LA SEMANA SANTA

WILF: gain cultural understanding of celebrations in Spain (all levels)WILF: practice research skills and gain confidence in presenting information in both Spanish and English

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La Semana Santa en España

Semana Santa is Holy Week and Sevilla’s celebration is likely the most famous in the world.There are more than 55 church brotherhoods (hermandades), some dating as far back as the 13th century, which take part in Semana Santa, carrying over 115 different floats, or pasos, through the streets of Sevilla.

A paso could be as heavy as 2 tons and it is carried by the costaleros, people who are hidden under it.

Nazarenos accompany the pasos in the march and in some cases number more than 2,000 for certain processions

El paso : float with the Virgin Mary or Christ, the main attraction of a procesión decorated with candles and flowers and at times depicting scenes from the bible. A float’s weight is an average of 1000 Kg, 1 tonne!!, sometimes very difficult to lift.

At various stages during the procession, the paso stops to receive a saeta, a serenade sung by one person to the imagen of the Virgin Mary. The paso will stop during the singing. The polite thing to do is be quiet during the singing.

Related links

• http://www.galeon.com/juliodominguez/sss1.htm

• http://www.spainonline.com/semana-santa/• http://www.canalsur.es/html/programas/

semana_santa/index.htm• http://www.exploreseville.com/events/

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