Caltanissetta, Sicily (CNN) — The countdown to the holidays has begun. Christmas markets, mulled wine, ice skating — around the world, on every continent, people are starting to gear up to get into the festive spirit.

But one Sicilian town is already focusing on what comes next: Easter.

Caltanissetta, dead in the center of the Mediterranean’s largest island, is renowned across Italy for its Easter celebrations and parades.

Forget chocolate egg hunts and cute bunnies; think lifesize figures narrating the Passion of Christ in lacerating detail, devout worshippers tramping barefoot through the city streets, and the keys to the city being handed over to a member of the public. In the past, the celebrations even entailed setting a convict free from jail. Sadly, for those currently banged up

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