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In The Photos of the Readers of La Vanguardia we can relive the steps of Holy Week in Girona prepared and decorated, to go out in the procession escorted by the manaies.
The step (from the Latin passus, which refers to scene, suffering) is the platform where religious images are carried in procession in processions. In some parts of the Spanish geography they are also known as walks or thrones.
The manaies are the Roman soldiers who traditionally parade during Holy Week in some towns and cities in Catalonia, such as Girona in this case. In some places, such as Badalona or Besalú, they are also called estaferms.
The first reliable documentary data on the existence of the manaies in Girona dates back to 1751, as detailed by the Confradia de Jesús Crucificat.
Hundreds of people from all over the world came to Girona last Friday night to see the procession of the Holy Burial, which began punctually at nine o’clock with the descent of the Manaies from the Cathedral stairs.
The twelve brotherhoods that participate each year walked the streets of the old town for approximately two hours with a total of fourteen steps.
As a novelty this year, the Girona Board of Brotherhoods has incorporated The Encounter, in which the Virgin Mary waits for Christ at the foot of the Cathedral to greet each other. About a thousand people have made the procession possible.
