{"id":5030,"date":"2026-11-14T15:43:47","date_gmt":"2026-11-14T14:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/?p=5030"},"modified":"2026-11-14T15:52:46","modified_gmt":"2026-11-14T14:52:46","slug":"holy-week-gandia-history-brotherhoods-processions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/holy-week-gandia-history-brotherhoods-processions\/","title":{"rendered":"Holy Week in Gandia: history, brotherhoods and processions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Holy Week in Gandia<\/strong>, a <strong>Festival of National Tourist Interest<\/strong> since 2019, brings <strong>eighteen brotherhoods<\/strong> onto the streets of the Centre Hist\u00f2ric, El Raval, Beniopa, Santa Anna and El Grau from the Friday of Sorrows to Easter Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<style>\n@media (max-width: 600px) {\n  .post-inline-photo {\n    float: none !important;\n    width: min(100%, 320px) !important;\n    margin: 1.5em auto !important;\n  }\n  .post-inline-photo img {\n    width: 100% !important;\n    height: auto !important;\n  }\n}\n<\/style>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more than a week, drums, candles and processional floats fill the squares of the town centre and its neighbourhoods. The celebration brings together medieval roots, a sixteenth-century liturgical drama linked to the Borgias and brotherhoods born in parishes, schools and trade guilds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Contenidos<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af9be86a8ef8\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #e41725;color:#e41725\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #e41725;color:#e41725\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af9be86a8ef8\"  aria-label=\"Alternar\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/holy-week-gandia-history-brotherhoods-processions\/#From_medieval_processions_to_the_Borgia_drama\" >From medieval processions to the Borgia drama<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/holy-week-gandia-history-brotherhoods-processions\/#From_the_nineteenth_century_to_post-war_reconstruction\" >From the nineteenth century to post-war reconstruction<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/holy-week-gandia-history-brotherhoods-processions\/#Brotherhoods_with_a_character_of_their_own\" >Brotherhoods with a character of their own<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/holy-week-gandia-history-brotherhoods-processions\/#The_week_day_by_day\" >The week, day by day<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/holy-week-gandia-history-brotherhoods-processions\/#Tips_for_making_the_most_of_it\" >Tips for making the most of it<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"From_medieval_processions_to_the_Borgia_drama\"><\/span>From medieval processions to the Borgia drama<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized post-inline-photo\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1400\" height=\"933\" src=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-penitentes-cirios.webp\" alt=\"Hooded penitents carrying lit candles walk through a dimly lit vaulted gallery\" class=\"wp-image-5054\" style=\"width:360px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-penitentes-cirios.webp 1400w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-penitentes-cirios-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-penitentes-cirios-1024x682.webp 1024w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-penitentes-cirios-768x512.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Penitents with candles in a night-time procession.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Junta Mayor de Hermandades, the body that brings the brotherhoods together, traces the origins of the festival to the <strong>fourteenth century<\/strong>, when Franciscan friars introduced the Stations of the Cross and penitential processions to the town. The main setting of the celebration, the <a href=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/collegiate-church-santa-maria-gandia\/\"><strong>Collegiate Church of Santa Mar\u00eda<\/strong><\/a>, was raised to collegiate status at the end of the fifteenth century by a bull of Pope Alexander VI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The great documented milestone is dated <strong>4 August 1550<\/strong>. <a href=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/who-was-saint-francis-borgia\/\">Francis Borgia<\/a>, 4th Duke of Gandia and a future saint, formalised with the chapter of the Collegiate Church the agreement that underpins the <em>Visitatio Sepulchri<\/em>, in the same year he left Gandia to follow his Jesuit vocation. It is a liturgical drama in Latin that tells of the burial of Christ in Gregorian chant and of the visit of the three Marys to the tomb in Renaissance polyphony. The Archbishopric of Valencia banned it in <strong>1865<\/strong>, and 133 years passed before it returned in full, in <strong>1998<\/strong>. Today it is performed every Holy Saturday in the Collegiate Church; the full story and the details for attending are in our guide to the <a href=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/visitatio-sepulchri-borgia-sacred-drama-gandia\/\">Visitatio Sepulchri<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"clear:both\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"From_the_nineteenth_century_to_post-war_reconstruction\"><\/span>From the nineteenth century to post-war reconstruction<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized post-inline-photo\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"934\" height=\"1400\" src=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-cristo-resucitado.webp\" alt=\"Figure of the Risen Christ on a float decorated with flowers, beside a Gothic stone wall\" class=\"wp-image-5055\" style=\"width:260px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-cristo-resucitado.webp 934w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-cristo-resucitado-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-cristo-resucitado-683x1024.webp 683w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-cristo-resucitado-768x1151.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 934px) 100vw, 934px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Cristo Resucitado, the central figure of Easter Sunday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today&#8217;s brotherhoods began to take shape in the second half of the nineteenth century, around neighbourhoods, parishes and schools: the Ecce Homo in El Raval or the Sant\u00edsima Cruz at the Escuelas P\u00edas school. In <strong>August 1936<\/strong>, during the Spanish Civil War, the Collegiate Church was set on fire and altarpieces, images and historic floats were lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The processions resumed in <strong>1951<\/strong> with seven brotherhoods, and in <strong>1955<\/strong> the statutes were approved for the Junta Mayor de Hermandades, which coordinates the festival. The images had to be carved anew, and a good many came from the workshop of the sculptor <strong>Antonio Sanju\u00e1n Villalba<\/strong>, who made the Cristo Resucitado, the Cristo del Silencio, the Flagelaci\u00f3n group and the Virgen de la Soledad. Brotherhoods founded later in neighbourhoods such as Santa Anna and Beniopa brought the total to eighteen, and in <strong>October 2019<\/strong> the festival was declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"clear:both\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Brotherhoods_with_a_character_of_their_own\"><\/span>Brotherhoods with a character of their own<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized post-inline-photo\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1400\" height=\"933\" src=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-nazarenos.webp\" alt=\"Penitents in red pointed hoods, yellow capes and white tunics during a procession\" class=\"wp-image-5056\" style=\"width:360px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-nazarenos.webp 1400w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-nazarenos-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-nazarenos-1024x682.webp 1024w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-nazarenos-768x512.