Processions

Antigua Lent Processions: Jesús de Santa Inés

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2011 Jesús de Santa Inés Procession by Leonel -Nelo- Mijangos

The village of Santa Inés is located on the edge of La Antigua Guatemala, to the right of the road that takes you to Guatemala City. I shared with you a photograph of the road taken from Santa Inés on April 1, 2011. I would venture to say that because Santa Inés village is located … Read more

Antigua Lent Processions: Nazareno de la Iglesia de Jocotenango

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2011 Nazareno de la Iglesia de Jocotenango Procession by Leonel -Nelo- Mijangos

North by Northwest, that’s how you get to Jocotenango from Antigua Guatemala’s Plaza Mayor (main plaza). Jocotenango is not a village of La Antigua Guatemala. Jocotenango is a municipality with its own elected mayor and all. Jocotenango is so close to La Antigua Guatemala that when you take La Calle Ancha which becomes La Calle … Read more

Antigua Lent Processions: Jesús de Santa Catalina Bobadilla

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2011 Jesús de Santa Catalina Bobadilla Procession by Leonel -Nelo- Mijangos

First thing first, my dear friend Nelo informs me that on the first Wednesday of the Lent period, also known as Ash Wednesday, the first velación (wake ceremony I believe is the translation for it; correct me if I’m wrong) is organized for the following Saturday at Santa Catalina Bobadilla, which is ALWAYS the first … Read more

Holy Week Generations

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Slowly, but surely the love, devotion and passion for the world famous Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala are being passed on to the new generations. I am glad to know that there will be Semana Santa in La Antigua Guatemala for another 500 years. I believe that Semana Santa is so much more than a … Read more

Girls Procession

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Transference: the action of transferring something or the process of being transferred. With these processions not only the heavy floats are being transferred, but also the culture and the religious fervor. If we delve into the realms of the psychoanalysis, we could talk about transference neurosis; however that’s way too deep and complex for a … Read more

Lent’s First Sunday Procession

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Lent's First Sunday Procession

Sunday was such a great day in La Antigua Guatemala; nice weather conditions and a wonderful atmosphere all around town with people enjoying the processions. The Holy Week aromas could be smelled everywhere. Music, balloons, chupetes, clowns, cucuruchos, town fair food; what a cornucopia for the senses.

If you don’t already have your plane ticket, I suggest you buy now, life is too short to miss Semana Santa in La Antigua Guatemala. 😉

Portfolio Aside: Some of the photos that you see here everyday were turned into high-quality large-format prints to add colorful imagery to the walls of Máximo Nivel Spanish School in La Antigua Guatemala. If you’re interested in getting large format prints from my photographs to add color to your walls or as gifts, please, get in touch with me. Of course, you can also purchase 8″x10″ and 11″x14″ high quality prints from the Buy photos page. If you want to keep up with all the places where the AntiguaDailyPhoto images show up, check the Portfolio page regularly.

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The Procession Season Is Officially Open

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The Procession Season Is Officially Open

This entry should be called “ephemerides updates” because there several events that happened this week. On Tuesday, kids everywhere celebrated carnaval, carnival, by breaking cascarones on the heads of their peers. Next, on Wednesday, the beginning of Cuaresma, Lent, was marked by the celebration of Ash Wednesday; there were many people with an ash cross painted on their foreheads. On the very same Wednesday, there were velaciones (please help translate this word) ceremonies. Of course, with the Lent season also comes the procession season. There were small processions during the weekdays and the usual large processions on the weekend. Needless to say, it was a very busy week in La Antigua Guatemala.

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Holy Week: Processions

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It doesn’t matter if the processions in the villages and communities around La Antigua Guatemala are more authentic, more kitsch and with less finances behind them; at least once in your lifetime you must come to Antigua Guatemala to see the massive and numerous processions during the Holy Week or Semana Santa as it’s known … Read more

Holy Week: The Float’s Pilot

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Interestingly enough, Erick was commenting yesterday how impressive was to see the massive float make a U-turn as he was watching the 5-minute video of the following of a Semana Santa procession. Well, I said interesting enough because I had planned to publish a photo of the huge float’s pilot, the cucurucho you see wearing … Read more

Holy Week Precessional Music

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The Holy Week in Guatemala is a full five senses overwhelming experience. As you follow the processions all five senses are bombarded with maximum stimuli and you are carried into a mystical experience. It is so difficult to convey these feelings when I am only presenting you with static photographs. But you are going to … Read more

The Return of Kitschy Broom-head Romans

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Last year, on March 15th, I first introduced you the Broom-head Romans soldiers; I believe it was Domingo de Ramos or Palm Sunday as it is known in English. Below you can find my introductory text: … it’s impossible not to publish photos like today’s. Talk about the idiosyncrasy of Guatemalans, have you ever seen … Read more

Holy Week: Women’s Float

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You normally see men carrying the big heavy processional floats or andas as they are known in Guatemalan Spanish. You can browse the Processions category to see the huge Holy Week floats for which La Antigua Guatemala is famous for. However, behind the massive floats there are, almost always, smaller floats carried by women. Today’s … Read more

Holy Week: An Equal Opportunity Celebration

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That is right, Semana Santa in Guatemala is an equal opportunity celebration. Sure, cucuruchos take the majority of the clicks of cameras and most of the video recorded, but children, women and dogs have a place in the Holy Week celebrations. Women’s float or andas are a bit smaller and carry virgins or angels most of the time.