2010-02-17

ANCIENT CARNIVAL IN EUROPE


Carnival is celebrated all around the world. Who doesn't know about Carnival in Venice, Tenerife or Rio de Janeiro...?

But there is another not so well known Carnival celebrated in small towns, some of them very close to us.

Do you know Carnival Celebrations in Zalduondo, Lantz or Altsasu? They are some of the oldest in Europe.

But probably you don't know about the Mamuthones from Mamoiada (Sardinia).

They appear on Carnival Sunday and on Shrove Tuesday. They are dressed in black sheepskin and wear around thirty kilos of cowbells on their backs. They cover their faces with a dark brown wooden mask.

The Mamuthones are usually twelve, to symbolize the number of the months of the year and they dance rhythmically in two parallel lines along the narrow streets of Mamoiada.











But they are not the only ones who wear sheepskin and cowbells. Do you know any of these?


They are celebrated in Greek Macedonia, Zubieta and Ituren (Nafarroa).