The celebration of this sacred festival began in Popayán in 1556 and became the main socializing element for its inhabitants.
For centuries the payanes have carried on their shoulders a tradition based on family values and a sense of belonging to a community, such as their Processions, so plastering the city is part of that rite.
These religious parades of Popayán are the oldest popular expression in Colombia, which began a few years after the city was founded by Sebastián de Belalcázar, in 1537.
According to the historian José María Vergara y Vergara, in his description of the Popayán Processions in 1857, he said: “The Christian people prepare to attend the services and put business aside from Palm Sunday.
A type of municipal decree that rests in the Historical Archive of the University of Cauca, orders the plastering of the city. In the document dated March 29, 1675, the field master, Don Miguel García, governor and captain general of the provinces and Governorate of Popayán, orders that all people, neighbors and residents, each clean the part that belongs to them. of the street and solar, leaving them good and tractable as is well known, taking into account that the present time is close to Holy Week and that the Processions of it have to walk through the streets.
The penalty established for anyone who did not comply with this official provision was four patacones, a sum that was destined for the wax of the monument.
Following this centuries-old tradition, the respective decree has been issued in the municipality of Popayán on the eve of this celebration. Precisely, through Decree 0495, Mayor Juan Carlos Muñoz Bravo, “invites all owners and residents of the properties located on the processional route to decorate their balconies with flowering plants, in order to enrich the heritage value of the architecture of the city”.
According to the peremptory deadline for the plastering of facades, decoration, enclosure of lots and removal of non-regulatory notices, a term of 30 calendar days was established from the day following the date of publication thereof (February 27, 2024).
The measure orders “the plastering of the facades of public and private buildings; the same as the architectural plastering and finishing of elements such as doors, windows, bars, eaves, rainwater channels and downspouts, platforms and curbs; as well as that of the old walls and walls that close the unbuilt properties.”
It also stipulates the color of paint to be used in the Old Sector, which should be white as a general rule for buildings; however, in older properties the same color that currently exists may be used, unless it openly conflicts with harmony. chromaticity of the sector, in which case the Municipal Planning Secretariat, through the Urban Control office, may issue a concept and require the owner of the property to comply with the current regulatory provisions in the shortest possible time.
Faithful to this tradition, the owners of properties in the historic sector of Popayán began to plaster the facades in February, a rather expensive work; However, maladjusted individuals, who did not care about the city, damaged the work carried out in many mansions and public and private buildings, which had to be painted again.
It must be considered that it is very difficult economically and technically for the owners to sustain comprehensive conservation mansions, without having incentives from the municipality.
Plastering the old sector of Popayán every year, in addition to commemorating Holy Week, is also ensuring its maintenance, enjoying, both its inhabitants and tourists, its beautiful architecture, the halo of magic of the atmosphere that surrounds the city with its sunsets. of red