Sardoal is a village in central Portugal known for its unique traditions, especially around Easter. During Easter week, the village's seven chapels are decorated with different flower arrangements and drawings on the floor related to the season. There are also several processions in the two weeks before and on Easter day, including ones where the village dresses in purple and ones lit only by candlelight at night. Another tradition is a performance by the local theater group recreating Jesus's life. The village also celebrates Bodo Festivities 50 days after Easter every other year, which began as the wealthy sharing meat and bread with the poor. Now it involves interaction and a procession of 20 girls in white representing the civil parishes.

1. Sardoal isa beautiful village inthe centerof Portugal andpeople whovisitit,neverget
disappointed,infacttheygetamazedbyits uniqueness. InSardoal there are manytraditions,
amongthemwe have:Easter festivities; BodoFestivities andAll Saintsday.
The First one isrelatedto Easter and the entire meaningof it. Duringapproximately
one week, the entire communityembracesthe spiritof Easterand get readyforthe
celebrations.
One of the traditionsconsistsindecoratingeverysingle chapel inSardoal (there are
approximately 7chapels) withdifferentvarietiesof flowers,creatingadraw on the floor
relatedof thisentire season.Everychapel hasadifferentdraw formthe othersandalso from
the previousyears.
We alsohave several processionswhichstart 2 weeksbeforeEasterandendEasterday. The
firstone iscalled“Passosdo Senhor”: duringthisprocession,the entire village isdressed in
purple forthe reunionof Jesuswithhismother. The othersare called“ProcissãodosRamos”,
“ProcissãodoSenhorda Misericórdia-Fogaréus”:whichinmyopinionisthe mostbeautifulof
themall due to the fact it isat nightandthe entire village isonlylightenedbythe flame of
several candles.“EnterrodoSenhor”and lastbut notleast“Reissurreição”.
The local Theatergroup alsopreformsduringthisseason amagnificentrecreationof Jesus
Life/path.
Sardoal’s Traditions

2. As we can see,religioustraditionshave alwaysstoodoutinourvillage and “FestadoBodo”is
no exception. Itiscelebrated50days afterEasterand it has one particularitywhichisthe fact
that itonlyhappens2 in 2 years.
Back in time,the richest peopleusedtokill animalsand bake breadduringthisdayand share
themwiththe lessfortunate.Nowadays,the conceptof thisdayhas changeda little asitnow
consistsininteracting witheachother.There isalsoa processioninwhichtake part20 girls
dressedinwhite,symbolizingpurity.The girlshave differentbeltswithdifferent colors,
representingthe differentcivil parishesof Sardoal.Eachgirl carriesa basketwithtwoholy
breadswhichare sharedat a commonlunch.
Last but not leastwe have all SaintsDay.Eventhoughthisday iscelebratedbymany
countries, Portugal hasitsownversionof thisday.Duringthisday people honorall the saints
and childrentravel fromhouse tohouse askingforcandy,cookiesorevenmoneyduringthe
morning.
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