After Easter, families all over Italy are ready to honour one of the most important religious holidays of the year. Family lunches, chocolate eggs and a great desire to share a moment of joy. But after Easter comes the equally expected Easter Monday. Angel Monday, known by everyone as Pasquetta, is the day that follows Easter Sunday.

The name is linked to an evangelical episode. The Angel Monday recalls the day in which the women arrived at the tomb of Jesus met the angels intent on announcing the resurrection of Christ. The feast, however, does not have a purely religious character. In Italy, Pasquetta is considered a civil holiday and it was introduced in the postwar period in order to lengthen the period of rest linked to the Holy Easter.