In Dubrovnik we have a lot of interesting customs for celebration this Catholic holiday and the most creative is painting eggs.
Pisanice
Decorated eggs are called ‘’pisanice’’, which on Croatian means writing or drawing and there are different ways how to prepare them for Easter.
Traditionally, in Dubrovnik every household color eggs using natural dyes such as onion shells or berries creating designs by wrapping leaves around the egg before dyeing. The other and more interesting way of painting eggs is with a bee wax which is called penganje. People melt bee wax and carefully paint messages, words or some shapes with pins onto the eggs. After drawing they put eggs into boiling water with shells of red onion to get dark red or brown color.
Interesting fact is that in the past after finishing masterpieces, young girls in Dubrovnik gave their eggs to fiancé to show their love.
Games with eggs
There is a large number of traditional Easter games in Dubrovnik. Many of these games incorporate Easter eggs. The most popular is egg tapping where children knock their colored eggs together. After tapping broken egg drops out, and the winner of the game is the egg which stays intact through all the rounds. Egg hunt is a kind of treasure hunt game where parents hide eggs in the garden or house and children have to collect as many hidden eggs as possible.
It is very important to know and respect traditions and customs. Keeping them alive you give opportunity others to enjoy them.
Author: Viktoria Hezonja
