Saint Eulalia of Barcelona

Giant puppets dancing through medieval squares, acrobats forming human towers two stories high, drum corps and folk dancing.......this week's favorite thing is celebrating the feast day of Saint Eulalia in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona, Spain.

These are no muppets!

These giant puppets represent historical and fictional characters.

Outside the seat of Catalan government.

St. Eulalia is the co-patron saint of Barcelona.  As a thirteen year old she was tortured and martyred by the Romans somewhere around 290 AD.  In the usual way of these things, her body had a mysterious journey until her bones finally found their resting place at the Cathedral named in her honor in 1339.  Her feast day is always celebrated on February 12th.

Outside of the Cathedral

Descending the stairs to St. Eulalia's crypt

St.  Eulalia's crypt

We were fortunate enough to arrive in the Gothic Quarter just in time for the parade of "gigantes" or "cabezudos" in Plaza Jaume I.  The gigantes, or "cabezudos" (literally "big heads"), are huge puppets built on staging, designed to be carried on the shoulders of the puppeteers.  Plaza Jaume I is a beautiful square, and the heart of the Catalan government.  This area of Spain is culturally unique and considers itself separate from Castillian Spain. The city of Barcelona is the capitol of the Catalan district, which has its own flag, language and culture. 

Cabezudos

Part of the Gigantes parade

Next came the colles castelleres, or "castle teams".  These colorfully dressed acrobats build human towers.  We watched one team build a "castell" so tall that the top person joined some revelers on a second floor balcony of the Palace of the Generalitat building on one side of the square!

Colles Castelleres

This takes some mad skills!

Following a pair of giant puppets down a narrow, medieval alleyway we ended up at a stage in front of the cathedral.  A live band was playing folk music to accompany groups of children performing traditional Catalan folk dances. 

Stage in front of the cathedral

Folk Dancers

After enjoying the dancing and music we spent some time in the cathedral. The ornate chapels were filled with statues and artwork, while a long line of pilgrims waiting to pay homage to St. Eulalia at her crypt moved slowly through the center of the cathedral.  To think that a young girl who lived over 1700 years ago would be the cause of all this pageantry is amazing. History in this part of the world takes on mind-expanding proportions!


We ended the day with some fabulous tapas and an excellent red wine.....and lots to talk about!

Another epic young lady who may make history!