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EveryParampara

Traditions of Antigua Guatemala

A colonial town beneath volcanoes, famed for Holy Week alfombras of coloured sawdust and flowers.

Antigua Guatemala was the capital of the colonial kingdom until earthquakes in 1773, and its ruined churches and cobbled lanes are a World Heritage site. Holy Week here is among the most celebrated in the Americas, with processions on shoulders over carpets of coloured sawdust, flowers and pine needles.

Antigua Guatemala
Photo: Chad Davis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Alfombras and processions

Families and neighbourhoods spend the night laying alfombras, carpets of dyed sawdust, in patterns of crosses, birds and Maya symbols, on streets that the procession will cross. The huge floats, anda, carried by hundreds of bearers in purple robes, are slowly walked over them, destroying them. Incense and funeral march music fill the air.

At the table

During Lent, Guatemalans eat fish, dried and salted, and sweet dishes such as torrejas and dulce de leche. Pepián, a meat stew with seeds and chiles, and tamales, steamed in leaves, are typical. Chocolate and coffee grow in the area. Fruit is eaten with lime and chile.

Signature traditions of Antigua Guatemala

Sawdust carpetThe carpets.

Also part of it, and being written: Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala (The processions.), Pepián (The stew.), Tamale (The tamales.).

A trail idea for Antigua Guatemala

  1. Arco de Santa Catalina See the arch.
  2. Mercado See the traditional market.
  3. La Merced Church See the baroque facade.
About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, markets and festival dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

KindSpiritualFestivalRite of passageTable customSeasonalDressPerformanceEtiquetteCraftGameFolkloreHomeCeremony
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇲🇽 Huamantla, Mexico and 4 moreSawdust carpettapete de aserrín Colored sawdust designs laid on streets to greet religious processions in Latin America and beyond.Festival 🇬🇹 Antigua Guatemala, GuatemalaHoly Week in GuatemalaSemana Santa Street processions of floats, purple-robed penitents and sawdust carpets in GuatemalaSpiritual

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly EveryParampara

Every week: one tradition from somewhere new, what is being celebrated around the world this week, and one idea explained.