Historical Notes

   The processions of the Holy Week were brought to Medina by San Vincente Ferrer in 1411. We know that the Saint lived in Medina del Campo in 1412, with the permission of Regent Fernando de Antequera – a nobleman of Medina del Campo who played an important part in the saint's journey.

   According to the historical information that we have, we know that there were two main cofradías – brotherhoods. One was under the invocation of the Vera Cruz (today Cofradía de la Oración del Huerto ) and the other one was placed under the invocation of the Quinta Angustia de la Virgen (nowadays it is the Archonfraternity of Nuestra Señora de las Angustias ).

   The Cofradía de la Vera Cruz was created in 1544 and it built its own church with a hospital for the poor and a theatre in 1588. On the night of the Maundy Thursday, the members of the brotherhood would walk out of the Iglesia de la Cruz (Church of the Cross), carrying pasos – wooden statues representing the Passion, the Death and the Resurrection of Christ – during a procession commonly known as “Procession of the Poor”.

   Concerning the Cofradía de la Quinta Angustia de la Virgen , the first known data date back to 1567. We know that, as the brotherhood of the Vera Cruz and at the same period, the members of the confraternity would go on an entire procession of the Pasión de Nuestro Señor on the night of the Good Friday. This procession is commonly known as the “Procession of the Rich”.

   There is a third confradía , the one of the Virgen de la Misericordia (Virgin of the Mercy) which was created on the 13 th of June, 1542 and it is known as the Brotherhood of the “Naçarenos” (“Nazarene”).

   Until 1941, the Holy Week of Medina del Campo was a time of decadence. The processions as we know them today in Medina del Campo, in reverential silence, appeared in 1941, as a consequence to some missions celebrated in the town and thanks to the brotherhoods that existed at that time.

   Since 1984, when the Holy Week Foundation was created, new pasos - the Resucitado (the Resuscitated Jesus), the Virgin of Joy and the Washing of the Feet - have been added to the processions, with the consent of all brotherhoods. Other processions have also been created or re-integrated such as the one of the Vera Cruz or the Procession of the Encuentro for example. Every year, thanks to the national and international impact, more and more people come to Medina to attend the magnificent processions.

   In 1993, the artistic, historical, religious and tourist qualities and merit of the Holy Week of Medina del Campo were recognized. It was declared of Regional Tourist Interest by Castile y Leon. And it was declared of National Tourist Interest in 2005.

Pasos and processions

   Today the Holy Week of Medina del Campo has twenty six pasos and eleven processions. They begin on the Friday before Palm Sunday with the Procession of the Virgin of the Angustias, the patron saint of the town. The procession is headed by the town councillors of Medina del Campo.

The Procession of the Borriquila is on Palm Sunday.

   The Rosarios de Penitencia , with the paso of Cristo de la Penitencia (Christ of Penance) is on Holy Monday and Saint Tuesday. It is a popular and quiet march for men and boys that has kept the best idiosyncrasy of the processions of yesteryear.

   The Vía Crucis Popular (The Way of the Cross) takes place on Holy Wednesday. A crowd of 3,000 people celebrates the Christ on the Cross (anonymous, 16 th century), stopping at each of the 14 stations along the way in the historical and commercial centre of Medina del Campo.

   The Procesión de Caridad (Procession of the Charity), with the Santo Cristo de la Agonía (Domino Beltrán, 17 th century), takes place at nightfall on Holy Thursday. It is led by the members of Nuestro Padre Jesús Atado a la Columna.

   The sound of the pasos and the beat of the drums break the silence in the streets that lead to the Plaza Mayo r de la Hispanidad ( Main Square ) when, on the night of Holy Thursday, the Colegiata clock strikes 11 o'clock. The pasos , on that night, are el Crucificado de la Santa Vera Cruz (anonymous, 16 th century), Cristo Orante (anonymous, 16 th century), el Ecce Homo (Luis Fernández de la Vega , 1650), el Nazareno de la Cruz (Castilian school, 17 th century), la Virgen de la Amargura (Francisco Rincón, 16 th century), el Cristo de Santa Clara (anonymous, 14 th century), l a Piedad de Barrientos (Maestro S.P. de la Moraleja , 16 th century) and el Cristo Yacente (anonymous, 17 th century). The members of the brotherhoods hold the figures on their shoulders and light them with small lanterns. They all gather to start the Procession of the Vera Cruz which is one of the most moving processions celebrated during the Holy Week of Medina del Campo. The “procession of the Poor” of the confradía of the Vera Cruz is then recreated. While the procession gets to the Plaza Mayor, the silence is palpable. And in the darkness of the night, slightly enlightened by lanterns, the silence is broken by the Miserere.

   A copy of the Cristo de Santa Clara ( Procesión de Sacrificio ), made by the Cofradía del Descendimiento , has been integrated to the processions since 1997. On Good Friday, early in the morning, the paso goes from the San Miguel Church to the Convent of Santa Clara, while the members of the brotherhood are doing different acts of penitence on the way.

   The pasos of the brotherhoods of Ntro. P. Jesús Nazareno (Our father Jesus Nazarene) and of the Virgen de la Soledad (The Virgin of Solitude) go from the Colegiata Church to the Plaza Mayor de la Hispanidad , where is represented the Encuentro (the Meeting), when the Nazarene bows to his knees, in front of the Virgin. This takes place on Good Friday, when all the confradías are gathered, at noon. Many people attend this procession which is one of the most charismatic and with most devotion. They stand on the Plaza Mayor de la Hispanidad to listen to the prayer said by a priest at the time of the Meeting.

   At 8:30 on the night of Good Friday, the Procesión General del Silencio (General Procession of Silence) starts. All the brotherhoods attend the procession with the following pasos: El Lavatorio (“The Washing of the Feet”) (Mariano Nieto, 1989), Oración del Huerto (anonymous, 16 th century), Ntro. P. Jesus Atado a la Columna (Domingo Beltrán, 16 th century), Ntro. P. Jesus Nazareno (Francisco Rincón, 16 th century), Cristo de la Agonía (Domingo Beltrán, 17 th century), Calvary (Francisco Rincón, 16 th century), Cristo de la Luz (Juan Picardo, 1554), Descendimiento (Francisco González Macias, 1954), Nuestra Señora de las Angustias (anonymous, 16 th century), Cruz Desnuda (Ricardo Flecha, 1995), Cristo Yacente (Studio of Sebastián Ducete, 16 th century), Santo Sepulcro (Maestro de Covarrubias, XVIe) and la Virgen de la Soledad (anonymous, 17 th century).

   The processions end on the morning of Resurrection Sunday. A procession with all the cofradías of Medina starts after the Meeting between the Resuscitated Christ and The Virgin of Joy on the Plaza Mayor, in front of the Colegiata Church . And the Holy Week ends with balloon and dove releases and fireworks while the trumpet band plays the Ode to Joy.