ENJOY BEGUES! SANT CRISTÒFOL, LA RECTORIA & EL MUR

Today, The Grandma has returned to Begues to spend a wonderful day with her friend Montse. They have visited some of the most beautiful places in a village that has thousands of years of history to tell and hundreds of places, buildings and archaeological remains to display.

If you want to enjoy history, nature and some extraordinarily fantastic people, visit Begues, and you will discover how time stops and catches you and nature liberates you at the same time. It is always an unforgettable experience and a great pleasure to go to Begues.

More information: Ajuntament de Begues

First, Montse and The Grandma have visited the primitive church of Sant Cristòfol whose first reference to is a notarial document from the year 981, of which no remains are known. The characteristics of the facing of some walls made of large ashlars of red sandstone, found in archaeological excavations carried out in the sacristy, seem to correspond to the second Romanesque or transitional one (12th-13th centuries). They must not correspond, then, to the primitive temple of the ninth or tenth centuries, but to a later one, Romanesque, which has not been preserved either.

The fact that the church did not appear as a parish until the middle of the 13th century may indicate that it was formerly a church built by the community of smallholders in the area, but without the character of a parish, as the tax linked to the functions paid by all the inhabitants in the parish of Sant Miquel d'Eramprunyà and, in any case, to the lords of the castle as lords of the church.

The first mention of the existence of this parish with a rural notary is from 1264. A document from 1279 refers to the rector of Sant Cristòfol de Begues and in 1413 we have a first explicit mention of the rectory, because in the pastoral visit the repair of the rectory is demanded. It must be assumed, then, that the Romanesque temple became insufficient to cater for the growing number of attendees in the parish due, above all, to sixteenth-century French immigration.

Thus, between 1575 and 1579 this new church was built on what had been the parish cemetery. It is a nave church, with a polygonal apse and covered with very homogeneous Renaissance Gothic vaults. The most outstanding element is the Renaissance portal, with a triangular pediment supported by 2 columns, above which is the image of Saint Christopher and on the sides those of Saint George and Saint Michael the Archangel. The sundial on the cover dates from 1878, and corresponds to a 19th century renovation, at which time the red and yellow glazed flake roof that covers the bell tower must also be placed.

Download Història de l'Església Vella de Sant Cristòfol de Begues (Catalan)

Later, Montse and The Grandma have visited La Rectoria. It is adjacent to the apse of the church and with the south façade facing south. It is a building with the appearance of a farmhouse, presided over by a porch that occupies the entire main façade. Until 1930, the old rectory was still the rector's house, and probably only on the ground floor did farmers live. It ceased to be used as such when the new church and rectory in the centre of the village was built in 1931, and later the old one was sold to Mr. Queralt, a person who actively participated in the arrangement of the road from Gavà to Begues in the 1940s.

La Rectoria is a building attached to the old church of Sant Cristòfol. It has its origins in the thirteenth century, having small several later reforms. The characteristic porticoes galleries on the façade must date from the 18th century.

For centuries the church and rectory were isolated in depopulation, until in 1828 the rector was allowed to parcel out the bad lands of the environment for economic and security reasons, thus beginning the suburb of La Rectoria. 

The suburb of La Rectoria was set up from 1830 on the lands of the diocese in order to give protection and economic resources (censuses) to the rector who, until then, lived in the open, in a very vulnerable situation to the insecurity of the age. The houses on Carrer de Sant Cristòfol, Cal Traginer and Cal Fusteret were built during the 19th century, while Cal Gaietano could well be from the 18th century.

To the south of the church and next to the road to Gavà is Cal Paulo, a building with a square floor plan, three floors and a roof on four sides, following the classicist models starting to build in 1840 and completed in 1896. It was owned by the canon, and it seems that initially it was supposed to be a convent, but in fact throughout the twentieth century it was a farmhouse with its neighbourhood and various terraced sheds.

More information: Municipis Catalans (Catalan)

Finally, Montse and The Grandma have visited El Mur, a wonderful place located in a privileged environment. This viewpoint is an ideal place to enjoy the silence and contemplate a totally panoramic landscape of the south of the Baix Llobregat. It is a space dedicated to reflection, tranquillity and meditation. For this reason, it has been christened the Space of Silence.

The viewpoint includes a park with trails designed to stimulate the senses of sight, smell and hearing, with four sensory walks along the paths of the viewpoint. Colours, smells, contemplation and meditation are the four axes that guide these routes.

It has public benches, services and a material store to store the equipment needed to organize activities around meditation and contemplation.

One of the main attractions of the viewpoint is the paths that run just below the vaults of the entrance. You can walk along the paths until you reach the so-called viewpoint of the cave, from where you can see an extensive panorama of the Llobregat Delta.

