Lentorama 2019: Resurrect My Globe!

Day 18: Croatia

Easter celebrations in Croatia apparently have a more martial tone than you might expect. In Dalmatia, you have žudije, who guard the altar in their church from Holy Thursday until the bells toll for the Easter Vigil mass, at which point they fall to the ground in fear of the resurrected Christ. These guards could be dressed as Roman soldiers, but could also be in more contemporary military uniform or traditional dress. This is apparently a big enough deal that the men (it's always men) who serve as žudije meet in a kind of convention every year.

Another tradition is the firing of pistols called kubura. It's a practice that apparently dates back to the 16th century (this article gives a good description of the history and current practice in one town), and appears to be celebratory in nature. The kubura is a type of flintlock pistol (as seen here) that apparently is Turkish in origin and I'm guessing spread to Croatia during the Ottoman period. 

On the much less aggressive side, it's also a tradition on Palm Sunday to wash once's face in water that has fresh flowers in it, which has been going on long enough that locals also call the day Flower Sunday