Lent

Antigua Lent Processions: Santa Ana

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We continue our series Antigua Lent Processions thanks to the wonderful imagery of our friend and collaborator Leonel [Nelo] Mijangos who has taken to the task to document every Lent procession in La Antigua Guatemala in the last decade. Santa Ana is another village of La Antigua Guatemala that is so close that you can … Read more

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 Play in Antigua Guatemala

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You think Antigua Guatemala is just processions for the Semana Santa? Wrong. There is more… there are also plays, like this one. This play was being performed parallel to the procession of La Merced this past Sunday. Can you tell what’s the play all about? text and photos by Arturo Godoy. Check out Arturo’s portfolio … Read more

The Economics of the Holy Week

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Holy Week Economics by Rudy Girón

As Semana Santa, the Holy Week before Easter, approaches, the historic colonial town of Antigua sees almost daily processions. These processions include music, colors… and most importantly floats… that don’t really float, but are heavy wooden depictions of the life of Christ. Because of how heavy these floats are, they often need to be carried … Read more

Lent Season Decorations Over City Hall

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As in previous years, La Antigua Guatemala begins wearing violet or purple decorations over doors, windows and balconies. Heck, even the jacaranda trees wear violet during Cuaresma. Also, in previous years we have discussed the significance of the color purple (or violet) which is very prominent during Lent and Holy Week. The first person who … 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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Cathedral’s New Look

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Well, it looks like 2009 will be the year of the new paint jobs on all the major churches around Antigua Guatemala prior to the Holy Week celebrations, which, by the way will begin one week from today. In the photo above, you can see new colors for La Antigua Guatemala’s Cathedral. This is the … Read more

Holy Week Preparations: Façade Facelift

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One of the benefits of having a Holy Week every year is the fact that La Antigua Guatemala gets a new facelift every year and thus even though the colonial town is over 500 years old, it looks brand new; newer than most places in Guatemala at least. The vista above is quite common during … Read more