HOLY WEEK Presentation

HOLY WEEK

1-Holy Week is known as ‘Semana Santa’ in Spain and it is most widely celebrated in the towns and cities of Andalucia.
2-Semana Santa takes place the week leading up to the Easter weekend.
3-Semana Santa consists of processions in which enormous ‘pasos’ (floats) are carried around the streets of Seville by teams of ‘costaleros’ (bearers)
4-followed by hundreds of ‘nazarenos’ (penitents).
5-Many of these floats are religious works of art that date back as far as the 17th century, each showing a small part of the Easter story, like the Last Supper.
6-prayer of the orchard
7- or Mary holding the dead body of her son
8-Throughout the city thousands of people line the streets waiting to catch a glimpse of the processions. There are  over 50 brotherhoods (cofradías) with two floats. They follow a set route around the city
9-For the ‘costaleros’ who carry the float it’s an honour to do. Costaleros are mainly males because the floats often weigh over 2000kg. (2 slides)
 (On average there are 40 ‘costaleros’ per float with each one supporting a weight of around 50kg for around 8 hours.)
10-Following the float penitents are dressed in capes and ku klux klan looking head gear. This hides their identity, the meaning being that God is the only one who knows who they are.
11-Women can also be penitents
12-Semana Santa is a religious occasion and the mood of each day’s procession changes
-from the opening ones on Palm Sunday
13-to the sad ones of Good Friday which depict the crucifiction of Christ
14-and finally the happy ones of Easter Sunday which celebrate Christ’s resurrection from the dead.
15-The Good Friday processions leave churches at midnight and are carried throughout the night with huge crowds following their every step. (2 slides)
16-Visitors from all over Spain and many foreigners are present in Seville for the Semana Santa celebrations.

17-And now some beautiful images of the holy week in Seville with its typical music.