Snake-catchers put snakes onto the statue of St. Domenico at the beginning of St.Domenico's processi..,...

Snake-catchers put snakes onto the statue of St. Domenico at the beginning of St.Domenico's procession in Cocullo, central Italy May 4. Snakes are the protagonists of this procession and they bring us back to the veneration of Angizia goddess because they were actually offered to her as a propitiatory act. Afterwards, Cocullo people turned this rite into a religious homage to St. Domenico who, as the legend goes, had saved them from the bites of snake and other rabid animals.The procession winds across the peculiar lanes of the town and its most moving moment is in the beginning when St. Domenico statue is brought into the churchyard and the snake-catchers surround it with reptiles.