two o'clock in the afternoon
People were eating in _ cafés _ and taverns . The thick odor of oil escaped through the doors of the places where fish was frying . Itinerant venders stationed themselves in the centre of the street crying sweets and drinks . Whole families who only came to light on occasions of great festivity , had been there from two o'clock in the afternoon watching the passing of processions and more processions . There were Virgins with mantles of overwhelming sumptuousness which drew shouts of admiration by their display of velvet ; Redeemers , crowned with gold and wearing vestments of brocade , and a whole world of absurd images whose tragic , bleeding , or tearful faces contrasted with the theatrical luxury and richness of their clothing . Foreigners , attracted by the strangeness of this Christian ceremony , joyous as a pagan feast in which there were no faces of woe and sadness but those of the images , heard their names called out by Sevillians seated near them . The floats started off -- those of the Sacred Decree of the Holy Christ of Silence ; of Our Lady of Sorrows ; of Jesus with the Cross on His Shoulder ; of Our Lady of the Valley ; of Our Father Jesus of the Three Falls ; of Our Lady of Tears ; of the Lord of Good Death ; and of Our Lady of the Three Necessities , accompanied by Nazarenes black and white , red , green , blue and violet , all masked , hiding their mysterious personality beneath their pointed hoods .