The horror of the Passion of Christ was reenacted on Sunday in Marsa as part of the locality's custom to mark Easter.

Reenacted every year, it features 350 actors playing parts including Roman soldiers, biblical figures and Jesus Christ winding their way through the streets.

The man playing the role of Jesus walked barefoot, carrying a wooden cross as he endured periodic whipping in front of crowds of people.

Onlookers watched as he fell in the street several times and was flogged on the ground.

The cherished tradition took place on Palm Sunday and was the 54th edition of the Good Friday pageant that transforms the streets into ancient Jerusalem. 

Accompanying the pagent was the 1st Marsa Scouts Group, the Banda Rumana and the two Marsa band clubs.

Similar spectacular processions take place on Good Friday including in Mosta, Żebbuġ and Xagħra and Victoria in Gozo. 

Last year, Jamie Camilleri, who has played the role of Jesus in Good Friday pageants in Gozo for over a decade said that for a long time he wished he could find a way to "safely be crucified" during the event.

"If, a few years ago, I had found a doctor who could assure me the wounds would heal in a few months and that he could puncture my hands as safely as possible, I would have done it... for sure,” Camilleri told Times of Malta in an interview. 

“But having children changed my mind. I want to be there for them... so I’m much more careful now.”

He said that his brother Joseph gave him a real flogging during the annual pageant and was trained to strike blows according to safety techniques they had developed together over the years. 

However he said he still feels each blow.