Beginning of Lent in Antigua Guatemala

The first Sunday after the first full moon of spring is Easter, this year on March 27. Count back seven Wednesdays to mark the beginning of the 40-day period of Lent on the Christian calendar. It is Ash Wednesday, and the date in 2005 is February 9. In La Antigua Guatemala this means the beginning of vigils (velaciones) and processions, […]

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Holy Week Procession Schedule for Antigua Guatemala

Posición/Position: 2do lugar / 2nd place Premio: Q300 Tema/theme: Semana Santa / Holy Week Título/title: Miserere nobis Lugar/place: La Antigua Guatemala Autor/author: Nery Racancoj

April 1 — Palm Sunday: Procession of Jesús Nazareno de La Merced, La Merced church. April 2 — Holy Monday: Vigil of Jesús Nazareno de La Merced, La Merced church. April 3 — Holy Tuesday: Vigil of Jesús Nazareno del Perdón, San Francisco El Grande church. April 4 — Holy Wednesday: Vigil of Señor Sepultado, Escuela de Cristo Church. 2pm […]

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Holy Week 2010, Antigua Main Processions — Semana Santa

March 28 — Palm Sunday, 11am: Procession of Jesús Nazareno from La Merced Church. March 29 — Holy Monday: Holy Vigil of Jesús Nazareno de La Merced, La Merced Church. March 30 — Holy Tuesday: Holy Vigil of Jesús Nazareno del Perdón, San Francisco El Grande Church. March 31 — Holy Wednesday: Holy Vigil of Señor Sepultado, Escuela de Cristo […]

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Sensuous Guatemala: Semana Santa

Colorful carpets, thumping bands, pungent odors, rich tastes, thick crowds—through the Lenten season, into Palm Sunday and Semana Santa, Holy Week, all five senses are overwhelmed in every Guatemalan city and village, but nowhere more than in La Antigua Guatemala with its colonial traditions and frequent processions. Intricate floral designs, forming colorful alfombras, carpets, are most elaborate on Good Friday […]

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Holy Week in Quetzaltenango

Colorful and solemn processions will traverse many streets in Central America during Semana Santa (Holy Week) with La Antigua Guatemala’s commemoration of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection among the most elaborate in the World. Each church has its own procession featuring a massive float (anda) carried on the shoulders of as many as 80 colorfully-robed church members (cucuruchos). Residents meticulously arrange […]

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Semana Santa on the Lake: San Pedro La Laguna

written by Ana Flinder Semana Santa is undoubtedly the most festive week of the year in Guatemala, celebrated with the most pomp and grandeur in La Antigua, and with deeply traditional ceremonies and indigenous style in Santiago Atitlán. Both of these destinations require advanced bookings for lodging but are not the only places to experience a Guatemalan Semana Santa. San Pedro […]

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Semana Santa on the Lake: Santiago Atitlán

written by Ana Flinder Those of you who have your place to stay in La Antigua Guatemala for Semana Santa are sure to enjoy what is known as the second-biggest and most spectacular Semana Santa celebration in the world. (Second only to Sevilla, Spain, so they say.) And you know who you are. Because they also say that if you […]

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