The entire city is draped in purple.The most exciting time to be in Antigua is Semana Santa (Easter), when hundreds of devotees garbed in deep purple robes bear revered icons from their churches in dail street processions in remembrance of Christ's crucifixiion and the events surrounding it.
Dense clouds of incense envelop the parades and the streets are covered in elaborate alfombras (carpets) of colored sawdust and flower petals.
These fragile works of art are destroyed as the processions shuffle over them but are re-created each morning for another day of parades.
The fevor and the crowds peak on Good Friday, when an early morning procession departs from La Merced and a late after noon one leaves from the Escuela de Cristo.
