Semana Santa Ayacucho

Ayacucho has more than thirty colonial churches for a city of its size, and Holy Week there is the largest religious festival in Peru after the Señor de los Milagros. It runs for ten days from the Friday before Palm Sunday, each day with its own procession and image: the Señor de Ramos entering on a white donkey, the encounter of Christ and the Virgin, the Nazarene, the Señor del Santo Sepulcro on Good Friday when the entire city goes dark and tens of thousands walk in silence with candles, and the Resurrection before dawn on Sunday when an enormous white anda is carried out to fireworks and bells. Between the religious days there are fairs, bullfights, horse events and music. The city fills completely and accommodation must be booked months in advance. Ayacucho's own crafts - retablos, alabaster, textiles - are sold throughout.

What you actually see

• The ten days - a procession sequence from the Friday before Palm Sunday.
• Good Friday - the city in darkness, tens of thousands walking with candles.
• The Resurrection - a great white anda carried before dawn on Sunday.
• The churches - more than thirty colonial buildings supplying the images.

When to go

Holy Week, March or April. Five to ten days for the full sequence. Book accommodation and flights months ahead - the city sells out entirely.

Honest expectations

Rooms are scarce and expensive, and flights fill early. Enormous crowds, closed streets and long night processions. It is a religious observance, not entertainment. Heavy drinking around the secular events. Cold nights at 2,760 metres.

Nearby

Quinua and the Pampa de Ayacucho are east; the Ayacucho churches are throughout the centre.