American Easter celebrations in the ancient city of Antigua, Guatemala

Every year, when the flowers bloom in warm spring, the ancient city of Antigua, a peaceful small city in Guatemala, holds the celebration of "the most Easter Festival in Central America." The solemn religious ceremonies, day and night festival parades and colorful Easter carpets not only attract a large number of believers from Guatemala and neighboring countries, but even a large number of tourists from the United States, Canada and even Europe gather during this period to experience the unique charm of the "Holy Week Carpet."

Know the

before departure

Almost all Latin America is Catholic. Easter), as the anniversary of the crucifixion and ascension of Jesus Christ, is one of the most important festivals in the Catholic Church. Although grand and grand Easter celebrations are held every year in cities across Guatemala, Antigua's "Holy Week" enjoys the reputation of "Latin America's Most Resurrection Festival" and "Latin America's Largest Celebration" due to its long duration of celebrations, large scale of parades, and unique "Holy Week carpet." In addition, as the old capital of the Spanish American colonies, the ancient city of Antigua retains a large number of grand and exquisite colonial buildings. The simple legacy of indigenous Indian culture is a must-visit for those interested in ancient Mayan civilization.

Building a leveled foundation is the first step.

Creating palm flowers to decorate Palm Sunday

Luis Alberto Montiel pointed to four or five busy figures laying yellow sand and sawdust on the asphalt road, inspecting the tools and materials piled on the street, and introduced me to laying the Holy Week carpet. Various details. It was the eve of the "Good Friday" of Easter. After the road closure of Ancha Street, where we were located, there was no longer a busy traffic. Instead, it was replaced by a tense atmosphere: under a strong light, people are doing ground leveling work every second. "After this step is completed, we can start the carpet parquet and other decoration. Although there are still nearly ten hours before dawn, there is actually not enough time at all." Louis looked at his watch again.

This is my fifth day in Antigua. Resurrection is called "Holy Week" locally because it lasts for a week. It starts on the Sunday when I arrived, namely "Palm Sunday", and ends on "Resurrection Sunday" the next Sunday. The journey time is the same as the journey in the Bible when Jesus entered Jerusalem, was crucified, and was resurrected. However, local Easter celebrations actually started before Palm Sunday. During this period, not only can you witness many religious marches of varying sizes, but the Holy Week carpet laid on the road sections passed by the parade is a unique sight in Antigua.

Simple carpet before Holy Week

There are simple and complex carpeting in Antigua Holy Week. During the daily parade before Holy Week, people lay simple carpeting with pine branches, magnolias, roses and palm hearts. Complex Holy Week carpets usually only appear on "Good Friday" due to their exquisite materials and time-consuming construction. Good Friday is a big day for celebrations in Antigua. On this solemn Friday morning, 80 elected "ascetics" appeared on the streets of Antigua carrying the Holy Cathedral, which is usually sealed in La Mose Church. The three-and-a-half-ton cedar stands on a statue of Jesus with a cross on its shoulder, which together with the deep steps of the "ascetics", becomes a symbol of Jesus 'martyrdom.

Carpets laid across the city

Pine branches and magnolia trees are the main materials for simple carpets

As Antigua's most famous Holy Week carpet maker, the Luis family not only lays a large-scale and complex carpet for the parade before Good Friday every year. When Pope Paul II visited Guatemala, the government invited him and two brothers to the capital to lay carpets in order to welcome the Pope. This is a supreme honor in Guatemala, where all the people are religious. However, Luis's family is not the only one in Antigua who serves Holy Week rugs. While he and his family were busy, neighbors were also preparing carpets for the parade, and they were eager to compete with them.

Louis said while guiding his friend's work: "The main material used for carpet laying is dyed wood chips of varying thicknesses. I have more than ten colors in my home, which can make the most complex patterns on the carpet." Since wood chips easily dry and fade after dyeing, in order to keep the pattern bright, they will wait until the morning of the day of laying before dyeing the wood chips.

Carpeting people gather everywhere

In fact, on the eve of Good Friday, not only Ancha Street was busy, but also people laying Holy Week carpets gathered on other streets in the ancient city of Antigua. Many families, like Louis, asked relatives and friends to help. Louis said that the efforts to lay this carpet every year are not only because of faith, but also because of maintaining a unique tradition. The Holy Week carpet actually originated in southern Spain, but it is rare to see this exquisite decoration in other parts of the world."Only we in Guatemala still adhere to this tradition," Luis added proudly. As the most important festival in Guatemala, Easter is also a good opportunity to reunite families and meet relatives and friends. Many relatives only return to Antigua at this time.

