Segovia information
Holy Week
The festival of Semana Santa in Segovia has
been declared of touristic interest in Castilla y León.
One of the most spectacular events is the procession of the Vía
Crucis Penitencial, in the convent where the poet Fray Juan de
Yepes went in search of the sonorous solitude of God.
Also worth seeing is the procession from San Marcos, which carries
the image of Cristo Crucificado (Christ on the Cross) across the
bridge over the river Eresma via El Pinarillo, where there is
a 15th century Jewish cemetery.
The procession is open to all kinds of interpretations, as it also carries the dead body of Christ to the la Vista del Alcázar, the city wall and the cathedral.
Among the Segovian processional works of art, one of the oldest
is the float of el Cristo de los Gascones which takes part in
the Vía Crucis procession in the el Salvador district on the Thursday.
On the Friday the Procesión del Santo Entierro goes from the Zamarramala
district to la Vera Cruz. When it approaches los Templarios it
meets los Caballeros de la Orden de Malta (the Knights of the
Order of Malta), owners of the historical church where they will
have been on a vigil. Inside the temple, built in the Romantic
period, Santo Oficio (Holy Office) is held. The participants then
return to Zamarramala where they sing the Salve Dolorosa (Sorrowful
Hymn) and hear the Sermón de la Soledad (Sermon of Solitude).
These events are a recreation of the ceremonies attended in the
12th century by the knights of the Soberana y Militar Orden Hospitalaria
de San Juan de Jerusalén de Rodas y Malta.
On Friday in the Plaza de Santa Eulalia, the Sermón de las Siete
Palabras and the Vía Crucis Penitencial are held, and in the afternoon
there is a meeting of fraternity members for the Procesión de
los Pasos, a procession of some ten floats which finishes at the
emblematic Roman aqueduct. The Misa de Resurrección on Saturday
in the Hieronymite monastery of El Parral is also recommended.