page_title: Passion Play of Iztapalapa
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Passion Play of Iztapalapa / History
caption_attribution_description: Español: Un nazareno observa recargado en su cruz el paso de otros nazarenos y participantes en la representación de la Pasión de Cristo en Iztapalapa. La imagen fue tomada en la esquina de Aztecas y 5 de Mayo, Barrio de San Lucas de Iztapalapa, frente a la parroquia de este santo que es patrono de los Ocho Barrios.
context_page_description: The Passion Play of Iztapalapa is an annual event during Holy Week in the Iztapalapa borough of Mexico City. It one of the oldest and most elaborate passion plays in Mexico as well as the best known, covered by media both in Mexico and abroad. Unlike others in Latin America, its origins are not in the colonial period but rather in a cholera epidemic in the 19th century, which gave rise to a procession to petition relief. Over time, the procession included a passion play which grew to include various scenes related to Holy Week. Today, the play includes not only hundreds of actors but also thousands of men called “Nazarenes” who carry their own crosses to follow the actor chosen to play Jesus to the site where the crucifixion is reenacted. While the event is still primarily religious, it has also become a rite of identity for Iztapalapa as well as a major tourism attraction for both the borough and the city.
context_section_description: The event is one of the most elaborate and oldest of its kind in Mexico. However, unlike most passion plays in Latin America, this does not date from the colonial period. Its origins are in a cholera epidemic in 1843 when the Iztapalapa area, outside of Mexico City proper, had a population of about 20,000, mostly indigenous. As a petition to ease the pestilence, the area began a procession to the “Señor de la Cuevita” ( Lord of the Small Cave), an image of Christ entering Jerusalem on a donkey which is found in a small natural cave in the community of Pueblo Culhuacán. When the epidemic ended it was seen as a miracle and it became a permanent annual event. Soon after, the procession included a reenactment of the crucifixion on Good Friday, and over time the passion play grew to cover almost all of the events associated with Holy Week. Although its origins are in the 19th century, there is evidence of syncretism with indigenous traditions. The procession changed from the image in the cave to Cerro de la Estrella in 1920, after a heavy rain inundated the original site. This site was that of the Pyramid of Mixcoatl, associated with the New Fire ceremony. Aztec drums and flutes appear in the event as well.
  Catholic authorities have alternatively banned and approved the event since its inception. There is a letter dated 1867 asking Benito Juárez for help in its preservation against hostile church authorities. During the Mexican Revolution, the event was suspended due to clashes between governmental and church authorities. However a legend states that Emiliano Zapata lent his horses and ordered the renewal of the event in 1914. Church criticisms of the play have included that it deviates too much from the Biblical account, and it does have elements of other stories such as Dante’s Divine Comedy. Examples of deviation include King Herod’s harem which performs a sensual belly dance. However, the play has survived not only church prosecution but also governmental opposition to public displays of religion and Iztapalapa’s demographic change from indigenous to mestizo.
  The popularity of the performance began to significantly increase after World War II, attracting tourists first from within Mexico then from abroad. Popularity increased in the 1960s, when Vatican II legitimated passion reenactments. It has become the most famous passion play in Mexico. Television coverage of the event began in the 1980s, and since has regularly been broadcast to the Spanish-speaking world, as well as covered by media in the United States and Europe. While it remains first and foremost a religious event, it has also become a rite of local identity and has brought attention to the poverty of the borough. A documentary about the event called "Iztapalapa, memoria y tradición" was directed by Francisco Alatriste Torres of the Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia. The city government has declared the event to be an intangible cultural heritage of Mexico City, as part of an effort to gaining similar recognition from UNESCO. The increased tourism, as well as “competition” and influence from other passion plays, have had an effect. The urban space where the play takes place has changed to accommodate its growth. Passion plays in the Philippines have had an influence leading to more realism in the violence, both in the flogging and the crucifixion. The actors have become younger, as well as the Nazarenes which now include some children.
  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico, the play was moved indoors for the first time in its 177-year history and it was broadcast on television. Fairs, commercial events, pilgrimages, and shows associated with Holy Week in Mexico were suspended. Schools were closed and vacationers were advised to stay away from beaches and other tourist attractions. The broadcasts, the first to be aired nationwide on television, were co-produced by the borough government and public stations Channel 14 and Channel 11, as well as the city-owned Capital 21 (with broadcasts online to viewers abroad as before, but with the added first of in
caption: A "Nazarene" resting during the procession
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