Province
Holy Week
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Introduction.  Semana Santa (holy week/easter) has been one of the most important celebrations in Seville since centuries.The Cofradías (Brotherhoods or Fraternities) process in penitence through the (many narrow) streets of the city, from their church to the Cathedral and back, taking the shortest possible route, as decreed in the rule of the ordinances by Cardenal Niño de Guevara in the 17th century. Starting on Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday), and ending on Domingo de Resurrección (Easter Sunday), there are 57 brotherhoods that pay the religious visist to the Cathedral of Seville, the third largest Cathedral in the world. Most brotherhoods carry two floats:  a float with a Christ, representing the distinct stages of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christand a float with a Dolorosa (Mary the Virgin in pain) under a canopy. Some brotherhoods even carry three floats, like the so-called: El Amor, La Cena, San Benito, or la Trinidad, others have just one like Santa Marta, La Quinta Angustia, la Soledad de San Buenaventura, or la Soledad de San Lorenzo. Resuming, in the eight days of Semana Santa, a total of 57 brotherhoods, carry their 116 floats from their church to the Cathedral and back, in the company of around 60,000 brothers participating in their different appearances:
 The number of spectators may rise up to the impressing number of one million people during the most important moments of Semana Santa in Seville: the early morning of Good Friday which is when the brotherhoods of el Silencio, el Gran Poder, La Macarena, El Calvario, La Esperanza de Triana and los Gitanos set off for their processional penitence to the Cathedral.A first (small) step to understanding Semana Santa in Seville, is knowing what a procession is about. Also you may find it interesting to see the map that indicates all the processional routes of Semana Santa. |
Nazarenes and Penitents     Floats with a Christ     Floats with a Virgin     |
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