Quito, the capital of Ecuador celebrates Holy Week with magnificent processions and recreations of biblical passages

QUITO, ECUADOR, March 28, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Quito is preparing to celebrate the traditional Holy Week, which will take place from April 2 to 9, and which is the ideal time to appreciate the cultural wealth of a city that has managed to preserve some ceremonies for centuries.

Holy Week begins on April 2 with the Palm Sunday Procession, where thousands of people gather in the Basilica of the National Vow to remember the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and accompany priests and traditional characters in a pilgrimage through the main streets from the Historic Center until the Plaza de San Francisco.

On Tuesday, April 4, Puéllaro will become the scene of the Procession of the Andas, structures that represent 12 biblical passages and that travel through this rural parish on the shoulders of the hundreds of faithful who participate in this unique tradition.

On Wednesday, April 5, in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Quito, the Arrastre de Caudas ceremony is celebrated, it was initially celebrated more than 500 years ago in ancient Rome and currently it only continuous to be celebrated in Quito, making the city the guardian of an intangible heritage.

On Thursday, April 6, the altars are dyed silver and purple for the tour of the Seven Churches, which represents the journey made by Jesus to the calvary. The Historic Center of Quito opens its patrimonial churches, chapels, and convents.

That same day, traditional characters of Holy Week from Quito, such as holy souls, veronicas, cucuruchos and matracas are the protagonists of the Procession of Light, which goes from the Basilica of the National Vow to the Plaza de Santo Domingo, headed by the Ballet Jacchigua folklore.

On Friday, April 7, the Jesús del Gran Poder Procession will once again summon thousands of spectators who congregate in the Historic Center to experience one of the most important liturgical expressions in the city, where the faithful recreate the Via Crucis with heavy logs up to 50 kilograms, while they are accompanied by songs, and prayers.

On Saturday, April 8, the Blessing of Light will be celebrated in Alangasí. In this ceremony several people who personify the devil, wander through the streets of the parish celebrating the death of Jesus. The curious characters flee in terror from the church when the priest says the Pascual Proclamation and the lights of the church come on.

Other celebrations such as the Procession of Silence in the Plaza de Santo Domingo and in the Convent of San Francisco; the Procession of the Devils in the parish of La Merced; and the renowned Procession of Soledad de Maria in the traditional neighborhood of San Marcos, are part of the liturgical activities of the week.

If we are talking about the protagonists of Holy Week, the traditional fanesca cannot be left out. A typical dish that goes back to the ancestral ceremonies of the Inca culture where they thanked for the harvest and that is prepared with cod, representing Jesus, and 12 grains that symbolize the apostles. As a curious fact, the grains represents Judas Iscariot, so prior to cooking it must be drained for 7 days, to clean up the betrayal of this disciple.

Marisol Hernandez
Grupo Euroamerica
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