tradition of sharing the Holy Fire. They updated the custom and made it more of a spectacle. And instead of people coming to light their candles, the fire sharing became symbolic – by way of an exploding cart. 

Current Cart

A wagon carrying gunpowder would be set alight and there would be an explosion – which relates to the name of the event, scoppio del carro or “the explosion of the cart.” These were pretty much single-use wagons. So, in the early 17th century, the Pazzi family had a new wagon built which was specially designed to shoot off fireworks – without exploding. And that’s the same wagon which is still in use today.

The Pazzi family had been in charge of organizing the Easter fireworks every year until 1859 when the Municipality of Florence took over the responsibilities. This tradition that began with a crazy little knight in the 11th century is still alive and well today and takes place every Easter.

Safety regulations and crowds mean you can’t get very close to the wagon while the fireworks are going off, so go early to get a good viewing spot. And if you want to see the dove rocket, you’ll probably need to attend the Easter service. But if you like unusual traditions – like I do – I’m sure you’ll enjoy every minute of Florence’s Easter celebration.

Happy Easter!

What do you think? Let me know in the comments section below. And if you want to read more of my curious histories, subscribe to my blog (at the top or bottom of this page).

Follow Me on Social Media:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok