The legend of “Saint Jordi”

Sant Jordi´s Day

The rose and the book are the main characters of one of the most beautiful hoydays in Barcelona.

The Saint Jordi festivity, which takes place the 23rd of April, is one of the most beautiful holidays in Catalonia, above all in Barcelona. During this day, the downtown streets are full of colours thanks to the small book and rose stands that are put up in the centre. Many curious tourists and neighbours walk through the city. The men must give a red rose as a present to their ladies and the ladies must give a book to their man. This day is also the Day of the Books, which is a remembering of Cervantes death.

The rose tradition is not new. In the Middle Age the aristocratic class organized lord competitions, where the men gave a flower to the women. The red colour symbolizes the passion and the ear that is put together with the rose stands for fertility.

The legend

The Saint Jordi was a lord and a martyr born in Capadocia (Turkish nowadays). He is the hero of an exceptional gentleman story which took place in Libya. As a contradiction to this the Catalonian tradition believes that it happened in Tarragona, in a small town called Montblanc. In Montblanc there was a dragon that feared the people of the town. Its stinky breath managed to kill the people who come close to it.

The neighbourhood wanted to sacrifice one person every day in order to avoid the monster to attack everybody. Naturally the problem was that there was nobody who wanted to be eaten by the dragon. Therefore, each day they picked one person from the population of the town. The system was very effective until one day the person who had to be delivered to the monster was the beautiful princess. Many people offered themselves, but the king was uncompromising in despite of his sadness: His daughter had to be sacrificed like the rest of his citizens.

They were very worried when observing the princess getting closer and closer to the lake, where the dragon lived. A few meters away from were she came from, suddenly a handsome gentleman appeared in front of the princess. She begged him to go away so that the monster wouldn’t eat him too. He calmed her down and explained to her that he was there to free the village.

At this moment, the dragon came out of the ocean depths with the objective of having a good lunch. However, Sant Jordi threw a spear and got to wound the monster. After that, he tied the dragons neck with a rope and offered it to the princess. She came back to Montblanc with the fearful wild animal. At the central square the people definitively killed the animal.

The legend of the Festa de Sant Medir

La Festa de Sant Medir - Fiesta de San Medir is an annual festival every 3rd March in Vila de Gracia area of the Gracia district of Barcelona. It is fondly known as the "La festa més dolça" - "the Sweetest Festival" because of the 100 tons of sweets that are given away every year during the colourful Sant Medir parade. There are various activities, but the biggest event is the evening parade through Gracia. The parade groups (colles) gather on various streets in the "Vila de Gracia" area, the old part of Gracia, then join the procession of horses, carts and lorries down Gran de Gracia to the "Jardinets de Gracia" - "little gardens of Grácia." This is the open area between at the top end of Passeig de Grácia after Av. Diagonal and before Gran de Gracia starts. The evening finishes with a fireworks display. Find parade information links further down this page.

The legend of the Festa de Sant Medir or Sant Emeriterio in Spanish, is about a farmer who became a Catholic Saint in Roman times during the persecution of Christians.

The modern day festival started in 1830 when a baker called Josep Vidal i Granés, who lived in the newly opened street Gran de Gracia. He fell very ill one year and vowed that God would cure him, he would make a annual pilgrimage to the hermitage of his patron saint, Sant Medir.

The hermitage still stands just outside Barcelona on the way to Sant Cugat, where Josep Vidal was originally from. To make public his pilgrimage he would bang a drum and hand out sweets. This was very festive and every year more and more friends and neighbours joined him and this became the first "colla" of the Sant Medir festival. A "colla" is the Catalan name for a group or club.

Today there are thirty "colles" who participate and organise the annual event in the  assocation called "La Federació de Colles de Sant Medir"  - "the Confederation of Sant Medir Colles." The confederation was formed in 1926.

The legend of the Festa de Sant Medir or Sant Emeriterio in Spanish

This popular tradition comes from an important legend that has been passed on from one generation to another. The legend is situated approximately in 300 after Christ and talks about a young peasant called Medir, who lived in a small town near to Barcelona during the Roman Empire of Diocletian. This emperor persecuted fiercely the Christian congregation and ordered to capture the bishop Severe.

The bishop Severe escaped and run away to Sant Cugat. In the way he found the young peasant Medir, who was planting broad beans and who wanted to help the bishop because of his own beliefs. But the bishop told him that the most important is faith and truth and that the peasant should not lie if anyone asked him about Severe.

