Overview

As part of a tradition that goes back centuries, the whole city of Florence congregates in Piazza del Duomo on Easter Sunday for the Explosion of the Cart, a ritual that is believed to bring the city good luck. It starts at Via del Prato, from where an enormous cart carrying fireworks and driven by two white oxen depart for the Church of the Apostoli; there the holy fire is lit and then taken to the Duomo. During Easter mass, the Archbishop lights a dove-shaped rocket that slides out of the cathedral on a wire down to the cart to light the fireworks on fire.