Poklad of Lastovo
Poklad Carnival Event on the remote Adriatic Island of Lastovo is unique in the world. On Poklad's (Shrove) Tuesday, the Poklad puppet is sliding down the 300 meters long rope (three times), with simultaneous petards' detonations going on under his boots (this is only part of the final exhausting ceremony which will last until the morning of the following day). The ancient traditional story says that Poklad Carnival Event is celebrated as a memory of an old historical event old more then 500 years. Catalan pirates attacked the nearby island of Korčula and sent a messenger to the island of Lastovo, with a request to surrender. Instead, Lastovo people took weapons, while their women and children went as pilgrims to Saint George church praying for help. And sure enough, the help came as a storm which destroyed the Catalan fleet on its way to Lastovo. After that, the Lastovo people took the messenger and put him on the donkey through the village to laugh at him, and then he was let down the rope and finally burnt.
Size: 3543px × 5315px
Photo credit: © ANDREJ CRCEK / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: balkan, carnival, croatia, festival, lastovo, man, mask, portrait, shrove, tuesday