Soldiers passed by the place where Medir was planting broad beans and asked to him about the bishop. Medir followed the bishop’s advice and said to the soldiers that he saw the bishop to run away while he was planting broad beans, and added that the soldiers could find the fugitive if they went along the road.

As soon as Medir told the truth, a miracle happened: the broad beans that Medir had just planted grew up suddenly and flowered very quickly. Frightened by this event, the soldiers captured Medir and martyred him and the bishop, who was also captured a little bit later.

From then on, when people celebrate Sant Medir, they throw candies and sweets which symbolise the broad beans, for reminding everybody the miracle.

The legend of Mare de Déu del Vinyet (Sitges)

Once upon a time in the current sanctuary of Mare de Déu del Vinyet in Sitges, it was a vineyard of a very rich and important family called Can Milans dels Ferrers. In their fields they had slaves to cultivate. One day, a slave was digging a vine when he saw an image of the Virgin and he took it thinking it was a doll or a toy because he had never been to a mass. When the slave arrived at home he didn’t find the image. The next day when he was digging in the field, he found the image of the Virgin and he took it to home again. When he was at home he didn’t find it, the image came back to the vineyard. At the third day the Virgin appeared and the slave took the image again. When he was at home again, he talked with his master and he explained to the slave that it was the image of the God’s mother. Finally, they built a church to venerate God’s mother. The church was called Mare de  Déu del Vinyet because the farm’s name was Vinyet.

The Water Ladies

Fairies known as “water ladies” or “goges” are mythical beautiful female entities, considered good entities. They are haunted the countryside, are invisible in the daylight and they are in custody of sweet waters. The water ladies favourise fertility and birth, give life and regenerate nature. Their origin is, according Greco Latin mythology, in Olimp. The water ladies are nymphs, they are Zeus’s daughters. Thise nymphs have different names according to where they dwelt:

• Dryads (forests)
• Naiads (springs and rivers)
• Nereid (the Mediterranean)
• Oceanids (the sea)
• Oreads (mountains)
• Limoniads (meadows)
• Limniads (lakes, marshes and swamps)
• Napaea (valleys)

Dryads

Naiads

Nereid

Oceanids

Oreads

Limoniads

Napaea

 

Water is an essential element in nature, essential for any type of life. Water is considered as a purification and regeneration of body and spirit element. Most images of virgins are associated with miraculous fountains.  Christianity associated water nymphs either with virgins or with witches Water immersion or aspersion is associated to religious rites. The habitat of water ladies is in the area of ponds, rivers, wells, underground caves, next to a water source, submerged crystal palaces.

The Estunes Water Ladies at Banyoles Lake

Banyoles is a beautiful lake located an hour inland from the Costa Brava. It was declared a Picturesque Scenery in 1949.At the foot of the impressive mountains of the Pyrenees Gentle foothills rise up from the lake basin. The mild climate and the serene waters make this a peaceful and fascinating site.

The Estunes is a type of rock found in the area of Banyoles lake. It gives origin to a landscape of a mysterious magnetism, where calcareous rocks and the surrounding woods combine in a singular way.

The rocks are cracked and, looking through the wide gaps, it is possible to see some caves known as Tunes of Estunes. The roots of the trees (oaks and holm oaks) twist in strange shapes and go deep into the gaps. The Estunes have always inspired writers and have been the origin of numerous legends of water ladies.


The legends say that in the depths of the caves there were luxurious palaces inhabited by water ladies known as Goges.The Goges seduce with their singing and capture those men who dare to be near the lake shore and drag them to their underground palaces. Only once a year, during Saint John’s Eve, at the summer solstice, the Goges can be seen by human beings without taking the risk of being bewitched by them.

The Baladrau Water Lady

A beautiful lady is the guardian of an apple tree with gold flowers and fruits She offers these fruits to young people passing by. The fruits award them immortality .

The Legend of Catalan Flag

The Catalan flag has a name and a history. It is one of the so called heraldic flags that come out of the creation of a cloth from the arms of the Counts of Barcelona. Though it is possible that the flag, or the pennant, is in fact before the time of the arms themselves. There is no historical reference until documents of the XIII century, but we know it is one of the most ancient ones of Europe. Perhaps one of the oldest pennants in Europe this is from 1306.

