The Unique Holy Week of Central America

Via Crucis Aquatic-Granada, Nicaragua 

 

Holy Week in the Central American countries of Guatemala and Nicaragua is similar to that in other parts of the Latin American world, but also very different. Nowhere else will you find the elaborate sawdust carpets, Huertos (elaborate gardens constructed of fruits and vegetables) or a Good Friday Via Crucis in boats on the water.

The sawdust and floral carpets created during Lent and Holy Week are unparalleled. These carpets are created on streets before the passage of a religious procession and are meant to be destroyed as they are walked on by the procession.  They are a gift to the divine.  Antigua, Guatemala is world-famous for its carpets.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-anatomy-of-sawdust-carpet-lent-in.html

The carpets of Barrio Sutiava in Leon, Nicaragua are very different from those of Antigua.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/05/art-as-sacrifice-sawdust-carpets-of.html

This video, shot in Antigua, Guatemala takes an in-depth look at these carpets and their construction.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2015/03/video-available-sawdust-and-floral.html

                                        ___________________________ 

Huertos are spectacular displays of fruits and vegetables constructed in churches and, in Nicaragua, in special structures built for the occasion.  The word huerto translates as vegetable garden or orchard and they symbolize the abundance and redemption of the resurrection. 

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-huertos-of-guatemala-and-nicaragua.html

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On Good Friday, throughout the Christian world, the Via Crucis, Stations of the Cross is performed publicly.  In Granada, Nicaragua there is a completely unique Via Crucis in boats on the city's Lake Nicaragua.   

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2018/04/via-crucis-aquatic-granada-nicaragua.html

                                      _______________________________

Nandaime, Nicaragua is a small country town that has a celebration that turns the ancient purification ritual of self-flagellation on its head.  In Nandaime on Holy Wednesday each year for one hour, participants roam the streets good-naturedly whipping anyone in their path. It did sting a bit, but was interesting to be there.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2016/04/taking-hit-holy-wednesday-in-nandaime.htm

                                          ___________________________________                                                                     

Antigua Guatemala is world-famous for its spectacular Holy Week processions. Here is one that took place on the day before Easter, an important day in the Latin American world.

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2015/04/video-holy-saturday-procession.html

                                        ____________________________________

Bands are a central part of processions.  Special music has been composed for them over the years. In essence they are funeral bands.  

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-music-of-holy-week-processions.html

Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Nicaragua

Good Friday Procession, Sutiaba, Leon Nicaragua

Nicaragua is typically not on the top of most peoples' lists to visit during Holy Week. That is a mistake because it has some of to have some of the most beautiful and dramatic observances in all of Latin America.  Here are just a few photos:

Holy Figures on Display, Granada Nicaragua

Procession of Carretas, Massaya, Nicaragua 

Procession, Granada Nicaragua

I invite you to experience the Nicaragua's unique Semana Santa in a series of posts that I have written.  Please click on each link to see the post.

Holy Wednesday, Nandaime Nicaragua:

Participant in Holy Wednesday event, Nandaime, Nicaragua

In Nandaime a small town, each week on Holy Wednesday the ancient ritual of Holy Week Flagellants is re-enacted with an interesting twist.  You can see this at:

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2016/04/taking-hit-holy-wednesday-in-nandaime.html


Along the Road in Massaya, Nicaragua:

Transporting Processional Figure, Masaya, Nicaragua

Holy Week is a time when the sacred dimension more closely intermingles with that of everyday life in fascinating ways:

https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2016/06/sacred-meets-profane-holy-wednesday-in.html


The Huertos of Nicaragua:

Huerto, Diria Massaya, Nicaragua

Constructing a Huerto, Diria Massaya, Nicaragua

The huertas (translation- orchards), constructed during Holy Week in both Nicaragua and Guatemala are gorgeous creations using the fruits of the earth.
https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-huertos-of-guatemala-and-nicaragua.html

Sutiaba's Sawdust Carpets:

Sawdust Carpet under Construction, Sutiaba barrio, Leon Nicaragua

Like their cousins, the famed sawdust carpets of Antigua Guatemala, those of the Sutiaba barrio in Leon, Nicaragua are magnificent, filled with religious passion, but constructed in a very different way.
https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2017/05/art-as-sacrifice-sawdust-carpets-of.html

Via Crucis Aquatic:

Via Crucis Aquatic, Lake Nicaragua, Granada, Nicaragua

The absolutely most unique Holy Week event in all of Latin America is Granada's Via Crucis Aquatic, a stations of the cross done on boats.
https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2018/04/via-crucis-aquatic-granada-nicaragua.html


The Music of Holy Week:

Holy Week Procession, Granada, Nicaragua

Sound is a part of Holy Week processions, in particular, the music which is especially composed for these events.
https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-music-of-holy-week-processions.html

Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua: A Totally Unique Holy Week Event

Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

The Via Crucis, or Way of the Cross, is the series of images (usually 14) showing Jesus on the day of his crucifixion, along with the related prayers.  During the period of Lent and, particularly, on Good Friday there are many Via Crucis processions in Latin American countries. Typically, stations portraying the stations will be set up along streets and pilgrims walk between stations, stopping at each for specific prayers and benedictions.  For those of you that are unfamiliar with this ritual, please click this link for more in-depth information- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stations_of_the_Cross

Granada, Nicaragua has a totally unique form of the Via Crucis that is performed on the water in small boats and know as Via Crucis Aquatic; it is the only place in Latin America where this is done.  This aquatic Viacrucis happens on Cocibolca (Lake Nicaragua), the largest lake in Central America and is occurs a few times in the week preceding Easter. Hotels and tourist information cannot tell you when they are because there is no set schedule for them.  I was advised to go and inquire at Guadalupe Church, which hosts processions, to find a time and possibly get a ticket.

