Semana Santa

Hola Todos! I'm back from a week of travelling in Paris and London, and although I returned short of my camera, money, and all my credit cards (beware of pickpockets in these two cities), I had a wonderful time! I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the monuments and museums I grew up learning about, i.e. The Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, and ever since I saw the great Big Ben, I've been fighting the urge to download Peter Pan and watch it! But before I divulge all the details of my trip, I should probably fill you in on Semana Santa, simply because this is the reason why I had a free week to travel in the first place.

Semana Santa, or Holy Week, is literally what it sounds like, a week for members of the Catholic faith to commemorate the last week of Christ's life on Earth. Members have participated in Semana Santa for hundreds of years and still maintain the same schedule beginning on Palm Sunday and ending the day before Easter Sunday. Because this holiday is steeped in symbolism and tradition, it is a little hard to for me to understand/explain, but hopefully my pictures will help clarify.

The majority of Semana Santa is comprised of hermandades, or brotherhoods, which are the oldest institutions functioning in the city. In fact, they are older than Sevilla itself. The brotherhoods are civic-oriented institutions which basically control all the major decisions in the city.
During Semana Santa, members of the hermandad dress in túnicas, or robes, (which Americans may realize greatly resemble KKK uniforms), and they walk the streets for hours upon hours with their pasos, or floats. Each paso commemorates a different stage during the last week of Christ's life on earth.



Each paso is made of gold or silver plated wood and is extremely heavy. Once can weigh anywhere from 600 pounds to 3 tons! The pasos are carried upon the shoulders of the strongest men in the brotherhoods, the costaleros. These men, too, walk for many hours. When they are not carrying their paso, they can be found wearing a thick belt and what appears to be a turban on their head. The turban helps lessen the pain of carrying 100+ pounds on their shoulders for hours on end.



Here is a picture of my Spanish brother, Ale, and I. He is a member of the La Paz brotherhood which literally means "The Peace" in English. Ale walked the streets of Sevilla with this brotherhood for about 12 hours on Palm Sunday. Although Ale's uniform has a negative connotation for Americans, it actually represents something very powerful for the members of the brotherhood. The people who wear these uniforms are called Nazarenos, or people from Nazareth, and their robes symbolize an anonymous penance. The inability to be identified symbolizes their commitment to their faith. Many of the members even walk barefoot to show their commitment.



Here are some pictures of some of the other pasos I saw.





Here is a picture of the cruz de guía, which is the cross carried at the front of the procession. The person allowed to carry the cross is considered an honorary member of the brotherhood.





Many of these pasos are also accompanied by a "banda de música" which plays music for all of the processions except for the silent ones.



The pasos containing the Virgen, or the Virgin Mary, are supported by varales, which are silver/gold poles supporting the palio (canopy) of the paso. The Virgen pasos often produce a very solemn, respectful atmosphere.







The cutest monaguillo (child dressed like a priest) I saw all day! : ) (sorry, I know it's a tad creepy)



It's a little ironic that the children hand out candy to the old people...don't ya think?



Although I was only in Sevilla for one day of Semana Santa, I was very moved by the people's devotion to their faith. Semana Santa was truly worth seeing, and I'm grateful for the experience! Until next time...adios!!