One of the most popular festivities in Extremadura takes place every year in the city of Caceres. Holy Week in Caceres has been declared to be of international tourist interest and mixes passion, sobriety and tradition in several days full of cultural events and medieval character. Year after year, the capital of Caceres province is filled with thousands of visitors who, along with the locals, witness the impressive processions through the historic centre of the city.
Here, we explore Holy Week in Caceres, one of the most popular festivals in Extremadura.
Caceres, World Heritage Site
Caceres is a city located in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura. Founded by ancient Romans, it still preserves vestiges of that Roman past to this day that have turned it into a municipality loaded with historical value.
To discover Caceres is to discover a small part of the history of Spain. For this reason, the city was declared a World Heritage Site. Its streets, squares, nooks and crannies contain a historical, artistic and spatial diversity, and from its wall you can see how the city has evolved to become a unique municipality.
Among its cobbled medieval streets, its fortified houses and palaces, its Moorish wall and the more than 30 towers that surround the city, Caceres opens to visitors to bring them popular, traditional, sober and exciting festivities such as the Holy Week of Easter.
Easter in Caceres
The passion, sobriety, tradition and religious fervour in the city of Caceres have led UNESCO to declare its Holy Week to be of World Heritage.
Every year, Caceres celebrates a Holy Week that stands out from the rest for its beauty. The old and historic part of the city is flooded with centuries-old brotherhoods that participate in exciting processions. The religious figures of the city have great historical value, providing a medieval aesthetic that this popular festival in the municipality of Extremadura even more interesting.
Easter in Caceres starts with the Friday of Sorrows, the proclamation and its processions, which give rise to a Week of Passion with a special charm. During Holy Week in Caceres, the beautiful streets of the city are flooded with an absolute silence, broken from time to time with voices dedicating saetas (songs) to the wooden carvings that are carried through the streets.
The emotion, sobriety and historical value of this traditional Spanish festival have turned the Holy Week of Easter in Caceres into a festival that is unique in the world.