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Penitents in one of the Holy Week processions in Gandia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The brotherhoods parade in the order of the Passion, from the Entrada de Jes\u00fas en Jerusal\u00e9n to the Virgen de la Soledad. Several have instantly recognisable scenes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Santa Cena Viviente<\/strong> (Santa Anna): thirteen flesh-and-blood members play Jesus and the apostles on the float, with real food and drink.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ecce Homo<\/strong> (El Raval): alongside its float goes the <em>Ecciamet<\/em>, an eighteenth-century carving one metre tall that the residents of Carrer Algepseria hid in 1936 to save it from being burnt. On Holy Tuesday it is carried through the neighbourhood in a Way of the Cross.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Oraci\u00f3n de Jes\u00fas en el Huerto<\/strong>: the popular <em>pas dels llauradors<\/em> (the farmers&#8217; float) carries a praying Christ from the school of Salzillo, dating from the eighteenth century, and a real olive tree that is placed on the float every year.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Santa Faz<\/strong>: promoted in 1954 by people working in the textile trade, it rounds off its Holy Tuesday procession with the traditional <em>Flore\u00e1<\/em> in Pla\u00e7a de les Escoles Pies.<\/li>\n<li><strong>El Descendimiento<\/strong> (El Grau): founded by sailors, dockers and shipping agents, it processes through the streets of the seafaring district and is based at the <a href=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/st-nicholas-bari-church-grau-gandia\/\">church of San Nicol\u00e1s de Bari<\/a>, where the float can be visited all year round.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cristo Yacente en la Crucifixi\u00f3n<\/strong>: the image has no float because it is carried on the shoulders of soldiers of the Spanish Legion. Its canonical seat is the church of the <a href=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/ducal-palace-borgia-gandia-history-visit\/\">Palau Ducal<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cristo del Silencio<\/strong>: its members take their vow of silence before leaving the convent of Santa Clara on the night of Holy Wednesday.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"clear:both\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_week_day_by_day\"><\/span>The week, day by day<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized post-inline-photo\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1400\" height=\"933\" src=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-pasos-noche.webp\" alt=\"Two floats lit by lanterns, carried by members dressed in white, in a night-time Holy Week procession in Gandia\" class=\"wp-image-5057\" style=\"width:360px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-pasos-noche.webp 1400w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-pasos-noche-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-pasos-noche-1024x682.webp 1024w, https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-14-semana-santa-gandia-pasos-noche-768x512.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Two floats in a night-time Holy Week procession in Gandia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The calendar begins before Palm Sunday with the opening proclamation, a drum parade and the first processions on the Friday of Sorrows and Passion Saturday. The main days unfold as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Palm Sunday<\/strong>: blessing of palms and branches in Pla\u00e7a de les Escoles Pies and procession to the Collegiate Church, with separate celebrations in El Grau and Santa Anna.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Holy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday<\/strong>: night-time processions and Ways of the Cross by each brotherhood through the centre and the neighbourhoods.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Maundy Thursday<\/strong>: one procession after another until the early hours, with the Cristo Yacente and its legionnaires, the Dolorosa and the Nazareno.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Good Friday<\/strong>: in the morning, a penitential Way of the Cross with an encounter in Pla\u00e7a Major; in the afternoon, the parade of bands and the <strong>Procesi\u00f3n General del Santo Entierro<\/strong> (General Procession of the Holy Burial), which brings together all eighteen brotherhoods between the Escuelas P\u00edas and the Collegiate Church.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Holy Saturday<\/strong>: <em>Visitatio Sepulchri<\/em> in the Collegiate Church and, at night, the Procession of Silence of the Virgen de la Soledad from the Palau Ducal.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Easter Sunday<\/strong>: the Glorioso Encuentro (Glorious Encounter) in Pla\u00e7a Major between the Cristo Resucitado, which leaves from the Collegiate Church, and the Virgen de la Soledad, which arrives from the Palau Ducal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"clear:both\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tips_for_making_the_most_of_it\"><\/span>Tips for making the most of it<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most routes pass through Pla\u00e7a Major, Pla\u00e7a de les Escoles Pies, Carrer Major and Passeig de les Germanies, so the easiest option is to get around on foot and leave the car outside the centre during procession hours. The mild spring weather makes it possible to spend the morning at the beach or in El Grau and keep the afternoon for the Centre Hist\u00f2ric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Times and routes change every year. Before each edition the Junta Mayor de Hermandades publishes the procession guide and the magazine <em>Passio<\/em>; it is worth confirming the programme on its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.semanasantagandia.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">official website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Holy Week in Gandia, a Festival of National Tourist Interest since 2019, brings eighteen brotherhoods onto the streets of the Centre Hist\u00f2ric, El Raval, Beniopa, Santa Anna and El Grau from the Friday of Sorrows to Easter Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5022,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"borgia26_language":"en","borgia26_translation_group":"semana-santa-de-gandia","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,200,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultura","category-fiestas","category-historia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5030"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5061,"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5030\/revisions\/5061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotelborgia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}