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| The Grandma & Claire enjoy La Mercè |
Today, Claire Fontaine and The Grandma have enjoyed La Mercè, the festivity of the patron of Barcelona. Although Barcelona has three patrons (Madrona, Eulàlia and Mercè), the only one that has a festivity day is La Mercè.
Claire and The Grandma love Catalan popular culture and they have decided to enjoy the Cavalcada, a great parade of figures that symbolize different characters of the history of Barcelona since the 15th century until nowadays.
Els Gegants de Barcelona or Els Gegants de la Ciutat are a couple of giants called Jaume I and Violant d'Hongria, owned by the Barcelona City Council and delegates to the Geganters Coordinator of Barcelona. They are the oldest documented giants in Catalonia, although not in their present form.
His names, Jaume I and Violant d'Hongria, are in honor of these important Catalan monarchs, although it is worth mentioning that during the Franco dictatorship they were forced to be renamed with the names of Fernando and Isabel, in honour of Catholic kings.
Els Gegants de la Ciutat are the highest representation of the Barcelona protocol, along with the Àliga de Barcelona and are part of the Seguici Popular of the City of Barcelona, along with the Capgrossos Macers, the Historic Bestiary of the city, Els Gegants del Pi and Els Gegants de Santa Maria del Mar.
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| Gegants de Barcelona, del Pi & de Santa Maria del Mar |
Els Gegants del Pi are led by L'Associació d'Amics dels Gegants del Pi, a cultural association created in 1992 in the district of Pi de la Ciutat Vella that assumes all the tasks that follow from the operation of the festive elements of the parish and is continuing work since 1960 had carried out the Patronage of Els Gegants del Pi.
Els Gegants del Pi have always been housed in the Basilica del Pi and have a long history that began in 1601. First they were in charge of the parish's Works Council, which was keeping watch over. References to the appearances of the giants at the Corpus Christi festivities and other solemnities of the parish and of Barcelona are numerous throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, until 1870s are closed in the attic of the bell tower of the church of the Pi.
During the Spanish Civil War they could be saved from the burning of the basilica and, in 1959, were recovered by a group of parishioners of the Pi interested in the traditions of Barcelona and subsequently restored by Manel Casserres i Boix. The 12 of June of 1960 they return to dance by the streets of the city.
In 1985, in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of its recovery, they are sponsored by their eternal companions, the city's giants, and baptized as Mustafà and Elisenda.
Els Gegants de Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona are historical giants of the city documented from the 16th century and belonging to the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar. They represent King Solomon and the Queen of Saba.
Els Gegants de Santa Maria del Mar, historically led by the bastions of the Port of Barcelona, took part in the processions and festivities of the city until their disappearance a year earlier from the Spanish Civil War, but the belief remains that they were not burned because of the war, because they were not found in the Basilica.
In 2002, the current version of Els Gegants de Santa Maria del Mar was released.
More information: Ajuntament de Barcelona
Els Capgrossos Macers, also known as Capgrossos de la Ciutat, are a couple of figures that lead the Seguici Popular of the City of Barcelona, next to the giants Jaume I and Violant. They represent processors of a procession, and the carrier always comes out with a mallet in his hand.
Els Capgrossos Macers have their own dance, which they premiered in 1999 at the Toc d'Inici of the Mercè festivities, an occasion where they can be seen year after year. They dance a piece called La Gavaldana, by Xavier Padrissa, with choreography of the Gegantera Colla of Sant Josep de Calassanç.
L'Àliga de Barcelona is
an element of the popular Catalan beast of the city of Barcelona,
where it is part of the Seguici Popular of the City of Barcelona. Together with Els Gegants de Barcelona is the maximum representative of the city of Barcelona.
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| L'Àliga de Barcelona & Els Capgrossos Macers |
When it does not come out, you can visit the Palau de la Virreina, where it is permanently exposed. Some think that the eagle symbolizes the evangelist St. John, who since the middle ages has been represented with this bird.
L'Àliga de Barcelona has been documented since the 14th century, and lived its most splendid time in the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was the responsibility of the Municipal Council and, for that reason, it had to be presented at any ceremony, party official or event attended by any of the Council member representing the city. He also had the privilege of being able to dance in churches and the procession of Corpus had the right to march right in front of the Custody.