Guadalupe Church, Granada Nicaragua

The day I went to Guadalupe church, I was lucky, because the office was open and I speak enough Spanish to explain what I was wanted.  I paid a nominal fee and was handed this ticket.

Via Crucis Aquatic ticket

As I later discovered, I had hit the jackpot without knowing it.  The ticket was for the Wednesday before Easter on the lead boat, the one carrying the holy image (imagen) of Jesus Nazareno.  Commercial tours that offer the Via Crucis Aquatic, put tourists in boats that follow the actual water-borne religious procession, but this little purple ticket placed me square in the midst of the procession on the lead boat. Most tourists, if they are lucky, find a boat from which to observe the procession; being a part of the procession, as I was, was  totally different.

You will notice that the time listed on the ticket was 6:30 am, which meant that I had to be at Guadalupe Church early Wednesday morning. From there the group, mostly congregation members, boarded a van to the lake and our boat.

In van, on the way to the Via Crucis Aquatic

Lake Nicaragua, Cocibolca, is a huge body of water with an outlet to the Atlantic
Granada is located on its shore and in it are 365 small islands (Islets of Granada) located just southeast of the city of Granada; many of them are inhabited either on a full-time or part-time vacation basis. Lake Nicaragua is the largest lake in Central America.

Cocibolca, (Lake Nicaragua), Granada Nicaragua

A band that would play during the Viacrucis procession was already loaded on board and everyone was handed a life jacket for the duration of the nearly 6 hour journey, that would include no bathroom breaks!

Boat readied for Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

Band instruments on board boat for Via Crucis Aquatic procession, Granada Nicaragua

Below, other boats are loading passengers before taking their place in the procession.

Boats loading for Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

Because ours was the lead boat, the boat carrying the religious image, members of the clergy came on board to conduct the service.

Clergy on board lead boat, Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

The boat took off without a statue and at the first island stop, a statue of Jesus Nazareno, the imagen or image referred to on my ticket, was taken from a small chapel where it had been and loaded onto the front of our boat to lead the procession and remain there until the Viacrucis was over hours later. In Latin America significant statues are sometimes lent among churches in a kind of solemn interchange.

Image of Jesus Nazareno being loaded onto Via Crucis Aquatic boat,  Granada Nicaragua

Jesus Nazarene aboard Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

Here is a photo of me on the boat as the event gets underway; how I managed to have the luck to get on this boat I still do not know.

Author aboard in Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

The boats in the procession made 14 stops, one for each of the stations of the Cross, each time pulling up at another of the tiny islands, the isletas, that dot Lake Nicaragua.  At each stop, after the prayers,  people offered flowers and fruit to image of Jesus. These offerings were absolutely beautiful and rapidly filled the boat's floor.

Offerings, Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

The band played frequently throughout the event, often when approaching or leaving a station.  Their music consisted of the funeral marches typical of the area.  These, during the colonization of Latin America, were adapted to military bands that accompanied funerals and so in addition to being sombre have a military feeling as well. They are of a specific musical genre having initially been written by composers with very little musical training.  

Band playing during Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

There were two kinds of boats out on Cocibolca that day, boats participating in the procession and sight-seeing boats following the processional boats. Below are some of the many tour boats, since the event is a popular one for tourists. Observing the procession and being a part of it are two entirely different things.

Tourist Boats during Via Crucis Aquatic, Lake Nicaragua

Each Station of the Cross had been carefully decorated by the inhabitants of the various islands. 

Station of the Cross, Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

Station of the Cross, Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

Station of the Cross, Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

Station of the Cross, Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

Station of the Cross, Via Crucis Aquatic Granada Nicaragua

Station of the Cross, Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada NIcaragua

Station of the Cross, Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

Station of the Cross, Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

As the procession went along the boat became more and more laden with the offerings that were given by the islanders at each stop.  Some people donated money to the church and there was a designated person onboard to collect it. At the end of the Via Crucis some of the fruit was sold to people on the boat who wanted it and some remained for the church and clergy and to be distributed among the needy.

Flower Offering, Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

Fruit Offering, Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

Fruit Offering, Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

Floral Offering, Via Crucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

At the Via Crucis' end, the statue of Jesus was removed from the boat, to be returned 
to its "home" church in the city.

Jesus Nazareno about to be removed from Via Crucis  Aquatic boat, Granada Nicaragua

Reflections:

All Via Crucis are solemn devotional events, but Granada's Via Crucis Aquatic is more than just that.  It is not only an opportunity for personal devotion for participants, but an celebration that unites Granada and its outlying islands, giving the community a chance to come together in an activity that has meaning for all.  It is a solemn celebration, but also one with much beauty and its own sort of joy. Money is raised for the church and some of the offerings are donated to the needy.   

The Via Crucis Aquatic is a unique experience, and a local mainstay of Holy Week in Granada.  It is offered as a highlight on all tours to the area, even though tourists are advised that there is a chance one may not be available on the day or days they are there.

I plan on making a video of the Via Crucis Aquatic in the near-future.