Holy Week in Seville- Hotel Alfonso XIII

Holy Week in Seville (Semana Santa de Sevilla) is one of the most important traditional events of the city. It is celebrated in the week leading up to Easter (Holy Week among christians), and is one of the better known religious events within Spain. (Offer valid for stays from April 1-3, 2010 )

Seville lives The Passion as no other city in the world does. After watching the processions you will unveil why Holy Week in Seville is called the festival of senses: devotion, applause, music, silence, colours, sobriety, scents and flavours... true exaltation of the senses

During Holy Week, the city is crowded with residents and visitors, drawn by the spectacle and atmosphere. The impact is particularly strong for the Catholic community.

The processions are organised by hermandades and cofradías, religious brotherhoods. During the processions, members precede the pasos (of which there are up to three in each procession) dressed in penitential robes, and, with few exceptions, hoods. They may also be accompanied by brass bands.

The processions follow a designated route from their home churches and chapels to the Cathedral, usually via a central viewing area and back. The processions from the suburban barrios may take 14 hours to return to their home churches

The core events in Semana Santa are the processions of the brotherhoods, known as estación de penitencia (season of penance), from their home church or chapel to the Cathedral of Seville and back. The last section before arriving to the Cathedral is common to all brotherhoods and is called the Carrera Oficial

The standard structure of a procession is:

Each procession is lead by a great cross, the so-called Cruz de Guía (Guiding Cross), and serves to lead the way. Then follow the nazarenos (representing the people of Nazareth) in a costume of robes and the characteristic pointed hood (capirote). They carry with them long wax candles which are lit only by night, and march in respectful silence. Colours, forms and detail of these costumes vary according to each brotherhood, and at times according to the different locations within the procession. The nazarenos march in pairs, grouped behind insignia. Moving between the lines are "diputados de tramo", guardians who keep the procession in formation. Finally a group of altar boys, acolytes, dressed in vestments (many of which dalmatics) carry chandeliers and incense along with other servants of the procession.

The Paso: At the centre of each procession are the pasos: an image or collection of images set atop a movable wooden float. 

When applicable groups of musicians playing band music follow the procession, or alternatively precede it playing chapel music. Floats consist of lifelike wooden sculptures depicting individual scenes of the Passion, or images of the Virgin Mary showing her restrained grief for the torture and death of her son. Some of these sculptures are of great antiquity and are considered artistic masterpieces.

A number of penitents bearing wooden crosses carry out public penance. They wear robes and un-pointed hoods of the brotherhood.

Although this is the standard structure, depending on the traditions of each brotherhood, details (and even the plan) may vary.

Some processions are silent, with no musical accompaniment, some have a cappella choirs or wind quartets, but many (and especially those historically associated with poorer neighbourhoods) feature a drum and trumpet band behind the image of Christ and a brass band behind the virgin playing religious hymns or marchas from a standard repertoire [4] Those associated with the images of Christ are often funeral in nature, whilst those associated with the Virgin are more celebratory.

As each procession leaves its home church, (an event known as the salida), at its return (the entrada), and along the march route, improvised flamenco-style songs may be offered by individuals in the crowd or from a balcony. These songs are generally called saetas .

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