Event: Honduras - Tegucigalpa

Easter Week in Tegucigalpa

When:	16 - 23 Mar 2008 (various dates)
Where:	Tegucigalpa

Easter Week celebrations in the Honduran capital feature grand and beautiful processions.

Although Tegucigalpa was once a focus for this most holy of Catholic festivals, Antigua in neighbouring Guatemala has in recent years tended to steal the limelight. Ironically this may now make Tegucigalpa a preferable alternative, with less tourists.

The city's many colonial churches throng with worshippers as services take place throughout the week. Particularly fine is the domed and double-towered cathedral. Built in the late 18th century and dedicated to the patron saint of Tegucigalpa, Michael Archangel, it boasts an exquisite gilt Baroque altarpiece. In Holy week it hosts the ceremony of the Descent from the Cross.

Semana Santa also features the traditional construction of elaborate mosaics for the religious processions to walk over. Made up of brightly coloured sawdust, these carpets depict images from Christ's passion.

Guarding Tegucigalpa is a huge and magnificent image of Christ, erected on a nearby mountaintop in 1997. Known as the Christ of the Picacho, after the mountain on which it stands, it has become synonymous with the city's own image.

Please note: proceed with caution in Honduras, as some parts of the country have been known to be dangerous.