 Semanta
Santa or Holy Week is the biggest celebration in Antigua. Hundreds
of locals dress in violet robes to accompany daily processions
in remembrance of the crucifixion. The celebrations last the entire
week, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, with the main processions
occurring on Good Friday.
A fascinating aspect of the
processions are that families get together and create elaborate
and stunningly beautiful colored flower petal carpets made by
hand using petals, and colored sawdust, only to watch their work
be trampled by huge processions of thousands of penitents and
Roman centurions. Huge biers with priceless colonial effigies
of Christ, the apostles and the Virgin Mary are carried by the
penitents. These traditional processions date back hundreds of
years and attract visitors and pilgrims from all over the world.
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