At first the bars of the arm were represented vertically and then horizontally. Finally it was the horizontal form that became its final form and the official flag of the Catalan nation. A flag with five yellow bars and four red ones, all of the same size. It was made official in the Estatut d'autonomia de Catalunya of 1979.

The popular legend about the origin of the flag says that it was Guifré el Pelós in the IX century who created it. He started the glorious house of Barcelona that then reigned for more than 500 years over Catalunya.

In one particular battle, a victory over the Normandos, his prize at the end of the battle was a shield, with a gold background, from the king Charles el Calb. The legend says that the king Charles, with his own hands, painted the shield with his fingers still covered in blood from the Count of Barcelona's wounds, with the four red bars it has now.

Modern historical investigations have shown that this is not true, but most people prefer the legend.

La Moreneta - The Black Virgin Story

The mountain of Montserrat has always been a source of inspiration for myths and legends because her singular form, but maybe the most important and popular is the legend of the “Moreneta”, the Dark Maiden, the Virgin of Montserrat.

The word Montserrat, means "jagged or serrated mountain" in Catalan. The mountain is also called "La muntanya dels cent cims" (The mountain of 100 peaks) and is composed of strikingly pink conglomerate, a form of sedimentary rock, popular with climbers. The summit of Montserrat is called Sant Jeroni (Saint Jerome) and stands at 1,236 meters (4,055 feet) above the valley floor. Montserrat, is the highest point of the Catalan lowlands, and stands central to the most populated part of Catalonia, not so far from Barcelona.

Nestled between the peaks for centuries the famous Benedictine abbey Santa Maria de Montserrat. "Monestir de Montserrat" (Monastery of Montserrat) is the center of the Catalan faith. Charles V and his son King Philip II of Spain died holding blessed candles from Montserrat in their hands. The Monastery contains and protects "La Moreneta", named also the Black Virgin of Montserrat and her sanctuary. The mountains were associated in the Middle Ages with Parsifal's search for the Holy Grail in the legends of King Arthur, which was kept in a mountaintop castle called Montsalvat, even famous German composer Wagner set his opera "Parsifal" there...

According to legend La Moreneta was carved by St. Luke and brought to Montserrat by St. Peter in 50 AD, then hidden from the moors in the Santa Cova (holy cave) just down the mountain from the monastery. By the late 1100s, a new wooden sculpture of the miraculous image was made, and it is this Romanesque statue that pilgrims are familiar with today. In 1522, St. Ignatius of Loyola came in pilgrimage, and made the decision to abandon his former life as a warrior, leaving his sword as an offering to Our Lady of Montserrat and settling for some time in the nearby town of Manresa as he discerned his vacation and wrote his Spiritual Exercises. The old church was replaced with an enormous transitional late Gothic/Renaissance-style basilica in 1592, and this building stood until much of it was destroyed by the armies of a retreating Napoleon in 1811. Fortunately, the monks managed to hide the image of Our Lady of Montserrat so that it was not destroyed along with the rest of the abbey. In 1880, Our Lady of Montserrat was officially declared to be Patroness of Catalonia by Leo XIII. In more recent times, Pope John Paul II came to Montserrat on pilgrimage in 1982, to pray before the image of the Black Madonna...

On a rugged carved mountain not far from Barcelona lies one of the most popular destinations of the Catalan region and Spain: the statue of the Black Madonna. According to the legend, the statue was discovered in the year 880 by some shepherds who have seen a strange light on the sky and heard music coming from a cave in the mountain. From that moment on the statue remained on the Montserrat mountain becoming one of the most famous pilgrimage sights in Spain.

The statue became more and more famous after people started reporting miracles and attributing it mystical healing powers. In 1881 the Montserrat Madonna was crowned in accordance with Canon Law and proclaimed patron saint of Catalonia by Pope Leo XIII. Its fame still attracts flocks of pilgrims who come to the sacred mountain either to take part at the monks’ daily celebrations of Mass and recitations of the Liturgy of the Hours either to visit the Basilica, next to the monastery, to see La Moreneta.

Sacred Cave: this is where they evidently found La Moreneta. There's a replica there now.

The Holy Grotto (Santa Cova) were the statue was discovered by the shepherds  can  be visited by following the walking paths or taking the funicular.

