Easter is a special time in Croatia, a very Catholic country, which celebrates this important Catholic feast each year with extended families coming together for the long weekend.
Although there are many different traditions throughout the country, none perhaps has the poignancy as much as the UNESCO Za Krizen (Following the Cross) procession in Jelsa, which starts at 22:00 on Maundy Thursday, March 24, 2016 and continues through the night along a 22km pilgrimage route through five villages (all of which have their own simultaneous procession), before arriving back in Jelsa around 07:00 on Friday morning.
The six crossbearer, who walk without shoes and is accompanied by his acolytes and pilgrims behind him through the night, have a challenging and spiritual night ahead of them. Our thoughts are with them.
To learn more about the procession through an interview with a former crossbearer, click here.
