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Procession of the Dance of Death of Verges

Verges, Baix Empordà, Girona

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 1 Activities

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Procession of the Dance of Death of Verges

Activity · Verges, Baix Empordà, Girona

A famous Holy Week procession in which, during the night from Holy Thursday to Good Friday, five skeletons dance through the streets of Verges to the beat of a drum, as part of the re-enactment of the Passion of Christ that winds through the village. The dance, revived in the town in 1666, has its roots in the medieval dances of death, once common throughout western Europe of the time but now vanished elsewhere in Catalonia, where they used to be performed in places such as Ripoll, Beget, Cadaqués and Perpignan. It is believed that its inclusion within the procession's cortege, rather than as a stand-alone act, is what has allowed its survival to this day, a unique case of continuity. Both the dance and the procession as a whole are declared a traditional festival of national interest.

Madrugada del Viernes Santo (noche del Jueves Santo)

Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dantzan/ (CC BY-SA 2.0)

What to see and do in Verges