1. History

2. Vodice
     Festival of Žudije  

3. References

Tradition begins on Holy Thursday when Žudije approach the altar where they stand guard and take shifts until Easter Vigil at midnight (night between Holy Saturday and Eastern Sunday) when they fall to the ground upon hearing bells announcing the resurrection of Christ during the Holy Mass. A Žudija can be a young man who has received all the sacraments and serves as an example in his town.^[3][4]

History

Tradition in Croatia was first documented in Metković (then Austria-Hungary), in the beginning of the 19th century as it was brought there by Ante Gluščević from Italian town of Loreto and subsequently it spread all over the Neretva basin eventually ecompassing large part of Dalmatia. First Žudije were established in 1857 in Parish of Saint Elias in Metković which makes them the oldest association of a kind.^[1] In 2007 they celebrated the 150 anniversary of their existence.^[5]

Over the time, each parish has introduced their own customs so that today these traditions differ in their specifics depending on a parish. One of the oldest groups of Žudije comes from the little town of Tisno where this tradition has also been cherished for more than 150 years.^[6] Worth mentioning are also Žudije from Vrlika where this tradition is cherished not only by local Catholics, but Orthodox minority as well.^[7]

Vodice

Arguably the most popular Žudije come from the coastal town of Vodice where it became tourist attraction and the city's most recognizable brand which is known even outside Croatia. Children from the kindergarten in Vodice are also dressed in Roman uniforms and guard the tomb of Christ on a Good Friday before being involved in traditional Eastern breakfast organized by the Tourist board of the town.^[6][8]

Festival of Žudije

In attempt to preserve this tradition Žudije from Vodice have been organizing the meeting of a large number of their groups from all over Dalmatia since 2001 which they initially named „Susret žudija Dalmacije“ (eng: Meeting of Žudije from Dalmatia). As the number of participants increased, the original name has been changed several times and now it bears name „Festival Žudija“ (eng: Festival of Žudije).^[3]

Meetings were held in Vodice until 2006 when the decision was made that the festival would be hosted in different parish each year so the more people have the opportunity to get acquainted with the customs of other parishes. As the place of its origin, Vodice retained honor to host the festival every 6 years.^[3]

References

• Cibecs
• Cibecue Airport
• Cibeet River
• Cibele
• Cibele Dorsa
• Cibeles Palace
• Cibel–Cebon
• Cibemba language
• CIBER (disambiguation)
• CIBER Field at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium
• CIBER, Inc.
• Ciberobn
• Cibes Lift
• Cibicides
• CIBI Information, Inc.
• Cibi Lake
• Cibinda Ilunga
• Cibirhiza
• CIBJO
• Cibla municipality
• Ciblesfalva
• Cibola Burn
• Cibola County Correctional Center
• Cibolero
• Cibolites