Monument to Holy Week

Look at the monument before you, one of Úbeda’s most recent: the Monument to Holy Week, to Semana Santa in Spanish, installed in 2022 on Calle Corredera de San Fernando, right beside the Church of the Trinidad. Its location is no accident; most processions pass along this street, making it one of the city’s liveliest spots. The bronze sculpture, created by Úbeda-born artist Alfonso Ruiz Esteban, depicts a Holy Week penitent—not a specific individual, but a universal figure in which every brotherhood can see itself. Here in Úbeda, Holy Week is one of the defining moments of the year. For an entire week, brotherhoods file through the streets in silence or to the rhythm of drums and brass, carrying large floats topped with statues of Christ and the Virgin. Many penitents walk barefoot, dressed in long robes and pointed hoods, upholding traditions that date back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The roots of these celebrations reach back to the early days of Christianity, when the Church established Holy Week to commemorate the Passion of Christ. In Spain, these rites took on a particularly unique form from the Middle Ages onward, with the creation of brotherhoods responsible for organising the processions. It’s therefore a religious event, a historical legacy and a moment of powerful shared emotion that residents prepare for all year long. This monument pays tribute to a deeply rooted tradition that remains at the heart of Úbeda’s identity.