The figure had great popularity during the first centuries of activity until the XVIII. From then on, with El Decret de Nova Planta (New Plant Decree) in 1716 and the 1771 prohibitions diminished its privileges and symbolisms until reaching its last reference in 1807 by the canonization festivities of Sant Josep Oriol.
El Ball de l'Àliga, Ball per a ballar la aliga per xeremies or Ball per a ballar l'Àliga de Barcelona is a composition in the form of dance, which the document calls Mantuano referring to a melody of bass very popular since the rebirth and used in this composition.
More information: Betevé (Catalan Version)
El Lleó de Barcelona is an element of the popular Catalan beast that is part of the Seguici Popular of the City of Barcelona.
His first reference dates from 1424 to El Llibre de les Solemnitats de Barcelona (Book of Solemnities of Barcelona), but it is not in 1601 on the occasion of the canonization festivities of Sant Ramon de Penyafort that we find referenced properly as a great crowned figure. We find it documented throughout the seventeenth century and the eighteenth century enjoying a renowned popular prestige for its ravages and performances.
Its representation corresponded to the Gremi dels Blanquers, with its headquarters in the Basilica del Pi, and when it left, it was accompanied by characters with lion masks. There is evidence of his participation in the procession for the beatification of Sant Josep Oriol in 1801 and the festivities for the peace of the Seven Years' War in 1837. He also had a solid participation in the procession of the Parish of Pi until to 1870.
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| El Lleó & La Mulassa |
La Mulassa de Barcelona or Mulassa de Pi is an element of the popular Catalan beast of the city of Barcelona, where it is part of the Seguici Popular of the City of Barcelona.
La Mulassa de Barcelona is a figure that represents a mule decorated and that has always been linked to the Basilica del Pi.
It has two known and differentiated aspects. On the one hand, he is a member of the Historical Bestiary and of the Seguici Popular of Barcelona, which is why he participates in numerous protocol events, occasions where he brings a bouquet of flowers to his mouth or a floral garland on his neck. And, on the other hand, participate in correfocs and similar shows, throwing fire from four points in the mouth.
The history of La Mulassa dates back to 1601, during the canonization festivities of Sant Ramon de Penyafort. We also know that the Gremi de Paraires, which had a chapel in Santa Maria del Pi, was already in charge of guarding it and making it participate in all acts.
During the seventeenth century and much of the eighteenth century there are documented a series of demonstrations of the beast, as a participant element of processions and celebrations and also as a beast of fire. And little by little it was becoming one of the funniest and most baffled elements of the bestiary, famous for the spectacles of fire that he was leading.
The figure enjoyed great popularity during the first centuries of activity, but from the XVIII, with the decree of Nueva Planta, they were restricting privileges and limiting areas of action because it was a trade union property. Over time, he was losing symbolism and calling, and even in 1771 he was expressly prohibited from throwing rockets. From that moment the popularity of La Mulassa began to decline and since 1812, we no longer find any other reference.
More information: La Casa dels Entremesos (Catalan Version)
El Bou de Barcelona or Bou de Sant Just is an element of the popular Catalan beast of the city of Barcelona, where it is part of the Seguici Popular of the City of Barcelona, along with other elements such as Àliga, León, Dragón o Víbria.
It is a figure that represents a docile and calm character, unlike the role it plays in some other Catalan populations.
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| El Bou & El Drac |
It has two known and differentiated aspects. On the one hand, we can find it in protocoled acts with the Barcelona Patronage, where a walk is decorated with a crown of flowers, and on the other, in correfocs, removing fire for the horns.
The figure can be visited all year round, as long as it does not go out, to the Casa dels Entremesos, with much of the figures of the festive imagery of the old Barcelona. The figure is loaded internally by a person.
El Drac de Ciutat Vella is an element of the popular Catalan beast of the city of Barcelona, where it is part of the Seguici Popular of the City of Barcelona. The beast is loaded internally with wheels for 2 people.