More information: Komoot

 We are not makers of history.
We are made by history.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

JORDI SANTANYÍ, THE GREAT WRITER FROM MALLORCA

Jordi Santanyí in Can Mercader, Cornellà

Ramon Llull, Joan Alcover, Miquel Costa i Llobera, Miquel dels Sants Oliver, Llorenç Vilallonga, Bartomeu Rosselló-Pòrcel, Maria Antònia Salvà, Blai Bonet, Baltasar Porcel, Biel Mesquida, Sebastià Alzamora...

They are only some of the most popular writers from the Balearic Islands, especially Mallorca. All of them were and are the most important figures of their ages and represented different movements from Medieval ages to Modern ones. From the cradle of the Catalan language with Ramon Llull to important movements like Modernism, Noucentisme or Post War Literature in the last century and Contemporany Literature in our current one.

Jordi Santanyí is a Mallorcan writer who lives in Cornellà de Llobregat, the Roman city of Cornelianus. He has just arrived to this big city to improve his career as a writer. Jordi is one of The Grandma's friends, and he is going to join to the rest of the group (Claire Fontaine, Joseph de Ca'th Lon, Tina Picotes and Tonyi Tamaki) in this amazing experience called The Grandma's Logbook.

Jordi is a great expert in literature and, because of this, today The Grandma wants to introduce him talking about his new city, Cornellà, and his passion, writing and literature.

More information: The Culture Trip

Cornellà de Llobregat is a municipality in the comarca of the Baix Llobregat in Catalonia. It is situated on the left bank of the Llobregat River. It is in the south-western part of the Barcelona metropolitan area and is part of the wider urban area. It houses one of the three La Liga football clubs from Catalonia in RCD Espanyol.

The history of Cornellà de Llobregat is defined by three principal factors: its proximity to the city of Barcelona, its being an area of passage, as was the entire County of Baix Llobregat, to and from the capital of Catalonia, and the presence of the Llobregat River. Its name is of Roman origin, Cornelianus, and the city's architectural characteristics possess Visigoth traits.

Jordi Santanyí in Cornellà de Llobregat

The first written reference to the city dates from 980 AD, at which time a church and a defense tower to ward off the Saracens already existed in the same place as the current castle, constructed in the fourteenth century.

The city was incorporated into Barcelona's territory in the thirteenth century and, for a short time, belonged to the Franqueses del Llobregat in which agricultural activity was principally developed.

More information: Consorci de Turisme-El Baix Llobregat

Literature, most generically, is any body of written works. More restrictively, literature refers to writing considered to be an art form or any single writing deemed to have artistic or intellectual value, often due to deploying language in ways that differ from ordinary usage.

Its Latin root literatura/litteratura, derived itself from littera: letter or handwriting, was used to refer to all written accounts. The concept has changed meaning over time to include texts that are spoken or sung, oral literature, and non-written verbal art forms. Developments in print technology have allowed an ever-growing distribution and proliferation of written works, culminating in electronic literature.

Literature is classified according to whether it is fiction or non-fiction, and whether it is poetry or prose. It can be further distinguished according to major forms such as the novel, short story or drama; and works are often categorized according to historical periods or their adherence to certain aesthetic features or expectations (genre).

Jordi & the Miranda Tower, Cornellà

The history of literature follows closely the development of civilization. When defined exclusively as written work, Ancient Egyptian literature, along with Sumerian literature, are considered the world's oldest literatures. The primary genres of the literature of Ancient Egypt—didactic texts, hymns and prayers, and tales—were written almost entirely in verse; while use of poetic devices is clearly recognizable, the prosody of the verse is unknown. Most Sumerian literature is apparently poetry, as it is written in left-justified lines,and could contain line-based organization such as the couplet or the stanza.

Different historical periods are reflected in literature. National and tribal sagas, accounts of the origin of the world and of customs, and myths which sometimes carry moral or spiritual messages predominate in the pre-urban eras. The epics of Homer, dating from the early to middle Iron age, and the great Indian epics of a slightly later period, have more evidence of deliberate literary authorship, surviving like the older myths through oral tradition for long periods before being written down.

More information: History

Literature in all its forms can be seen as written records, whether the literature itself be factual or fictional, it is still quite possible to decipher facts through things like characters' actions and words or the authors' style of writing and the intent behind the words. The plot is for more than just entertainment purposes; within it lies information about economics, psychology, science, religions, politics, cultures, and social depth.

Studying and analyzing literature becomes very important in terms of learning about human history. 

Literature provides insights about how society has evolved and about the societal norms during each of the different periods all throughout history. For instance, postmodern authors argue that history and fiction both constitute systems of signification by which we make sense of the past. It is asserted that both of these are discourses, human constructs, signifying systems, and both derive their major claim to truth from that identity.

