la pasión de cristo

usually iztapalapa is considered a no-go-area for tourists. it is one of the capital's poorest areas with many socio-economic problems that result in a very high crime rate, mostly connected to poverty and drug trafficking. even though the crime rate has declined in recent years, still about 20% of all murder cases of mexico city happen in iztapalapa.

despite these problems, each year iztapalapa's passion play attracts more than a million spectators who come to watch a tradition that already has existed for 175 years: the first passion play was performed in 1843 after a cholera epidemic killed the majority of the population in this area. those who survived held the first passion play as an act of their faith in god. since then, the presentation has become bigger and bigger. today, every year more than 3,000 people participate all of whom were born in one of iztapalapa's eight communities who host the passion play. the preparation begins months before with thousands of people from the area creating costumes, sets and decorations and of course rehearsing their appointed role.

of course, the most important roles are those of jesus and mary. those who are selected for these roles have to follow strict rules: no smoking, no drinking, no dating from being chosen until the end of the play. the men who play jesus have to prove that they can endure beatings and that they have the physical strength to carry a 100 kilo cross all the way to the crucifixion place - which is a distance of about 4km. along with these hardships comes the honor of being selected for the most important role in the play.

the play itself spans the entire semana santa, with maudy thursday and good friday being the most important and crowded days. on maudy thursday, there is a procession through the area which ends at the main plaza of san lucas where the last supper is reenacted. the even most intense day is good friday, starting early morning with a procession which is joined by hundreds men (and a few women) of all ages called nazarenes who carry their own crosses of different sizes to a hill in a nearby park where in late afternoon the crucifixion will be performed. throughout the day, the whole easter story is played at different places in iztapalapa. finally, acompanied by ten thousands of people, jesus carries the cross through the streets to the hill of the crucifixion and then back to the main plaza where the body of jesus is burried in the cave.

as already mentioned, iztapalapa is not an easy-going area. so in order to maintain security, the city sends several thousand policemen and security guards, who are present in every street to ensure nothing bad is going to happen. but this is not the only contribution of mexico city's security forces. most of the horses that are ridden by roman soldiers during the procession are actually lent by the mexico city police.

until today, the main reason for the passion play of iztapalapa is to thank god for saving the community long ago.

speaking of thanks... i really want to thank ricardo, a local photographer whom we met during our first day in iztapalapa. while we were studying the map of the area, he approached us and asked if we need any help. he showed us around, took us to the procession and later, when he found out that i am a photographer too, he even provided us with press passes so that we got access to all areas and could really be close to the action.