Semana Santa, Antigua, Guatemala

A few years back our ship visited a port in Guatemala and I had the privilege to visit Antigua and watch the world famous procession during the Semana Santa.

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is one of the most important religious and cultural celebrations in Antigua, Guatemala, and is known for its elaborate processions, colorful sawdust carpets, and intricate religious traditions.

The celebrations begin on Palm Sunday, with a procession through the streets of Antigua featuring palm fronds, which are blessed and distributed to the faithful. Throughout the week, there are daily processions, each featuring a different statue of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary, as well as floats or "andas" depicting scenes from the Bible. These processions are accompanied by music, incense, and the sound of drums.

One of the highlights of Semana Santa in Antigua is the creation of sawdust carpets, or "alfombras," which are made by local residents and religious groups. These intricate carpets are made using colored sawdust, flowers, and other materials, and are created along the processional routes. They are meant to be walked over by the processions and are carefully crafted as a form of devotion and reverence.

The procession is very impressive and the carpets made of saw dust and flowers even so. It is unreal how detailed the carpets are and how much time is put into these pieces of art.

If you ever have the opportunity to visit Antigua, go during the Semana Santa….

Here are some of the photos I took