Near ten o'clock in the evening, the Lewis family completed the laying of the "foundation". Then everyone moved out of the house and laid the engraved wooden template on a smooth "foundation." "It's my turn this time." Louis smiled at me, and then leaned forward with his brother to work. This primary school teacher, who was over sixty years old, carefully filled wood chips of various colors into the patterns of the template. His serious and careful attitude was as if he was teaching children to do scientific experiments hand-in-hand. Soon, a row of gorgeous flowers appeared on the foundation paved with dyed wood chips.

dyed wood chips

On the eve of Good Friday, I stayed up all night, like most Antigua people. After getting Louis 'approval, I joined the ranks of making large carpets. Louis handed me a pot of red fine saw chips and taught me to fill in four red flowers according to the engraving on the template. Only when I started it did I realize that this was a job that required courage and meticulous attention to be competent.

The "carpet" foundation mainly uses yellow sand and sawdust

Stealing will only delay time and affect progress. Each carpet is decorated with thousands of flowers of different sizes. Carelessness will destroy the finished pattern. Dealing with dyed wood chips will have to be careful. When the white of the fish belly appeared in the east, a large colored carpet as exquisite as embossed appeared on the street in front of Louis's house, and the carpets in the neighbors were almost completed. At this time, Ancha Street is like being paved with an endless ribbon, colorful and beautiful.

Witness the beautiful destruction of the

Good Friday parade

At dawn, the street was filled with people admiring the carpet. Louis said that thanks to the help of many skilled helpers last night, otherwise the carpet would not have been completed by now. At this moment, apart from the final inspection and polishing, the only thing to do is to wait for the arrival of the "Good Friday" parade. After 9 a.m., Acha Street was crowded with people. In addition to uniformed police officers, Guatemala military personnel carrying automatic rifles have also joined the ranks of maintaining order. In the crowd, I ran into Chris, an American eldest sister from New Jersey, who was holding up a camera to film the carpet from all angles. As a volunteer at a local orphanage, Chris is an industrial designer who has given up her comfortable life in the United States and has been working in Antigua for nearly four years. The first time she visited Antigua came to Easter. She said that she had never seen such a scale of traditional activities before and was completely impressed by the huge scale and mysterious atmosphere of Holy Week. "What moved me most was the piety of the people." When she first saw Antigua people laying Holy Week carpets all night long, her values were subverted. In the past, she has always believed that art is the product of the artist's personal wisdom, and the purpose of creating them is to be passed down to the world and immortal through the ages. But for the sake of faith, Antigua people worked so hard to make this beautiful and fragile carpet in order to witness its destruction. "I think this reflects a view of life that has the courage to endure suffering." Chris admitted that participating in Easter in Antigua had a big impact on her life. "Experiencing suffering like those ascetics and sharing difficulties is actually what we all need to do." I think this may be the reason why she came to volunteer at the local orphanage.

"Roman soldiers" were chatting while opening the road when the street suddenly quieted down. Chris looked into the distance: "The Romans are here." Two rows of "Roman soldiers" holding shields and spears were slowly walking forward along the edge of the Holy Week carpet. The crowd gathered on the street silently retreated to make way for them, and the "Good Friday" parade began. The "Roman soldiers" who followed the lead were hundreds of Palestinians dressed up as fragrant children. Each of them shook an incense burner tied to chains in their hands, drowning the road to martyrdom in confused white smoke. After the incense children passed by, they heard the low wailing drum music. At this time, the statue of Jesus on the Great Sage Platform appeared on the distant street: he carried a cross on his shoulder and wore a thorn laurel on his head. The thorns on the laurel made his face hang with blood beads... As the white smoke dissipated, the ascetics carrying the Great Sage Platform came into view. They all looked solemn and walked step by step on the colorful road of suffering amidst the sound of sorrows. At this time, the man next to me who was taking pictures put down the camera, picked up the cross on his chest and kissed it. He crossed his hands on his chest and bowed his head to pray at the Great Sage Tower like many people.

Festival decorations at Limin Gate Other options to play at the festival: The ancient city of Antigua is a World Heritage Site named by UNESCO and a colonial ancient city with beautiful scenery in Central America. In addition, the several volcanoes around the city are also unique natural attractions to visit while staying in Antigua.

Transportation: The ancient city of Antigua is about 45 kilometers away from Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala. You can reach it from Guatemala City by taxi, minibus or chartered car. Chartered cars are available for negotiation and cost around $20 one way. Basically all the attractions in the ancient city can be reached on foot.

Accommodation: There are many high-quality B & Bs in Antigua suitable for living during Holy Week, but it is difficult to book online due to the lack of online information. If you stay in the ancient city for a long time, it is recommended to find an ordinary hotel first and then find a more satisfactory accommodation. Hotels can be booked. It provides detailed local restaurant information.

Shopping: Antigua has many tourist craft shops for tourists. The market around the ancient city's Yuantu Bus Station is a good place to find traditional handicrafts. Recommended local handicrafts include traditional fabrics, wood carvings, pottery, backpacks, leather products and exquisite silver jewelry with Mayan cultural flavor.