today I want to deal with a very special celebration for Catalan people: on the 23. of april, la gente in Catalonia celebrate a day, dedicated to Sant Jordi (or Saint George). It is - in some way - their version of the well-known Valentines day tradition. Nevertheless, they celebrate both of them :-)
It is really amazing and pleasant to see, how proud people in Barcelona, and Catalonia in general, are of their heritage and their origins. Whenever there is a local festial in a city nearby or when it is time for one of the many regional holiday celebrations, every single person knows about it and will also participate. And by saying everybody, you can take me literally. Even one of my maths professors at the university in BCN reminded us students of the day and encouraged, well almost kindly forced us to go and join the event. I take this as an example, since I know, people in maths are often said to "live in their own world" and do not care about their surroundings etc., which in this case may be especially true for academic people in this field :-) But as I said, it is not!
The celebration
So how is this day actually celebrated in BCN? The tradition claims, that on Sant Jordi's, guys gift girls with roses as a symbol of love, and in return, they receive a book. This practice is not only common between couples and lovers, but it is also done as a nice gesture at work or between friends.
If you fear that you won't get a rose for your spouse on that day, don't worry. There are stalls, where they sell roses, on literally every corner in the city. If you are lucky, you can also get this rose in combination with a discount for a nice romantic dinner. So what else do you need for a perfect evening ;-)
If you fear that you won't get a rose for your spouse on that day, don't worry. There are stalls, where they sell roses, on literally every corner in the city. If you are lucky, you can also get this rose in combination with a discount for a nice romantic dinner. So what else do you need for a perfect evening ;-)
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| Tables full of roses everywhere (and of course the Catalan flag for independency, the Estelada) |
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| People got very creative to stand out of all the sellers |
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| Books everywhere. Would be like heaven, if they weren't mainly in Catalan... |
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| Entire BCN just gathering at La Rambla and Plaza Catalunya |
The legend
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And the history? One of the most "accepted" or told stories is that once, in an endless country, there was a city called Silene, which was threatened by a dragon. The dragon devoured all the animals on the fields. To calm him down, once in a while, a lamb and a virgin - yes, the classic virgin - where chosen to be sacrificed for the dragon. Unfortunately, the dicision on the choice of the virgin was done by lot. So of course, one day it had to happen that the local princess was chosen to be sacrificed. But fortunately, just when the dragon was about to swallow the princess, a courages knight - Sant Jordi - appeared and killed the beast with a lance. According to the legend, a rose bush started to grow exactly at the location where he stabbed that dragon.
So due to that legend, on the Day of the Rose you give a rose to your loved ones.
Unfortunately nobody could really give a reason why girls give books to the guys on that day. The best explanation I have found has nothing to do with the legend of Sant Jordi.
It happened, that on the 23. of April 1616, Cervantes, author of Don Quijote and considered the Shakespear of Spain, had died. And, as it is done in honour of Shakespear in England, the 23. of April was chosen to be the national book day. So they have maybe just combined those two traditions.
Anyway, that's it on Sant Jordi's
Hasta ahora!
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