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La Semana Santa (Holy Week) is the Catholic commemoration of the Passion of Christ. In Guatemala, where Spanish missionaries introduced this festival during colonial times and subsequently Christian customs and those of the Maya influenced each other, it is the most important celebration in the entire church year.
Antigua – A UNESCO World Heritage Site
The former capital Antigua, surrounded by three volcanoes, some of which are still active, with its Baroque-influenced architecture provides a perfect backdrop for this spectacular celebration. This event was added to the UNESCO Cultural Heritage List in 2022.
Even apart from Semana Santa, strolling through the alleyways of Antigua is a great experience. We were also fortunate enough to stay in a wonderful hotel in the center of the old town.
The “Alfhombras”
In the days before the celebrations, residents begin to decorate their houses along the procession routes and to start preparations for the “alfhombras”. These are gorgeous large-scale street carpets of flowers, fruits, pine needles and sawdust of different colors. They are lovingly laid out on the cobblestones by the residents in communal minutiae just before a procession.
Families often plan and design their carpets months ahead and may start constructing them up to 20 hours before the procession arrives. To create these ephemeral offerings, often several blocks long, Christian and Mayan symbols are combined in bright colors.
Some of the most elaborate carpets use layers of brilliantly hued sawdust to produce a plush, carpet-like effect. Simpler but nonetheless striking carpets may instead feature beds of pine needles, flower petals, fruits, vegetables and fragrant corozo palms.
Some families add creative innovations, like marbles, egg shells, candles, toys and bottle caps. Carpet themes may reflect religious messages, elements of nature, geometric patterns, and sometimes even statements of humour or political views.
People crowding the streets during the processions walk carefully around these ephemeral works, allowing the carrier guiding the main float – often a priest or other religious leader – to be the first to touch the carpets.
With each step, the carriers send the carpet’s sweet aromas into the air, leaving only traces of its fleeting beauty between the cobblestones.
The purpose is to remind people of the transience of life and the beauty of earthly things. Within hours, the residents have created a new alfhombra for the next procession. Walking the route before daybreak on Good Friday is like experiencing an almost endless gallery of stunning works of art.
The Processions
The processions are the most important part of Semana Santa and are organized by religious brotherhoods, the “Hermandades.”
We were able to attend those of Good Friday and Holy Saturday amid thousands of devotees and onlookers. Everyone gathers in front of the churches, on sidewalks and even on rooftops along procession routes to watch the spectacles.
First, the smell of incense fills the air, then hundreds of men and boys in silky purple robes fill the street. Some of them swing incense burners. Soon the sounds of wind instruments and processional drums become louder, heightening our anticipation. And then, suddenly, huge “pasos” emerge from a cloud of incense, carried on the shoulders of about 100 devotees.
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The “Pasos”
The “pasos” are wooden, richly decorated with gold and silver “altar stages.” On the stages are life-size Madonnas, statues of Christ or groups of figures of a station of Christ’s Way of the Cross are artfully arranged. The largest ones can be up to 18 meters long and weigh 2.5 tons, requiring 140 bearers, which are detached after a certain period of time.
“Los Cucuruchos” and “Las Devotas”
The carriers (“los cucuruchos”) are believers who have volunteered for this arduous task to honor God, to do penance or both. They are dressed in white, purple or black robes.
Those who think only men are capable of this are mistaken. Especially on Holy Saturday, women (“las devotas”) dressed all in black, often with veils of lace and high heels, shoulder the pasos dedicated to the Virgin Mary (“la virgen dolorosa”).
Carrying a paso is considered a privilege, and each carrier pays a small fee for the honour. A single procession can last more than 18 hours, often starting or ending before daybreak.
Because the carriers take turns shouldering the massive pasos, more than a thousand may carry a paso over the course of a procession.
Each procession consists of at least two pasos, one dedicated to Christ and the other to Virgin Mary. The members of the hermandad in charge precede the pasos. They sometimes wear round, pointed hats, presenting a cross studded with silver or gold and brandishing incense burners. It is an incredible sight.
The incense-suffused air, the moderate steps of the carriers making the pasos undulate, the dissolving patterns of the alfhombras, and the melancholy sound of the brass band accompanying the procession create a devotional mood by which we, too, get touched.
The “Velaciones”
During Holy Week, one can admire the vigils, known as “velaciones,” in several Antigua churches crowded with hundreds of visitors. Parishioners painstakingly create dioramas at the altar with some of the statues that will appear in the upcoming procession.
Fruits and vegetables adorn a sawdust carpet at the foot of the altar, known as the ‘garden’, symbolising the Garden of Gethsemane where Christ prayed after the Last Supper.
Outside the church doors, there is a festive atmosphere with street parties. You can find everything from traditional Guatemalan barbecued food to pizza, candy floss, ice cream, balloons and toys here.
Nightly Street Theater
During the nightly processions, wrapped in a dense veil of incense, the atmosphere is particularly intense. Only the Roman soldiers accompanying the procession appear irritated. But they, too, and the condemnation of Jesus by Pontius Pilate, depicted in a street theater, are important components of Semana Santa to recall the suffering of Christ.
The processions move through narrow cobblestone streets on a route that leads them back to the church from which they started. The route varies from procession to procession.
However, each one stops at the plaza in front of the magnificent Cathedral of Antigua. In this festively decorated and also all the other churches of the city, the devotees congregate again and again for masses or to witness the crucifixion on Golgotha performed there.
If You Go
We stayed at the lovely Hotel Posada de Don Rodrigo Antigua, but you have to make a reservation some months in advance. To enjoy Holy Week in Antigua, keep in mind that this is not a ‘last minute trip.’
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Author Bio: Sylvia Furrer & Holger Hoffmann are Swiss freelance travel and documentary journalists who have traveled to over 100 countries. They are particularly fascinated by the customs and daily life of people who have preserved their traditional culture. They have published numerous travel and photo reports in various magazines.
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