Passion Week


Semana santa
Orihuela Passion Week, declared of International Tourist Interest

Orihuela Passion Week is one of the most important religious and cultural manifestations of Spain. It was declared of International Tourist Interest in 2010, and has a number features that make it unique in the world. Examples are the traditions that today, for centuries, still remain.
One of the most breathtaking processions is the one that lives on Holy Thursday from eleven at night: the Holy Christ of Silence. It may be two long rows of brotherhoods, dressed in habits cappuccinos, covered their heads, walking among the crowd in absolute silence. The only light that illuminates the path is that of carrying lanterns, as the city remains dark after switching off street lighting in those streets where the procession passes. It is Penitential Brotherhood of Silence, which originated in 1940, inside one of the three Gothic churches of the city, the Church of Santiago. This church housed inside the only step shown at this hour: The Christ of Consuelo, by Jose Puchol (1795). It is the passage of the image that the visitor can hear, amid an atmosphere of deep respect, one of the characteristic features of the oriolana Passion Week: the so-called Song of the Passion, immaterial work dating back to the sixteenth century and whose song of "angels grunts" it has been passed down by oral tradition until today

Semana santa
Within religious traditions, highlights another procession: the Entombment of Christ, Holy Saturday. Proposed as a World Heritage Site, it is probably the most unique procession of the Orihuela Passion Week. Traces its origins to the early seventeenth century, when, in order to recognize the merits, honor, loyalty and love for the city, the city government decided to appoint the Knight Covered. This annual honorary position supposed to whoever holds the privilege of carrying a black banner with the motto of the city, and go dressed in tails and top hat, which may carry at all times during the tour, as well as the inside the cathedral, inside which the funeral procession is introduced. It is a procession of official mourning in which all the municipal government is involved.
As a tribute to this figure, it can be seen in the square that there is next to the temple, a bronze statue depicting a man in motion dressed in tails and top hat and holding a flag.

Semana santa
But this procession would add another aspect. Not only is the figure of Knight Covered which highlights here. A shocking processional through the streets creating a huge buzz. It is the oldest passage of oriolana Passion Week: "The Triumph of the Cross" (1696). Also known as "The She-Devil" is a cross located on a globe, flanked by a skeleton it to one side, and a devil with breasts, on the other. This is unique in the world, meaning deep alchemical representation is a theme repeated every year in the newscasts of the country.

Semana santa
Another tradition is the one that represents the call Centuria Romana. Every day, you can see a group of Roman soldiers, with bright and spectacular outfits, is closing the procession. After the same, it is customary that viewers are directed en masse to the Plaza del Marqués de Rafal, where Centuria has a habit of performing the rhythm of bugles and drums, called "snail", a parade circle consisting closing it going, increasingly, in other smaller concentric circles. A quote from the oriolana Passion Week and turned into something essential.

Semana santa

It is, ultimately, Orihuela Passion Week, a unique experience. The visual experience of the bright colors of the robes of the Nazarenes, the spectacular thrones or sunsets from the seminar; the smell of incense, the sound experience of the "twin" trumpets during the day or the Song of the Passion at night. But also the experience that is contemplating the extraordinary works of the great sculptor Francisco Salzillo, among many others. His realism can not but cause the beholder that feeling of pity that everyone, friends and strangers, wraps. As wraps, to anyone who contemplates the face of Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno, patron of the city, which makes discovering, at the same time, within us, that Truth that the message of Jesus Christ entails.

Semana santa de Orihuela