Easter Week in Merida

  Merida's Roman monuments are transformed into the greatest attractions of the Easter Week processions.

The popular procession known as “la borriquita” (or "little donkey") leaves from the Santa María Pro-cathedral on Palm Sunday and marks the start of Merida's Easter Week celebrations. Many of the brotherhoods choose routes passing by the city's most emblematic sites and monuments, which guarantees various intensely moving moments. For a few days the Arch of Trajan, the Temple of Diana and the Roman bridge over the Guadiana river serve as a unique backdrop for the religious images in the procession. One of the most special events is the early morning Vía Crucis, which proceeds in complete silence to the Roman amphitheatre.Easter week is one of the most heartfelt and deep-rooted fiestas celebrated in Spain. This commemoration has centuries of history and tradition, remembering the passion and death of Jesus Christ. The streets of the majority of Spain's cities, towns and villages become the stage for religious fervour and devotion, combining grief and meditation in memory of Christ's death. Music, art and colour come together in magical processions - solemn parades in which crowds of people accompany religious images on their route through the streets.