During seven days, sixty brotherhoods hold the same amount of processions in heart of the city. The numbers are impressive and will give you an idea of how impressive this week can be: 61 brotherhoods, 121 pasos followed by 53.818 nazarenos and a total of 215.174 brothers.
Every procession is different itself but all of them have a few common elements which are:
- Pasos – big wooden platforms or floats, which represent religious scenes. The floats are richly decorated with images, flowers and candles.
- Nazarenos – people from the brotherhoods dressed with tunic, a hood with conical type and sometimes a cloak. For the people who see them for the first time they could look like Ku Klux Klan, but it’s a totally different thing.
- Music – it’s very important feature of the processions. It gives them even more spectacular look. Music accompaniment is different in the different cities and it could be a capella choirs, wind quartets or drums and trumpets.
One of the biggest and most loved Holy week celebrations are in Seville, the capital of Andalucia. We will share with you interesting facts about how it’s celebrated, the most interesting processions and where to see them.
Interesting facts…
Los costaleros
Sevillians really love their Holy Week. Typical for Seville are the so called costaleros – the man who carry and move with their necks,shoulders and hands the paso, so that it looks like the platform moves by itself. The constructions are heavy so down to every paso there are between 24 and 54 costaleros. An outside overseer called capataz, guides the team by voice through a ceremonial hammer called el llamador (caller) attached to the paso.
La Mantilla
La Mantilla (The Mantle) is a traditional costume worn by the women on Holy Thursday as a commemoration of the death of Jesus Christ. It consists in a black dress (normally mid-leg), lace of black mantle, stiffened by shell or another material, black shoes and jewelry – usually bracelets or earrings. It is very important the dress to be down the knee, avoid large necklines, drink, smoke or wear sunglases. This beautiful tradition was relived in the 80’s and if you’re in Seville during the Holy Thursday you will see many women proud to be part of it.
La bola de cera
Holy week is exciting for the kids too. This is other interesting tradition not only in Seville but in other places in Spain. They make a ball of foil put it on a stick and during the processions ask the nazarenos to drop a wax from their candles on the ball. Different brotherhoods have different colours of candles, so at the end the kids have big and colourful balls of wax.
Which processions to visit?
The celebrations begin on Palm Sunday with the procession La Barroquita which represent Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and finish with La Resurrección (The Resurrection), but the most famous and interesting processions are the ones in the early hours of Good Friday (La Madrugá).
El Silencio (Silence). It’s one of the oldest brotherhoods which exists from 1340. The procession is done in silence without music. The procession starts at the early hours, around 1am, from the church San Antonio Abad and continues throw Campana square and Alfonso XII street.
La Macarena (Our Lady of Hope Macarena). La Macarena is the most famous image of the city, also known es “Nuestra Señora de Sevilla” (The lady of Seville). It’s one of the longest processions – the route continues around 14 hours. Starts at midnight from the basilica of Macarena passes from the streets Resolana, Feria, Trajano, the squares of Duque and Campana, Sierpes street and then goes to the Cathedral and from there follows its way back to Macarena. The end of the procession is around 1 pm on Friday so you can choose what time and where to watch it.
Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza de Triana (Our Lady of Hope Triana). Other interesting procession to see also known as Reina Madre y Capitana de Triana (Queen Mother and Captain of Triana). The procession is showing the unique for Seville image of Virgin Mary. The route is also very large, starts from Sailors chapel in Triana neighborhood, crosses Triana bridge and then follow it way to the Catedral throw main streets like Reyes Catolicos, Velazques, Campana and Sierpes.
How to survive Semana Santa?
If you visit for the first time celebration like this, you have to be prepared that it’s gonna be crowded. But don’t lose patience, because you will see one of the most exciting Spanish traditions in one of the most beautiful cities of Spain – Seville. Our advices are:
Check online the schedules. You can do this easily on this web page: https://www.semana-santa.org/itinerario-oficial-semana-santa-de-sevilla/. There you can see at what time and from where are passing the processions each of the days.
Be there early. The streets are full of locals and tourist, so if you want to have a good view it’s better to go earlier
Respect the people. The truth is that it’s really crowded, but that is part of the atmosphere. Don’t try to push the other people, just to avoid accidents.
Watch the processions on main streets. The main streets like Reyes Católicos, Avenida de la Constitución, Triana Bridge or Campana square there is enough space for everybody.
And of course take your good mood with you, because you will see one of the most glamorous events of Seville.
Sources: www.abc.es; http://www.seviocio.es