Montserrat, Spain-Hike to Capella de Santa cova (Sacred Cave)

Another attraction point of the Monastery is the 50 member Escolania, one of the oldest and the most famous boys’ choir in Europe. The choir dates back from the 13th century. At 1 pm daily you can hear them sing "Salve Regina" and the "Virolai" (hymn of Montserrat) in the basilica.

There are many stories about the black Madonna and the mountain, who many believe to be magic and some say she guards the Holy Grail, but we can never deny that she will always be the symbol of joy and hope for millions of her worshippers.

The Legend of Montserrat:  The "Moreneta"

 A legend of year 1239 tells that, at dusk from a Saturday of year 880, a great light descended from the sky, and whose brilliance left ecstatics young shepherds that contemplated the event; formidable brilliance was accompanied of beautiful angelic melody as background music. Following Saturday the children returned to the same place of the event accompanied by their parents, and the moving vision was repeated; the same it happened four following Saturdays, when it accompanied the vice-chancellor of Olesa de Montserrat, and all together stated the same and surprising stellar wonder.

The bishop, who by those then was in Manresa, would not take in having the news of the happened thing in the mountain and this one did not doubt in raising its top to verify the facts with its own eyes; in the expedition a natural cavern was discovered: Santa Cova, in whose interior they found an image of Maria with the Boy in his lap, with the face and hands of black color.

Gotmar, the bishop of Vic, did not doubt in proposing that outside transferred to Manresa; but it was as soon as to remove it from the interior of the cave, when the image became so heavy that there was no form to move it of the ground; the interpretation for the bishop was easy: the will of the Virgin was to remain in that sacred place; reason why it endorsed the divine will and it decided to construct a chapel so that Maria was venerated in the mountain of Montserrat.

According to the legend, “the Moreneta” (the brunette),  was carved in wood burned by the effect of a ray, by the same San Lucas in Jerusalem and brought to Catalonia by San Pedro, later being deposited in the church of San Justo, to be venerated by Santa Eulalia and San Oleguer; the image, well-known like “the Jerosolimitana”, would be hidden at the beginning of century VIII because of the Muslim invasion, taking it to Montserrat, where it would be hidden in Santa Cova, remaining there hidden until the 880, year of the phenomena of the strange lights.

This is the legend but the truth is that many historians have done hypotheses about this subject, and the most accepted is that the Virgin was hidden in the cave by some monks to avoid that the Muslims found it and burned it. Some years after, some pastors saw a shooting star and they found the cave and the statuette. The bishop built a monastery and the rest of the story is a legend.

SAINT CUGAT STORY

Serralonga

 

Joan Sala i Ferrer, also known as Serrallonga (1594 –1634) was a Catalan outlaw endured in people’s collective memory as a legend for robbing the rich and helping the poor and fighting against the injustice and tyranny of the king of Spain. Thus, in popular culture he was considered a sort of Catalan Robin Hood, widely remembered in early ballads which depicted his figure as an archetypal hero or a cruel bandit.

 He was born in a family of landowners in the town of Viladrau, Osona. He married a neighbouring well off heiress and had two children. He carried a normal life until the moment that, by mistake, he was accused of a robbery and he had to run away to avoid being sent to prison and hid in the mountains he knew so well.

Those were times of  deep economic crisis and endemic illness in Catalonia. Serrallonga had to join a gang of bandits to survive in the mountains and he soon became the head of this gang that attacked royal carriages of rich people and tax collectors.

In the XVII century Catalonia was divided in two parties: those rich and noble people who were in favour of King Philip IV, who represented the central power, and on the other side, landowners and small farmers, with a deep root in traditions, that refused to pay taxes to the “foreign king”.

Attacking and stealing the money from the rich made Serrallonga arouse the sympathy of the vast majority of Catalan people who supported and helped him.

 Serrallonga was finally captured by the king’s soldiers and sent to Barcelona, where after being tortured he was executed.

It is said that Serrallonga was the first to proudly cry in favour of the land and against the invaders, and for that reason he is one of the best well known Catalan heroes. People of all ages remember and praise his figure as a symbol of opposition to Spanish central power.

 The phenomenon of bandits in Catalonia started in the 16th century and it was said to be closely linked to nobility and clergy. We learn from historical documents and even from the “Quixote” that such bandits as famous as Serrallonga belonged to well-off peasantry. However, they would commit crimes without a hint of hesitation because their task was to impose the authority of the noblemen and clergymen. In return, these protected the bandits from the persecution of the kings’ men.