3 Facts: Barcelona

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21 January 2010 16 Comments

Let’s go to Spain. Shall we? We have visited many countries till now through One City - 3 Facts. So why don’t we make it Spain this time. I love Spain. At least I love the picture of Spain in my head. Let’s go to Barcelona and see what’s cool there.

You remember what 3 Facts should be, right? It is something interesting or fun which is not there on the first pages of the cityguide.

So what do we know about Barcelona? The second largest city in Spain after Madrid, the capital. Located on the Mediterranean coast. A very very old city. More about the history of barcelona you can read here. It has parks and beaches, theatres and museums, great architecture and a popular football club. This and more you can get from any cityguide. Let’s say from the one of Lonely Planet, the best of that kind. By the way, you can always buy it and get much more information about the city. Click the picture below to know more.

But One City - 3 Facts is a little more than well-known facts. It is something you might not come across while choosing places to see or reading about the city. Let’s find out what it will be about today. We are going to Barcelona!

3 Facts about Barcelona

1. Architecture

Barcelona won the 1999 RIBA Royal Gold Medal for its architecture, the first time when the winner was a city, instead of an individual architect. And does the city deserve that? Oh yes, it does!

If you go to the old city you will see a lot of beautiful buildings which date back to medieval times and even to Roman era. Barna Centre - the center of the old city of Barcelona. which attracts over one million visitors every week.

2. Barcelona Wax Museum

Who does not know about Madame Tussaud’s in London? Barcelona Wax Museum is Spanish answer to Madame Tussaud. It contains a hundreds of human-like wax figures representing historical and entertainment personalities.

But you know what? Even if you can’t go to Spain now, you can still visit it. The official museum’s site offers everyone an interactive journey.

3. Fiestas de la Merce

La Mercè is the “most important festival” in Barcelona. The main event is held on the 24th September each year and the Festival is held in honour of the Cities Patron Saint and Protector, The Virgin de La Merce. It is an official city holiday since the year 1871.

The festival includes sporting events, sailing regattas along with quite a few Religious celebrations, parades, firework displays and lots and lots of dancing. Sounds fun to me.

We still have time till September ans then… let’s meet in Barcelona!

And that’s it to today’s One City - 3 Facts on The Colors Magazine. Hope you enjoyed. I know I did.

Added: If someone is interested, thanks to a new comment here I happened to come across to a great post about Sagrada Familia Church in Barcelona, the post being written by someone who actually WAS there might make more sense to you about the architecture in Barcelona. You can check the post here.

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16 Comments »

Roberto Lunardello said:

The legend of Sant Jordi and the dragon

According to popular tradition, Sant Jordi was a Roman soldier and was born in the 3rd century in Capadocia in Turkey. This Saint, who was under the orders of the emperor Diocletian, refused to carry out the emperor’s edict to persecute all Christians and for this reason he was martyred and decapitated by his companions. In the eastern part of the Roman Empire, he soon became venerated as a martyr and shortly after this, fantastic stories related to him began to appear.

The exploits of Sant Jordi and the Dragon became popular throughout Europe around the 9th century under the name of “Golden legend” and were compiled by the archbishop of Genoa, Iacopo da Varazze, in 1264, in the book ‘Legenda sanctorum ‘. In this version, however, the exploits took place in Libya.

The most popular legend in Catalonia about Sant Jordi tells that at Montblanc, in Conca de Barberà, there was a terrible dragon which viciously attacked men and beasts. To pacify it, lots were drawn and a person was chosen to be given as a sacrifice to the monster. One day, the misfortune fell on the king’s daughter, who would have died in the beast’s claws if it had not been for the arrival of a handsome knight who challenged the dragon and killed it.

This same legend, although with slight variations, is told as a popular legend in England, Portugal and Greece.

Saint George’s Day in Catalonia

Hard to understand for those who have never experienced it, Saint George’s Day is a popular festive day when book and rose stalls, and, above all, floods of people, take over the streets of all Catalan towns and villages. The celebration could not be simpler: the ritual consists of going for a walk and buying a rose, a book or both to give to loved ones, family members and friends. Although it is not a public holiday, the day and the essential walk fill the streets and squares, making it a unique national festival celebrated on a working day.

The origin of this unusual festival can be found in a mixture of traditions and customs from different periods. The fact that Saint George (Sant Jordi) is the patron saint of Catalonia (officially since 1456, although he was being venerated as early as the 8th century) coincides with another medieval custom of celebrating a Rose Fair or “Lovers’ Fair” at the Palau de la Generalitat.

To these more traditional celebrations was added Book Day, established throughout Spain in 1926. The literary celebration ended up mixing with the Catalan traditions to create a special day which has won widespread public support.

Books and roses

It is very difficult to put an exact date which marks the beginning of the popular tradition of giving roses on the day of Sant Jordi. It must be very old as the Rose Fair has been held on the day of Sant Jordi since the 15th century. The age of this tradition tempts us to look for a link between a popular tradition and the symbolism of courtly love which the rose represents, although the custom of giving flowers existed before Christianity and, around April, the Romans used to celebrate a flower festival dedicated to the goddess Flora.

The festival we know today originated in the period of the Diputació del General and is linked to the nobility and the ruling classes who, on Saint George’s Day, held a mass in the chapel of the Palau de la Generalitat, where the Rose Fair we have already mentioned was also held.

Although the modern festival maintains two medieval traditions - giving the rose and visiting the saint’s chapel, other elements have been added to the day, which, more than anything, has become an extraordinary expression of popular culture.

The Book Day

The Dia del Llibre (the Book Day) is much more recent. According to some sources, it was first held on October 7th 1926. The original idea came from the Barcelona-based Valencian writer Vicent Clavel Andrés, who proposed it to the Cambra Oficial del Llibre de Barcelona. Shortly afterwards, in 1930, the date was changed to April 23rd, to commemorate the fact that the writers Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare both died on 23 April 1616, although according to different calendars. On April 23rd, other well-known writers such as Josep Pla (1981), Maurice Druon (1918), K. Laxness (1902), Vladimir Nabokov (1899) and Manuel Mejía Vallejo (1923) were also born or died.

The festival, which coincided with Saint George’s Day, took root in Catalonia as it became confused with the Saint’s Day celebrations, while it almost disappeared elsewhere in Spain, ceasing to be celebrated in many places, or continued in a residual way.

A quite considerable percentage of annual literary production is sold for Saint George’s Day, a fact the publishing companies take advantage of to present the latest new books, especially those written in Catalan.

On November 15th, 1995, at a general conference which took place in Paris, the festival of April 23rd dedicated to literature was declared World Book and Copyright Day by the UNESCO.