With this picture of the dolorosas or hermanas cargadoras, the women who carry the smaller floats of the Virgin Mary or other virgins for the matter, we conclude our coverage of Lent and Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala. Take a photographic tour through all the photos, posts and multimedia content found in the archives about … Read more
The processional carpets are among the most creative and colorful elements of the Holy Week in La Antigua Guatemala. In this case, it was the turn for the students of the Art Department of the University of Texas at Austin who got together to create a sawdust carpet with flowers. As I’ve mentioned before, the … Read more
Since everyone is taking colour photographs of the Semana Santa in Antigua Guatemala, I decided to do a black and white coverage of the Holy Week to give you a different and creative take on the most popular event in Antigua Guatemala. Besides, I have tons of Cuaresma and Semana Santa photos in colour in … Read more
Here’s your Holy Week Spanish word for the day: Timonel The timonel is the person at the front of the processional float that steers the float on one direction or another. In Spanish the word for timón means steering wheel. As we can see in the picture, the timonel basically pushes to the left or … Read more
Purple or violet is the color of Lent and the Holy Week. Cucuruchos, bearers, wear their cone-head purple robes as a sign of penitence. Not only Cucuruchos have to observe penitence for the Lent (Cuaresma) and the Holy Week (Semana Santa), but they also have to pay if they want to get a chance to … Read more
As I walked the streets of the Antigua Guatemala villages I noticed the neighbours sweeping aways the carpets from Palm Sunday since the Tren de Aseo, cleaning train, only works on the main processions of Antigua Guatemala. I have decided to bring you a couple of pictures of the cleaning crews, known as tren de … Read more
As I explained with the corozo palm aroma, I can bring to you the colors, the imagery, the sounds and even video clips, but I can’t transmit or transfer you the smells and aromas of the world-famous Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala. The pungent scents of copal incense and corozo palms, so you will have … Read more
Today’s Palm Sunday or Domingo de Ramos as today’s known in the Catholic world. By the way, here’s another picture of the corozo palm and flower arrangements as seen inside Casa Santo Domingo in the La Antigua Guatemala’s prior to Palm Sunday which marks the beginning of the Holy Week in the Catholic realm. Stay … Read more
Churches serve as terminals from which processions depart or arrive. Churches also serve as home-base for all the brotherhoods of cucuruchos and sisterhoods. Churches also put their best face for the Holy Week and many get a paint job and/or restoration works in the weeks prior to Semana Santa.
With this photo we wave goodbye to Semana Santa and to Holy Week’s processions. I was told the last procession, the Resurrection (Resurección) procession comes out on Easter Sunday (today) a 6 a.m. and its back in the church by 10 in the morning.
La Dolorosa or The Sorrowful Mother is the biblical figure of sorrowful mother Mary which follows Jesus in his way to his crucifixion. This act is represented by a smaller anda (long carved wooden flatbed image-carrying float [*]) —carrying the effigy of sorrowful Mother Mary and other female biblical representations— which is hauled exclusively by women who mostly dress in black or white as this is the appropriate dress code for a funeral. Jesus’ funeral.
Nevertheless, Good Friday is the culmination of the Holy Week Celebrations and the processions end at the Calvario Church (Calvario is the Spanish word for Calvary or Golgotha). The entrance of the Calvario Church in La Antigua Guatemala is a yellow façade with three arches, topped by three bells and three crosses —one larger than the other two— with a very large concrete cross in front. Can you see the obvious architectonic reference to Jesus’ crucifixion?
Thanks to Byron Ortiz for lending his photos of Semana Santa (Holy Week), so we can get a better picture of the Holy Week Celebrations in La Antigua Guatemala. This week we are running a mini-series: Elements of the Holy Week Celebrations in La Antigua Guatemala and its world-famous Semana Santa. With the holidays of … Read more
Cucuruchos with their purple or violet cone-head dress are another prominent element of Semana Santa in Antigua Guatemala. Last week, Santiago Durham asked what its the significance of the color purple or violet in the dress and banners during Semana Santa, well it took a lot of digging to find out (I turned around and asked my office coworker), but I can now tell you the purple is worn as a sign of penitence. As a matter of fact, processions are a sign of penitence as well, heck the whole Semana Santa is a penitent act.
The making of carpets from sawdust, pine-needles, flowers, vegetables is a community-forming tradition. People get together by block or near-by neighbors to create the carpets on which the processions will pass by. Sometimes the making of the carpets is done at night, all night so they are ready for next day’s procession.
The making of sawdust carpets (alfombras de aserrín) with its vivid colors and eye-catching patterns are among the most prominent elements of the Holy Week celebrations. You can come back all this week to see other samples of carpets made with flowers and fruits and vegetables.