Vela setemana (Holy Week) in the town of Korčula is marked by solemn processions in which members of the town’s three confraternities take part. Dressed in traditional tunics, they carry richly decorated torches (candles), ceremonial staffs (cereferales) and candelabras, offering a unique insight into the centuries-old traditions of Korčula’s confraternities in the days leading up to Easter.
Vela setemana in the town of Korčula is listed in the Register of Protected Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Croatia as an item of intangible cultural heritage. Today, three confraternities are active in Korčula: the All Saints’ Confraternity (founded in 1301), the Confraternity of St Roch (1575), and the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Consolation – of the Girdle (1603).
In 2025, the Korčula Town Tourist Board, in cooperation with the confraternities, became a member of the European Network of Holy Week and Easter Celebrations, opening new opportunities for the promotion of Vela setemana at the European level.
