Easter in Antigua Guatemala: 40 days of magnificent processions, costumes and “alfombras”, colourful carpets made of sawdust and flowers.
Travelogue Guatemala 1998 Easter in Antigua
What’s odd is that Easter doesn’t get mentioned in my reports. The forty days leading up to the Easter are the most important period of the year for the city of Antigua. Almost every day there are processions for which the streets are festively decorated. Here’s an overview:
Several hours before the procession passes by their own house, the residents start decorating the streets. They create colourful alfombras, carpets from dyed sawdust, flowers, lark needles and so on. Here, the basis is a flat surface of sawdust which is then artfully decorated.
The result then looks like this.
Then the streets fill with people in purple. They carry the so-called coffin table, a huge structure on which a statue of Jesus stands. You can see it comming at the end of the street, covered by a cloud of incense. Of course, there are also Romans, note the headdress. Only Jesus is allowed to walk across the carpets, which of course they don’t survive.
This picture is from Easter Sunday, when all the costumes are off and the actual important celebrations are over. But it is my only photo where you can see the coffin tables being carried.
And when everything is over and destroyed, the spectators pounce on what is left, because in a few hours the procession will also pass by their place and additional material is welcome.
April 27th, 1998, Shortly before departure
Hi guys and girls,
I’m back in Antigua for a few hours, three days in Guatemala City are unbearable (where Felix took the beautiful photos is beyond me). There won’t be a report on what I did until I get back.
