The Beginnings

There are many brotherhood members, experts, and scholars of this special religious celebration we are now addressing. There are also numerous topics of debate among them, such as how the sacred images should be carried through the streets of our city, what music is or isn’t appropriate for the smooth progression of the procession, or which goldsmith should be commissioned to design the new poles for the canopy float… but rarely, at least in my short experience as a brotherhood member, do we ask ourselves about the origin of Holy Week. Where does this unique way of commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ come from? What were its beginnings?

The parallel between religious theater and Holy Week

For professor and journalist Don Antonio Varo Pineda, a renowned brotherhood member from Córdoba and proclaimer of the Holy Week of Córdoba in 1986, there is a strong parallel between the old religious theater and the current Holy Week processions. Varo starts from the idea that in the vast majority of the floats, especially the ones depicting the Passion scenes (floats representing episodes from the Passion of Christ: The Triumphal Entry, The Arrest, The Crowning with Thorns…), the setting and symbolism of the images place us in an almost theatrical situation. He even proposes the possibility that both share the same origin, even though today they may seem like completely different realities.

It seems that the origins of Holy Week began with religious theater.

The evolution of religious theater in the Middle Ages

If we go back to the Middle Ages, we will recall that, despite a brief interruption due to a negative perception of theater, dramatic activity in religious ceremonies was quite common. The performances barely consisted of readings of Gospel passages by several priests. Over time, the Gospel scenes gained more complexity which, combined with the introduction of secular elements, took the performances out of the churches and gradually marked the distinction between religious and secular theater.

Religious theater evolved on its own, but we must make another distinction: one branch gave greater importance to the purely theatrical aspect, while the other remained closer to the liturgy. For Antonio Varo, it is this latter form that leads us to the current Holy Week processions.

The image and the participation of the people

As the performances moved out of the temples, a new issue arose: how should Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, or the Apostles be represented without falling into indignity or irreverence? The everyday faces of the people gradually gave way to masks or sacred images, the latter being better suited to what was represented due to their hieratic and majestic nature. On the other hand, it is worth highlighting the allegorical floats that, until just over 30 years ago, still paraded through our streets; the characters were actors, generally children, who remained still on the floats, which moved on wheels.

The consolidation of the image as the true protagonist of the processional scenography did not eliminate the issue of public participation in the staging. Hence, the figure of the Nazarene emerged—who, as we all know, has endured to this day and, without a doubt, has become a key element of the processional script.

Holy Week as a cultural and tourist experience

If you ask what to visit in Córdoba, a great option would be Holy Week, choosing one of our guided tours. Opting for quality tourism means choosing ArtenCórdoba.

Text by: J.A.S.C.