Holy Week of Córdoba

Holy Week is a religious festival and one of the most rooted and firmest cultural manifestations in Córdoba. In fact, nowadays it is becoming an attracting focus for all kinds of beliefs and cultures, probably due to its folkloric and artistic character. There are more and more tourists, both Spanish and foreigners, who visit us at this time attracted by countless feelings and unequalled experiences.

The aim of this section is not to show the user a thorough compilation of information about the brotherhoods or talk about their latest news, as there are already some pages that do so, some of which have great recognition in the field. The objective is to show our particular celebration of Holy Week to those who do not know it, or know very little.

A brotherhood is a very heterogeneous group, made of men and women of different ages and social classes, who have Catholicism in common and they show it through their love for their Images, which are “walked” in procession throughout the Holy Week, when the whole city of Córdobaenjoy their brotherhoods on the street.

Those who come to see processions at Holy Week for the first time will notice their diverse “character”, which also distinguishes them. There are brotherhoods “of silence”, without any musical accompaniment and they are generally brotherhoods whose main characteristics are austerity and retreat, and silence fills all the streets they go along. A good example of this type are Hermandad de la Buena Muerte (Brotherhood of Good Death), whose image is dead in the Cross, or Hermandad del Santo Sepulcro (Brotherhood of Holy Sepulchre), where it is lying in an urn. Likewise, those who come to see the procession should show the respect and the silence the penitents, and especially the image, deserve.

On the other hand, there are some brotherhoods with a more festive character, generally located in the most traditional neighbourhoods in the city (Zumbacón, Campo de la Verdad, Naranjo…). These brotherhoods are popularly known as “brotherhoods of racket”, and they have a more cheerful musical repertoire. Apart from this distinction, we should mention that each brotherhood has specific details that distinguish it from the rest, such as their music, their images’ way of “walking”, etc.

Therefore it would be a great honour for us to offer as much as we can in order for the Holy Week in Córdoba to be a bit bigger, and if it is possible, to promote it at a national and international level as it deserves, as a very important manifestation of faith, culture and art.

Next, we have prepared a brief analysis of the different Brotherhoods, ordered according to the day they are in procession, as well as a brief study of their images. In the section The Beginning you will find a small historical analysis of this particular way of celebrating Holy Week we have in Andalusia. In the section The Processional Parade you will learn about the different parts of a penitential retinue. We hope you enjoy the section.

If you wish to learn about Holy Week in Córdoba do not hesitate to hire of our guided tours. We are experts in the interpretation of the historical heritage from Córdoba. If you have chosen to do sightseeing in Córdoba, choose a high quality option, choose ArtenCórdoba.