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CENTURIES OF HISTORY...
MORE THAN 50 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS TRADITION

The representations of La Pasión in the city of Callosa de Segura have their origins in the historic celebrations of the "CORONA MORTIFICADA," performed by the friars of the convent of the Alcantarinos Fathers in the central nave of their chapel. These performances began in the late 16th century and were held every Sunday during Lent. The Third Order of Saint Francis preserved this tradition, enhancing the religious culture of our city.

With the onset of the Civil War, these representations were interrupted but were revived after the war. It was during these years, particularly in the post-war period, that the ancient tradition of representing the Corona Mortificada evolved into what is now known as "La Pasión de Callosa de Segura."

In the early 1930s, an amateur theater group in our city regularly performed comedies and zarzuelas. During Lent, they staged the play "EL DRAMA DEL CALVARIO," written in verse in 1924 by Don Juan Bautista Pont, a prolific Valencian author. This text is still performed today.

We have documentary evidence from this period, thanks to a program flyer, of which we still have the original. This flyer announced the last performance of the year at the Centro Social de Obreros Católicos, describing it as a "Monumental Artistic-Religious Event" dated April 14, 1935.

The representations continued each Lent with some intermittence over the years, using various theaters in the city due to the longstanding enthusiasm for theater in Callosa.

In 1968, the Reverend Parish Priest of San Martín Obispo, Don Manuel Cayuelas, decided to revive the staging of that Sacred Drama, which had ceased to be performed but was well-remembered for its past successes.

To facilitate this revival, he provided the Artistic Association of Callosa, founded in 1958, with the script of El Drama del Calvario, a copy of which was kept in the parish archives. The director at the time, aware of the play's success and acceptance in the 1940s, decided to stage it once again. In Lent of 1969, it was performed in the Parish Hall located in the upper part of the Sacristy of the Temple of San Martín Obispo (a National Monument).

This venue marked the beginning of what has become the grand Auto Sacramental known as "LA PASIÓN DE CALLOSA DE SEGURA," which has been continuously performed every spring in the city of Callosa de Segura since then.

Program Flyer (1935)

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