Roses and books for St. Jordi
GentaHi everybody!!
Have you heard something about ´Sant Jordi’s day in Catalonia??
“Sant Jordi” (Saint George´s day) is on 23rd April, which is the remembrance day in Spain. It is a special day in Catalonia because it is the remembrance of the death of Jorge de Capacodia on the 23rd April.
On the 23rd of April, which is the festival day, you will see all the beautiful colours when you look down the streets, because of all the roses and smalls books, which are put in the centre of Barcelona.
“Sant Jordi” was considered by the east, as the protector of different nations and territories: England, Georgia, Ethiopia, Portugal and Bulgaria. He was also considered as the saint patron of the nations in Aragon and Catalonia.
According to the Eastern legend, it is said that, in the Capacodia earth, there was a vicious Dragon, which had devastated the earth, and which was very dangerous for the people and the kingdom.
The village people decided to give two lambs to the dragon each time, in order to satisfy it´s huge hunger and avoid the it´s attacks.
However, after some time the lambs stopped satisfying his hunger, so as well as the lambs, they decided to sacrifice one person for the dragon and send that person to the dragon cave.
One day, following the election of the princess of that kingdom, as the one who was to be sacrificed, the king decided to give all his wealth to the person who was really courageous, to be sacrificed instead of his daughter. However, nobody was able to replace the princess. The princess was then forced to go to the dragon´s cave.
This is when she saw “Sant Jordi”, who saved her. He killed the dragon, with stab to the heart and miraculously the dragon disappeared and one beautiful rose appeared.
So, the king decided to give all his wealth to “Sant Jordi”. However, “Sant Jordi” refused this wealth and instead, he decided to build a church, where there is magical water, which can treat sick people.
To show his love to the princess he gave her a rose, and to show her love in return, she gave him a book.
Furthermore we shouldn’t forget the 23rd April as the international day of books (elected by Unesco in 1996.)
This is why in Catalonia, on “Sant Jordi” (Saint George´s day), all the men (husbands, boyfriends, and sometimes secret admirers) offer roses to the women (wives, girlfriends etc.) because this is the tradition of the legend.
So boys you know what you have to do!!
Aida
