Guatemala S Easter Sawdust Carpets

The spectacular carpet is part of guatemala s traditional easter celebrations and was created by 5 000 volunteers using 54 tonnes of sawdust.

Guatemala s easter sawdust carpets.

Arts colorful sawdust carpets coat the streets of guatemala s cities during their iconic easter holy week processions. The tradition of decorating streets in this fashion began in europe and was brought to the americas by the spanish. Lent in antigua guatemala includes video link carpet in progress antigua guatemala the sawdust carpets that grace the streets and churches of antigua during the season of lent ash wednesday easter day are as beautiful as any valuable oriental rug that you can find. The final processions take place on easter sunday.

To soften the path. Every year during holy week amazing carpets composed of flowers vegetables fruits and dyed sawdust adorn the streets of antigua guatemala a lovely colonial city home to latin america s most famous easter celebration. Bella guatemala travel antigua is a small city of 35 000 people defined by cobblestoned. What processions to see on holy week in antigua guatemala.

The bearers wear white symbolizing joy. Lord priscilla sawyer and daniel j. Antigua s easter tradition of laying intricate carpets made of vibrant flowers and other objects to decorate the city during semana santa bring a whole new level of beauty to guatemala s former. Guatemala s semana santa the easter festival in the former colonial capital are beyond comparison to anything in the northern hemisphere along cobblestone streets intricate carpets of colored sawdust are painstakingly laid down.

Sawdust carpets in guatemala s easter celebrations the world and i 10 4 april 1995. This year the country has a new reason to celebrate it has been recognized by guinness world records for producing the longest sawdust carpet in the world. Holy week in antigua guatemala begins on palm sunday with a mass in catholic churches. Time lapse of a beautiful sawdust carpet being made and then trampled over by a catholic procession.

The anatomy of a sawdust carpet. Tapetes de aserrín are one or more layers of colored sawdust and sometimes other additional materials laid on the ground as decoration sawdust carpets are traditionally created to greet a religious procession that walks over them. That day la merced church takes a procession out that goes through the streets of the colonial city with sawdust carpets adorning its passage. Firecrackers explode as the celebrations draw to a close.

Later a solemn procession of roman centurions march over the carpets carrying an image of christ on the cross.