Literature provides views of life, which is crucial in obtaining truth and in understanding human life throughout history and its periods. Specifically, it explores the possibilities of living in terms of certain values under given social and historical circumstances.

More information: History Today

Literature is the art of discovering something extraordinary 

about ordinary people, and saying with ordinary 

words something extraordinary.

Boris Pasternak

THE ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR CAPUCHIN IN SANT RAMON

The Grandma at the Capuchins lands, Sant Boi

The Grandma has returned to Barcelona after travelling along the Nile River. She has enjoyed the trip a lot and she must dedicate some days to put her photos and notes in order. It's impossible to choose only one memory of all the travel but she has learnt a lot of new information about mummies.

The Grandma has decided to go to the library to borrow a new book. She has chosen Rosemary Border's Ghost Stories, an interesting book full of stories of ghosts and paranormal activity. She has started reading the first chapter of the book.

After visiting the library, The Grandma has studied two new lesson of her Intermediate Language Practice manual (Vocabulary 15 & 16).

More information: Places & Food and Drink

The Grandma has remembered an old story about the Capuchin Order which has something in common with the Ancient Egypt: mummification. It was a story written by Sylvia Lagarda-Mata and published in her fantastic books Fantasmes de Barcelona (Ghosts of Barcelona) and Misteris de Catalunya per passar por (Mysteries of Catalonia to have fear). The Grandma wants to explain that interesting story...

Old memories of Sant Ramon, 1924

In the moonlit nights, when all the surrounding woods remain silent, you can feel the somorous voices that sing Gregorian songs coming, along the winding path that goes from Sant Boi de Llobregat to the hermitage of Sant Ramon, the summit of Montbaig.

Suddenly, the procession stops on a bend. Barefoot, with its brown habit, the white cord at the waist and the hood covering their faces, the spectral friars move forward until they reach the garden square in front of the hermitage, now in shadows. And as soon as they begin to climb up the large stairway leading up to the front door, they disappear as mysteriously as they have appeared.

Their hesitating and uncertain step reminds us of the resurrectioned mummies...

And maybe that's what they are!

More information: Britannica

From the middle of the 16th century, the Capuchin Order developed a macabre funerary practice that consisted of mummifying the deceased friars. The method became so famous that it even gave its name: to be buried in the way of the Capuchin.

This religious order was born in 1520 in Italy, separated from the Franciscans. The communities were small, ten or twelve members, who lived with simplicity and austerity, preaching the Franciscan spirit of poverty, observing rigorous fastings and penances and taking care of the disadvantaged. His name comes from the long and sharp hood of his habit.

In Catalonia, the Capuchin Order arrived in 1578, by special request of the Consell de Cent. And they established convents in several cities and towns, where they still profess. Under the plant of the old convents of Girona, currently in the Museum of History of the City, and Figueres, now converted into an auditorium, the corpse dryers are still preserved.

Old memories of the old Psychiatric Hospital

The process of conserving the bodies of the deceased, perfected by the years of practice of the monks, consisted of the following: first, the bodies of the deceased brothers were placed in small underground cells called coladors, a kind of vertical niches with some banks of stone where the corpses were sitting, before covering the entrance.

For a couple of years, with the shortage of air and humidity, the bodies were dehydrating naturally, and the internal fluids were escorted by the holes that had been practiced in the banks. After this time, the individual tufts were demolished, the mummified bodies were removed, they were cleaned with vinegar, and they were allowed to dry outdoors.

More information: Capuchins

Finally, they were dressed in their habit and hanged in nearby units, along with other mummified monks. In this way, some macabre exhibition halls were created, gradually becoming one of the most important parts of the architecture of Capuchin convents. There they were contemplated and venerated by their alive brothers, as a reminder of the brevity of life and the need for captivity and humility.

In Sant Boi de Llobregat, the Capuchin Community was soon established: in 1579, they built a convent in the neighborhood of El Molí Nou, which they dedicated to the Visitation of the Virgin. But sixteen years later, for reasons of unhealthiness, the Provincial Government decided to close it. The building passed into the hands of another mendicant order, the Servants of Mary. After the 1835 dissolution, he was occupied by the brothers of Sant Joan de Déu, who established the famous mental health center today known as the Psychiatric Hospital.
 

Perhaps because of this, because they no longer have a room to rest for all eternity, the Capuchin Order of Sant Boi wake up at night, mummified, in the Baix Llobregat county.

In Palermo, Sicily, the Capuchin Order was very famous because of its methods of mummification.

More information: Palermo Catacombs

I was an anthropology major in college, 

and I've had a lifelong fascination 

with Egyptology, mummies, 

and all sorts of bizarre cultural practices.

Tess Gerritsen