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Antigua really comes alive in Semana Santa (Holy Week) when hundreds of people dress in purple robes to accompany the most revered
sculptural images from the city's churches in daily street processions remembering Christ's Crucifixion and the events surrounding it.
Dense clouds of incense envelop the parades and the streets are covered in breathtakingly elaborate "alfombras" (carpets) of coloured
sawdust and flower petals.
The fervour and crowds peak on Good Friday when an early morning procession leaves from La Merced and a late afternoon one leaves from
the Escuela de Cristo.
But these processions go on every weekend throughout Lent, the 40 day period prior to Holy Week. Processions tell the story of Jesus'
crucifixion and resurrection using elaborate floats called andas.
The procession tradition is said to have started in Guatemala in 1524 and, today, most Semana Santa processions include two main andas.
The first carries a scene from the life of Jesus. The second carries a depiction of the Virgin Mary. Each procession is named after the
specific Jesus and Mary that adorn the floats (i.e. Jesús De La Merced, Jesús El Peregrino, Jesús Del Milagro).
Some last for 15 hours and cover many miles.
An Anda is an enormous hand-crafted wooden float which weighs up to 8,000 pounds and is carried by up to 100 people. Each carries a
different tableau on top depicting a scene from the story of Jesus' crucifixion. These scenes are changed every year, but their meaning
remains the same. Some of the andas are antiques and some are new. Each church has their own own anda of varying sizes and the main
characters from the andas (Jesus, etc) spend the rest of the year in niches in their home churches. The andas are lit during night
processions when people push generators along the procession route behind the floats.
An Alfombra is a fancy carpet which pave the way for the andas in each procession. People spend as much as they can on alfombra
ingredients which include flowers, luridly dyed wood shavings and sawdust, fruits and vegetables. Some are hand-made and, thus, imperfect.
Others are created meticulously using stencil cut outs and exact measurements. They are typically created by an entire extended family
on the cobblestone street in front of their home.
We went to the procession that was to take place from Santa Ines and walked about 2 miles to get to the church. On the way Swantje
(another camper from Germany) and Agnes bought Piña Coladas to get into the (alcoholic) spirit! Or maybe it was just to get them up
the hill!
Piña Colada, steaks and other delicious food.
The carpets were very elaborate and take hours to make. We spoke to some of the people making them and were told that theirs would
take 8 hours and they started in the early hours of the morning. The processions walk right through them and therefore destroy them
in a very short time. All that work and effort, let alone the cost only to get trampled and then along come the city council trucks
and workers who clear everything away!
Hours of working on the street carpets.
The carpet in front of the church was very large and elaborate and there is a video of the procession starting.
Santa Ines Procession.
The incense comes from a natural tree resin and is burned by men and boys swinging incense burners in front of the main anda. There
is so much of it that it feels like you are standing in thick fog and is very sharp - you get coughing fits and tearing eyes. Not a
nice experience for beginners like us!
During the processions normally-safe Antigua becomes a magnet for pickpockets. Carry as little with you as possible when you venture
out. Unfortunately Helmut's wallet was stolen during this procession.
The crowds are also entertained by street performers. Here is a video of one of them.
Funny street performer.
We really enjoyed this procession and we are really hoping to get our vehicle permit sorted out so that we can return for Semana Santa.
