Easter week and religious celebrations

Easter Week in Carmona is an emotion-filled Via Crucis, a sublime, solemn manifestation of devotion and aesthetic beauty which engulfs the city’s stone walls and resounds through the its narrow streets and hidden squares.

The city’s monumental architecture provides an outstanding backdrop for the processions of its eight cofradías, or religious brotherhoods.

The unquestionable artistic appeal of this emblematic occasion is reflected in its stunning religious imagery, including the oldest object to be paraded through the streets in any of Andalusia’s Easter processions: the representation of Christ as El Señor de la Amargura, carved by Jorge Fernández Alemán in 1521. Another image which exemplifies the “art in the streets” to be seen during the Easter period in Carmona is El Cristo de la Humildad y la Paciencia, an 18th century work attributed to Montes de Oca.

Mention should also be made of the luxurious fabrics which bedeck the images and the pasos, and the embroidered skirts, wood carvings and gold and silver work which enhance their visual impact.

Another major religious celebration is that of Corpus Christi, in which a 16th century monstrance is paraded through the streets. The route is adorned with reeds, flower petals and altars.