Toledo Festivities
CORPUS CHRISTI IN TOLEDO
Corpus Christi is the festival which is most widely identified
with the city of Toledo. It is a religious celebration with variable
dates, usually taking place between the end of May and middle
of June.
Several weeks before the festival, work begins on placement of
awnings and ornaments which mark the itinerary of the monstrance,
imbuing the city with a sense of the festive atmosphere to come.
On Domingo de Habeas-Sunday before Corpus Christi, everything
is ready to receive the procession, unique in Spain, which winds
its way through streets and squares full of people. Ancient confraternities,
brotherhoods and chapters accompany the magnificent gold and silver
monstrance in an atmosphere of aromas, music, songs and devotion.
The centre of the Corpus Christi procession in Toledo is the rich
monstrance of the cathedral treasury. This 16th century jewel
is wrought of gold and silver, with pearls, precious stones, enamel
and tens of tiny figures and bells. On the morning of the Corpus,
rich 16th and 17th century Flemish tapestries are hung on the
cathedral walls. The floor is covered with thyme and rosemary,
adding their scents to those of incense and the petals which are
strewn along the path of the monstrance.
This festival, declared by the authorities to be of "Interest
to International Tourism", is completed with a range of act
and ceremonies which comprise what is truly the great week of
the city, and which deserves to be experienced in all its intensity.
HOLY WEEK IN TOLEDO
Holy Week in Toledo is characterised by its sobriety in accordance
with the surroundings of staid convent walls, narrow passageways
covered by awnings and nighttime procession, and of course, the
solemn cathedral. The penitents carry the images to the dry resonating
beat of a tambourine which breaks the silence of the procession.
Medieval-style street announcements by town criers, concerts and
the possibility of attending religious ceremonies in the cloistered
chapels of the cathedral-normally closed to the public-are other
reasons to enjoy these days with special feeling.
The brotherhoods and confraternities make Holy Week possible by
taking out the pasos (platforms bearing sculptured scenes from
the Passion, carried through the streets in Holy Week) from the
secluded churches or Barroque convent chapels. Their efforts remind
us of the ancient brotherhoods dedicated to attending to social
needs, and they live the penitential message of Holy Week, fervently
accompanying the procession bearing their venerated images, some
of which are of great artistic value. Together with those of habits
with conical pointed hoods, there are confraternities of hooded
monks who carry lanterns through the narrow and winding streets
of Toledo, while bearing the Crucified Christ on their shoulders.
VIRGEN DEL SAGRARIO (Virgin of the Tabernacle)
The week of the 15th of August, a fair and festival are celebrated
in honour of the Virgen del Sagrario, the city's patron saint.
There is a procession inside the Cathedral and "water of
the Virgin" is drunk from botijos (typically Spanish earthenware
pitcher with a spout and handle). The celebrations include various
events and ceremonies, as well as fairground attractions.
ROMERIAS (mass pilgrimages or processions
to a local shrine in the countryside)
Toledo's romerias are much celebrated. The most popular is
that of the Virgin del Valle (Virgin of the Valley), on May 1st,
when the virgin is taken in a procession through the nearby hills,
and throughout the whole day, the sound of the shrine's bell can
be heard, as tradition says that "he who does not touch the
bell of the valley shall not marry".
Toledo guide
Toledo
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