Via Crucis - Way of the Cross
Established in all the streets of the town, on the facade of the church, in the square, etc. In Istán the stations of the Vía Crucis have been preserved, a route consisting of simple and small crosses which are nestled in hollows created in various facades of the town houses. Some of these crosses remain in their original locations and in their primitive state, while others have been reformed as and when the facades that host them were reformed.
Legend
Reminiscent of the popular religiosity of the first Christian inhabitants of Istán, these crosses, whose antecedents are fixed in Levantine culture, can be seen distributed throughout the entire urban quarter. They mark the stations of the Via Crucis and this was a form of religious expression of those residents who didn’t have images in the church. Linked to the brotherhood of the Vera cruz, until the beginning of the XIX Century, every Friday in Lent, Penitents and Flagellants went out at night covered in capes, dragging chains on their feet and carrying lances, kneeling at each of the stations in order to fulfil their penance.
Of all of them, only the one denominated “Cruz de los Mozos” does not belong to the Via Crucis. Its denomination goes back to the XVI century and was placed in this enclave to sanctify the old grounds of the mosque. It is presumed that it was so-called due to being a meeting point for boys when they attended the Koranic school.