Zvončari

This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Croatian. (October 2015) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Croatian article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Croatian Wikipedia article at [[:hr:Zvončari]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|hr|Zvončari}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Annual carnival bell ringers’ pageant
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
Zvončari at the Rijeka Carnival
Country	Croatia
Reference	243
Region	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	2009 (4th session)

Zvončari ("bellmen") is the characteristic folk custom maintained in the region around Rijeka, Croatia. It was added to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.^[1]

The custom dates to Slavic pagan antiquity and remains typical for this region. The primary task of Zvončari is to scare away evil spirits of winter and to stir up new spring-time cycle. During the Rijeka Carnival, Zvončari march from village to village throughout the region, following the same centuries-old route, making an extraordinary amount of noise, fueled in part by the wine provided by the locals en route.

Description[]

Mask

The standard Zvončar costume includes white trousers, striped shirt, and a sheepskin throw. In their hands they hold a "balta" or "bačuka" - a stylized mace, and around the waist one or more big brass bells. The costume varies from village to village; for example, Zvončari of Halubje and  [hr] (Dondolaši) wear special stylized masks representing fantastic animal heads, while Zvončari of Žejane and  [hr] wear "flower hats". Local legend claims that it was the Zvončari that scared away invading Tatars or Turks during the Ottoman conquest, with shepherds doning masks on their heads, along with belted-on bells, produced a deafening noise that scared the enemy away. From that time on, a mace became part of the standard equipment of Zvončari.

The Zvončari participate regularly in the international Rijeka Carnival.

See also[]

• Busójárás
• Kurentovanje
• Pre-Christian Alpine traditions
• Rijeka carnival

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zvončari.

• Zvončari of Halubje
• Dondolaši of Grobnik
• Rijeka Carnival

This Croatia-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

• v
• t