Brazil’s Cavalhadas festival celebrates victory of Iberian Christian knights over the Moors

By ERALDO PERES
Associated Press

PIRENOPOLIS, Brazil (AP) — People in the heartland Brazilian city of Pirenopolis are taking to the streets in a procession of the Cavalhadas festival. The tradition began in the 1800s with a Portuguese priest who wanted to celebrate the Holy Spirit — one of the entities of the Roman Catholic Church’s trinity — and also commemorate the victory of Iberian Christian knights over the Moors. The Emperor of the Divine Holy Spirit procession started in the early hours in Pirenopolis, a city of 25,000 residents 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of the Brazilian capital Brasilia.