Holy Week in Popayan

Holy Week in Popayan? Also known as the Ciudad Blanca (White City), Popayán is the capital of the Cauca department, which is located in the southwestern of Colombia.

This city is famous for its Holy Week processions, an event you cannot miss. The processions are held between the Friday before Palm Sunday and Holy Saturday, and have been made continuously since the sixteenth century; processions are one of the oldest religious traditions in Colombia. Holy Week in the Christian year is the week immediately before Easter.

This is a cultural experience to be lived, no matter if you're Catholic or not, as in 2009 the Holy Week Processions in Popayán were inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO. A great honor!

During this time of the year there is also a Religious Music Festival involving groups from Colombia and all around the world.

Location

If you travel by car or bus, Popayán is located two hours from the city of Cali by the Vía Panamericana. If you get there by air, you will arrive to the Guillermo Leon Valencia Airport.

Map

Accommodation

In Popayan there are many accommodation options, all very comfortable and with different prices. Some of the best known hotels in the city are:

• Dann Monasterio Hotel
• Camino Real Hotel
• La Plazuela Hotel
• El Recuerdo Hostel
• Santo Domingo Hotel

Recommendations 

• We recommend you to visit the churches of the city: the Catedral Basílica Metropolitana, La Ermita, Santo Domingo, Belen Chapel, San Francisco, Santo Domingo, El Carmen, La Encarnación and San Agustín.

• You cannot miss the museums: Archdiocesan Museum of Religious Art, House-Museum Mosquera, National Museum Guillermo Valencia, Natural History Museum and the House-Museum Negret and Modern Art Ibero-American Museum (MIAMP).

• Please enjoy the traditions of Holy Week in Popayan.

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