Semana Santa

Background

Salamanca provides a magnificent background for one of the most celebrated festivals in Spain: Semana Santa (Holy Week). Passing by the city's golden Plateresque façades, Romanesque churches, and Baroque convents, the music and tradition of the processions is an experience unique to Spain.

Each procession counts with an extensive entourage of figures. Rows upon rows of hooded penitents ("nazarenos") carry crosses and candles while young men- called "costaleros"- carry the elaborate floats upon their shoulders, moving to the beat of the soulful music played by brass and percussion bands. Upon the floats, which themselves are flower-laden marvels, are expressive figures of the Virgin, of Christ, and of entire scenes of the Passion. While the tradition has taken on a more festive tone in much of Spain, Salamanca's Semana Santa maintains an unique atmosphere of austeriy and meditation which makes for an extremely moving experience.......

http://www.whatsalamanca.com/semana-santa-salamanca.html

Materials Used

There are two type of carpets (alfombras) made during Semana Santa. The carpets along the processional route are made by residents along the route who invite friends and family to assist them. The carpets in the churches are made for the holy vigils (velaciones) and are made by the brotherhoods (hermandades)

There is a velacióne before each procession. The Holy Vigils generally take place at the church the day before that Church's procession. The vigils are organized by a brotherhood, and there are different brotherhoods for each sculpture that will appear in the processions.

The religious processions are organized and carried out by the brotherhoods. The brotherhoods (los hermandades) were originally called cofradías and are religious organizations. The brotherhoods are either men or women, not both. It is thought that the carriers (cucuruchos) participated solely as a form of penance. Today there is some degree of social status involved but the principal motivation is still a show of devotion by the carriers.

These are the religious sculptures that were made during the Spanish rule and can date back to the 17th century. The faithful believe that the sculptures, or the figure, will grant the believer their request. In some places in Guatemala, the sculptures are considered to be divine religious figures. The sculptures are referred to as the religious figure not as a just a sculpture. The sculptures also played a principal role in the conversion of the Maya to Catholicism as the Maya personified the sculptures with the stories of their own deities.

More information:http://www.questconnect.org/guat_semana_santa.htm

More Background

The holiday, jubilant in Seville and Andalucía and solemn elsewhere in Spain, is practically defined by its stunning processions. Each of these processions typically boasts two intensely adorned floats, one of the Virgin and the other of a scene from Christ's Passion. Take in the lavish decoration of these incredible creations as they slowly pass before you accompanied by the music of coronets and drums; its hard to do without getting chills. Underneath each float, you'll just barely be able to make out rows and rows of feet. There are up to forty men, called costaleros, who haul the float on shoulders and control the swaying motion of the float. In fact, they practice so much and are so in sync with each other that the realistic figures on top look eerily as if they were walking along to the music.
Impossible to miss are the seemingly endless rows of nazarenos, or penitents, who walk along with the float.. You may even see many nazarenos walking barefoot, which is pretty impressive considering some of the processions last up to 14 hours! Oh and don't be thrown off by the resemblance between the pointy hoods and long robes of the nazarenos and those of the Ku Klux Klan; it's coincidental and completely unrelated.
Don't be surprised to see how nicely the people dress to watch the processions, especially during the second half of the week. Women often dress to the nines while many men brave the sun in full suits........

More information found at: http://www.enforex.com/culture/semana-santa.html