It has two known and differentiated aspects. On the one hand, it participates as a bonfire bonfire in the spectacles of fire -through sparkles by the mouth, wings and tail- and as a peaceful figure in the formal acts with the Seguici Popular of the City Barcelona, in which it carries a bouquet of carnations in the mouth. The figure can be visited all year round at Casa dels Entremesos, where it is exhibited with much of the festive imagery of the Ciutat Vella.
More info: Agrupació de Colles de Geganters de Catalunya (Catalan)
La Víbria de Barcelona is an element of the popular Catalan beast of the city of Barcelona, where it is part of the Seguici Popular of the City of Barcelona.
Víbria is a medieval mythological figure that represents an evil female dragon, with snake tail, bat wings and woman's breasts. It is a piece of festive imagery that is part of the Historical Beast and the Seguici Popular of the City of Barcelona, and goes both in parades and protocol acts as well as in fire spectacles.
The figure has its own dance, the Dance of the Vibria, with music played by gralles and percussion. It can be seen in the most symbolic moments of the Barcelona festivities -Mercè, Santa Eulàlia, and Corpus- with the dances of the other figures of the procession. When it does not come out, the Víbria de Barcelona can be visited at Casa dels Entremesos, where it is permanently exhibited with much of the festive imagery of the Ciutat Vella.
The figure is already
documented in the fifteenth century, when he was involved in Corpus
Christi processions. By the book El Llibre de les Solemnitats de Barcelona (Book of Solemnities of Barcelona), it is
known that he participated, together with the Àliga de Barcelona, in
the coronation of King Martí I l'Humà in Zaragoza in 1399.
Like most of the pieces
of the Historical Beast, we find it documented participating in the
canonization festivities of Sant Ramon de Penyafort, in 1601.
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| La Tarasca, Els Cavallets Cotoners & La Víbria |
La Víbria de Barcelona enjoyed great popularity during the first centuries of activity, but in the eighteenth century, with the restrictions of the Bourbon monarchy, it began to lose importance, especially as a result of the prohibition of the royal decree of Charles III, in 1780. In the nineteenth century, it is no longer documented anywhere.
La Tarasca of Barcelona or Cuca Fera is a piece of popular Catalan beast belonging to the Seguici Popular of the City of Barcelona. The character of the Tarasca spread throughout Occitania, through the lands of the Crown of Aragon and the rest of the peninsula with very different forms, from those similar to the Occitan myth to those close to the classic dragon. It has a humanized feline head and a turtle body that has a dual function: it takes fire to the fireworks and shows and launches water and candy in the parades and acts of protocol. The figure can be visited all year round at Casa dels Entremesos, where it is exhibited with much of the festive imagery of the Ciutat Vella.
The origin of the figure must be found in a legend of the Provencal population of Tarascó, which explains that there was a beast that lived between the fog and the muddy waters of the wetlands and that the population was terrified because it was devoured young maidens. As a result of this story, the character became very popular and spread throughout Occitania and part of the Crown of Aragon. In some places, it has come to this day as a festive element.
Tarasca's information as a piece of Barcelona's festive imagery is uncertain, often because it has been confused with other elements of the bestiary. In fact, the Castilian writers, who ignored the Barcelona festive heritage, tended to call Tarasca any element of the bestiary that was alien to them.
Els Cavallets Cotoners de Barcelona are some elements of the popular Catalan bestiary protocol of the city of Barcelona. They are part of the Seguici Popular of the City of Barcelona thanks to the Esbart Català de Dansaires. They are currently eight figures.
The first reference of the Cavallets in Barcelona dates from 1424 in the El Llibre de les Solemnitats de Barcelona (Book of Solemnities of Barcelona) where it appears that they belong to the Council of Barcelona. Already in 1430 there were eight figures, oscillating the number over the years but never reaching more than twelve. In 1437 the City Council ceded the easels to the Gremi de Cotoners to assume their management.
After missing years they were recovered by La Societat del Born to participate in the Carnival celebrations in 1860, but later they were damaged and disappeared definitively.
More info: Coordinadora Geganters de Barcelona (Catalan version)
We're giants, and we're unaware of things
that are too small for us to see.
Louie Schwartzberg
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