Holy Week Elements: Cucuruchos

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 carry the enormous floats, known here as andas. According to my good friend Nelo, each turn costs around Q60 (around US$8), there are around 60 turns and each float has somewhere between 80 and 100 spaces for the Cucuruchos. That’s close to Q290,000 (US$38,000) per procession. Boy oh boy, there’s big money to be made with each procession. Now if only they didn’t have to spend the money… but that’s another day’s story! 😉

Browse the Holy Week category of AntiguaDailyPhoto for more additional entries about the Semana Santa and Cuaresma in La Antigua Guatemala.

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