Basílica de Nazaré at dusk
On Saturday evening there was yet another procession, and this was the biggest one so far. The relic was moved from Colégio Gentil just east of the Basilica through the city to the Catedral da Sé, in the original part of the city. There were a couple hundred thousand people at this event, but the crowd was stretched out over almost 4 km so things did not get out of hand.
The new addition to this procession was the corda, which is basically a big rope that pulls the carriage holding the relic down the streets. The barefoot faithful* pull the corda along the route and try not to pass out or get smashed between the person on either side.
Photo of the crowd that shows the relic and a stretcher
This year, the procession from Colégio Gentil to Catedral da Sé took about five hours. Afterwards there was a big party called Festa de Chiquita in Praça da República.
*or, more accurately, the high school and college students who signed up because their friends did.
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