Holy Week in Seville

If you are thinking of visiting Sevilla and do not know exactly what month of the year you go, it is safer than at the time you decide where celebrates Holy Week in Seville. Believers and nonbelievers meet in Seville for many years throughout the week to celebrate the passion and death of Christ, which is very important for all people of Andalusia because it is a celebration of great tradition.

Although it must be said that, for many, are days off, disconnect and why not say, the ideal time to visit Sevilla to see relatives who live far away. However, if you have the opportunity to be Holy Week in Seville, you will never forget the experience.

What to see in Holy Week in Seville?

From Palm Sunday to Easter onSunday, processions emerging from different parts of the city, where thousands of people, residents and non-residents enjoy these days of great feeling and joy result.

Holy Week in Seville is a celebration that does not have an exact date, but which is usually done in March or April.

Brotherhoods

When we talk about sororities and fraternities we say they are associations of lay women and men and Christians relied on hard times and to experience and celebrate the Passion of Christ. That’s why Seville at Easter, brings with it the opportunity to make these processions sought to integrate the people in celebrations that made the church and were not in the reach of everyone.

Spain has many brotherhoods, but Sevilla’s largest city and has the largest number of brotherhoods. Brotherhoods are then, a group of people responsible for carrying out a work of piety or charity pains to imitate Christ in his Passion and Death by penitential acts. There are two types of brotherhoods, the two come together to contemplate during processions of Holy Week in Seville figures of the suffering of Jesus, where the faithful take to the streets mode forgiveness.

Processions

Residents and visitors march in an orderly and solemnly through the streets of the city. It is important to note the different processions held every day of the week. Each has a final point of the route the Cathedral of St. Mary of the See of Seville. Brotherhoods that make the tour of the ceremony take steps representing various scenes of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, as if it were a spear.

Saetas

Where it passes the procession is quite normal to see people from their balconies start singing, it is a Saeta, which is a traditional song in honor of Jesus or Mary.

Nazarenes and penitents

These people attract attention because they wear a hood during processions, and remind members of the Ku Klux Klan, but they have nothing to do with them, they are faithful that go along with the procession and cover her face penance. Nazarenes during his tour of Seville at Easter carry logos or banners in their hands represent the fraternity to which they belong, such as a candle, a cross or a candle. A little behind the Nazarenes and penitents is what is called “step” which are platforms where the statues of figures are different.

The famous bands of Holy Week in Seville

Holy Week in Seville is a popular tourist tradition because it contains a myriad of scents and sounds that capture the city, it is easy to be attracted by the sound of their harmonious melody. Drums, trumpets and other musical instruments go hand in hand with steps of the brotherhoods which carry the rhythm of the ceremony until they reach the cathedral city. Bands accompanying the Brotherhoods do their penance behind or in front of the figures and each of them changes according to the days of Holy Week in Seville. Some of them are: the Youth Band Centuria Macarena, Band of the Red Cross, Band CC. And TT. Sagrada Column and Whips, Band Santa Ana de Dos Hermanas, among others.

The Madrugá

At the beginning of Holy Week in Seville, it is said to have emerged this beautiful ceremony where the brotherhoods were circulating in the streets nearby giving hours of dawn. This tradition came after many counter-reforms that were conducted against processions reason they could not perform their acts at night. Instead it realized then what would be called as “Madrugá” where the brotherhoods leave early in the morning with the most charismatic images of Holy Week in Seville. Despite hot days on earth Sevillana, nights strike as an icicle in our body, so be prepared for the event that will take the streets with the early bird crowd.

What happens every day during Holy Week in Seville?

Every day the brotherhoods come out with the steps of the procession and are ready to walk the walk through the narrow streets leading to the Cathedral of Seville. During these days we have the opportunity to participate in one of the most important religious shows in Spain and every day different scenarios are presented.

Starting with Palm Sunday, is very common to visit the temples where they leave the brotherhoods, the evenings begin to leave the first processions that begin to “walk”, Jesus Stripped, La Paz, La Santa Cena, La Hiniesta, San Roque, La Estrella (in Triana’s Quarter) and El Amor.

Monday Easter come with 8 Brotherhoods, these are: El Beso de Judas, Santa Genoveva, Santa Maria, San Gonzalo, Vera Cruz, San Vicente Sorrows, Las Aguas y El Museo. Continuing Easter Tuesday brotherhoods are: Dolores, Javieres, San Esteban, Estudiantes, San Benito, La Candelaria, La Bofetá and Santa Cruz. On Holy Wednesday we can observe the Brotherhoods: La Sed, San Bernardo, El Buen Fin, La Lanzada, El Baratillo, Cristo de Burgos, Las siete palabras and Los Panaderos. On Holy Thursday the brotherhoods out: Los Negritos, Glorification, Las Cigarreras, Montesión, Quinta Angustia, El Valle and La Pasión. Around the celebration of Holy Thursday celebrates “La Madrugá”, where also their own brotherhoods from different temples hours starting from 5:00 am. Holy Friday which more brotherhoods have and that is why the day of Holy Week in Seville more hard from early morning starting with La Madrugá. Brotherhoods of the Holy Friday are: El Silencio, El Gran Poder, La Macarena, El Calvario, La Esperanza de Triana, Los Gitanos, La Carretería, Soledad de San Buenaventura, El Cachorro, La O, San Isidoro and Montserrat. On Holy Saturday, there are four Brotherhoods in the streets, these are: Los Servitas, La Trinidad, and La Soledad de San Lorenzo. Finishing Easter Sunday with the Brotherhood of El Resucitado.

Tips for Visiting the Holy Week in Seville

As in many other celebrations it is important to know the details of each day where activities are performed. You must plan ahead brotherhoods you want to see, and be able to attend all can be an ordeal. The population doubles at the dates of the Holy Week in Seville, and it is not surprising, since most of the Spaniards choose to commemorate these religious acts.

Home begins to organize your itinerary, and note that it is important to take a map of the area you indicate the directions of the streets where the procession will circulate. The large number of people who crowded the streets is such that it is normal to be hit or pushed unintentionally. Stay calm and look for a less crowded area to enjoy the ceremony.

If you’ll be visiting in the city you will find great variety of accommodation in the Holy Week in Seville, and be aware that some hotels in the center are located in areas that have the best views of the course. There are some important sites you need to know to enjoy the maximum of the ceremony: Metrosol Parasol, La Cuesta del Bacalao, Alfalfa, Triana and the Bridge, are some of them.

You will not have to worry about carrying food or water, as during the whole procession shops and bars in the city are open. When you visit the processions keep silence to appreciate the beautiful songs and music that runs “el capataz”, responsible for coordinating the bearers charging step. Major streets normally chairs stand to see the passing quietly, but not all can be reserved, so if you arrive early you can choose a good place.