Holy Week in Cordoba

Holy Week in Cordoba is a religious festival with deep roots in the Andalusian region. Beyond beliefs, it has managed to consolidate itself as a cultural and artistic example with its own unique character. As in other parts of Spain, Holy Week is a representation of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Numerous artistic works are shown through processions through the streets of the city, all of them followed by its most faithful devotees.

Holy Week in Cordoba is an event of great tourist attraction for the city, which marks a time of great symbolism for some people and great admiration for others.

There are different types of Holy Week processions. Some are called “brotherhoods of silence” and are characterized by not using any musical accompaniment or band. Their objective is to show greater seriousness and austerity for a moment of pure devotion, as for example, the Brotherhood of the Sepulcher. Others, on the other hand, accompany the image with different music marches that create a unique atmosphere during the procession.

When is Easter Week in Cordoba

Holy Week begins on the first Sunday after Lent, that is, forty days after Ash Wednesday. Easter must also be the Sunday after the full moon of the March equinox. To calculate it, the lunar cycle is always taken into account.

Easter Week Cordoba 2023

The Holy Week of Cordoba 2023 will take place between Sundays, April 2 and 9, 2023, being able to return in principle to the processions as they were carried out before the pandemic, although it will also be possible to enjoy the processions of the brotherhoods of the Cristo de las Lágrimas de Parque Figueroa, and the Presentación al Pueblo del Barrio de Cañero, which will process from different districts of the city.

History of the Holy Week in Cordoba

Birth of the Holy Week Brotherhoods in Cordoba

To speak of the Holy Week of Cordoba we must go back to the XVI century, moment in which a multitude of brotherhoods and confraternities began to emerge with the Catholic Reformation as a result of the birth of Martin Luther’s Protestantism.

Prohibition of Holy Week Processions in Cordoba

After several centuries of strengthening in number of brotherhoods, Holy Week was severely damaged by the French despoilment of 1808 and the prohibition in 1819 of the processions by Bishop Pedro Antonio de Trevilla. This decree caused many of the brotherhoods to dissolve. For example, the brotherhoods of Soledad, Nazarenos and Veracruz were forced to permanently suspend their practices. This situation lasted for 30 years, because new generations of Cordobeses were born without any roots for the Holy Week.

Resurgimiento de la Semana Santa de Córdoba

In 1849, the City Council organized the Official of the Holy Burial on Good Friday, thanks to which the worship was revived in brotherhoods such as Los Dolores and El Calvario, being able to organize processions both on Good Friday and on the previous days of Holy Week.

The tradition that had endured until the Trevilla Decree was recovered little by little and an attempt was made to return the passage through the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba as part of the Official Procession. However, it was not until 2017 that all the brotherhoods made Penitential Station in the Cathedral.

Although in the 1920s organizations and brotherhoods were founded with a structure similar to those of Granada and Malaga, in 1944 Bishop Adolfo Pérez Muñoz officially founded the Agrupación de Hermandades y Cofradías de Córdoba (Association of Brotherhoods and Brotherhoods of Cordoba). From this moment, the Cordovan Holy Week has grown exponentially with the emergence of new brotherhoods and the popularization of this festivity.

In fact, there are currently up to 37 brotherhoods within the Holy Week of Cordoba, although many are reduced to exercise their activity in the neighborhood to which they belong and try to grow to become one more brotherhood of the Official Race.

Holy Week in Cordoba Today

In 2017, the route of the Carrera Oficial was changed to pass through the Cathedral, to comply with tradition and reduce the route, since until then it was necessary for the processions to circulate through the center of the city. Finally, after the necessary permits and the approval of UNESCO, a new door was opened this year to make it easier for the brotherhoods to pass through the Cathedral of Cordoba.

In 2020 and 2021 Cordoba’s Holy Week was cancelled for the first time in its recent history due to the health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2021, permission was granted again for the return of the processions to the streets of Cordoba, making it possible to celebrate Holy Week in 2022.

This year, it is expected that Holy Week in Cordoba 2023 will take place normally.

Map of the Brotherhoods and Confraternities of Holy Week of Cordoba

Cordoba Holy Week Itinerary 2023

We already have the Official Itinerary of the Holy Week of Cordoba 2023, being as follows:

Itinerary Palm Sunday Cordoba 2023

The beginning of the week will belong to the brotherhoods of the Entrada Triunfal, las Penas de Santiago, el Rescatado, la Esperanza, el Amor and el Huerto, which will process to Carrera Oficial.

Itinerary Easter Monday Cordoba 2023

This day is the turn for the Brotherhoods of the Star, the Vera Cruz, the Merced, the Sentencia, the Via Crucis and the Animas.

Holy Tuesday Itinerary Cordoba 2023

Holy Tuesday will be the day for the Brotherhood of the Agony, the University, the Blood, the Buen Suceso, the Santa Faz, the Prendimiento.

Itinerary Holy Wednesday Cordoba 2023

The equator of the week belongs to the Brotherhoods of El Perdón, El Calvario, La Paz, La Misericordia, La Pasión and La Piedad, which will be able to walk the streets of Córdoba in 2023.

Holy Thursday Itinerary Cordoba 2023

On Holy Thursday the processions of the Brotherhoods of the Nazarene, Charity, the Fallen, the Supper, the Anguish and the Christ of Grace will be able to process.

Good Friday Itinerary Cordoba 2023

At dawn on Good Friday, the Brotherhood of the Good Death will perform its Penitential Station, with its departure from San Hipolito. Throughout the day, the Brotherhoods of the Via Crucis de la Caridad will carry out their Station of Penitence in the morning, then in the afternoon, the Soledad, the Expiración, the Descendimiento, the Dolores and the Santo Sepulcro will carry out their Station of Penitence.

Itinerary Easter Sunday Cordoba 2023

This will be the day for the Brotherhood of the Resurrected, which will put the finishing touch to the Holy Week of Cordoba 2023.

Download Book of Holy Week Itineraries Cordoba 2023

We already have the Official Book with the Itineraries of the Holy Week of Cordoba 2023.

Click on the following link to download:
Official Book Easter Week Cordoba 2023

Download Holy Week Schedule Cordoba 2023

We still do not have the official schedule for the Holy Week of Cordoba 2023. For now, you can download below the complete and official schedule for the Holy Week of Cordoba 2022. To do so, click on the following link:

Schedule Easter Week Cordoba 2023

News Easter Week in Cordoba 2023

This year, the Holy Week of Cordoba is full of novelties, on the one hand, joins to make the journey by official race the Brotherhood of the Conversion, which last year completed its process of ‘ad experimentum’ and ceased to be prohermandad, to become brotherhood and thus make the official route to the Mosque-Cathedral, its output will take place from the neighborhood of Electromechanical, located in the west-north district.

On the other hand, in 2020 the Brotherhood of Soledad, moved its canonical seat to the Parish of Santa Maria de Guadalupe, so this year will make its official departure from the parish, touring the most iconic streets of the Levante district such as Jesus Rescatado and Barcelona Avenue.

Photos of the Holy Week in Cordoba

Frequently Asked Questions about Holy Week in Cordoba