Monthly Archives: March 2018

At the foot of the Huascarán - one of the highest snow-covered peaks in the world - in the city of Huaraz, Holy Week is impregnated with the tradition and customs of its people as it commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Huaraz, known as the Peruvian Switzerland, people prepare a year in advance to represent the drama of Golgotha and the subsequent resurrection of Christ with great realism. The festival begins on Palm Sunday with the traditional parade of palms in which the effigy of Jesus on a burrito triumphantly travels through the main streets of the city, receiving applause and tribute from the population. Each day of Holy Week is celebrated with absolute dedication. On... [ + ]

The Archaeological Capital of America and former head of the once mighty Empire of Tahuantinsuyo celebrates Holy Week by paying homage to the image of the Lord of the Earthquakes or Taitacha Temblores, in Quechua. According to some sources, the history of this Christ of stark features and overwhelming appearance dates back to when the Emperor Charles V sent the effigy to Cusco, made especially for the Indians, copying the sharp features of these. The Spaniards sought to consolidate the conquest made by the sword and impose their worship. His carved face - a fine dark rock - shows a serious and sad gesture, picking up at each step the cry of the faithful towards his "General of Hope". It... [ + ]

In the capital, Huamanga, the celebrations begin with the so-called "Doloroso Friday", previous to Palm Sunday, gathering thousands of parishioners around the Lord of the Agony and of the Sorrowful Virgin, in a meeting that personifies the suffering of Christ and his mother's. Minutes after noon on Palm Sunday the traditional entrance of the "Chamiza" or retama -species of dry plant- to the Main Square, which consists of the passage of a tropelía of beasts and donkeys -ended with branches of this plant- pulled by the settlers who, breaking through the crowd, explode rockets and bombards. Upon reaching the main square of the city, the "chamiza" is deposited in a discreet location on the side of the Cathedral, where it... [ + ]